My journey as a TEDx speaker

On TED talk  and on YouTube 

Did you know that the biggest fear of french people, right after death, is public speaking ? 

This is understandable: speaking in front of an unknown public is a real exposure, it makes you vulnerable. However, it is one of the best way to share a strong message and to make an impact.

Here is how I prepared and lived my first TEDx talk.

The origins:

I would love to say that TEDx organizers spontaneously reached out to me for their next conference. But that was not the case at all. Hopefully, one day it will :) 

December 2018: In my next year objectives list, I set to myself this goal: Run a conference on a subject that matters to me and outside of my daily job.

No time to wait, in January, I naturally look after TEDx, the most well known reference for public speaking. I notice that the EDHEC Business School (from where i’m graduated) ran a TEDx in 2018, last year. I reach out to the organizers.

However, the people i’ve reached to are not the organizers anymore, they advice me to contact the ones who are running the next edition: In April 2019. In 3 months.

Uhm, 3 months….this is like...tomorrow !

In my control freak mind (the kind who books her summer holidays in December), I always thought I would prepare this kind of talk at least 6 months before.

No time to think more about this and anyway, at the moment, I'm not a TEDx speaker yet. I decide to reach out to the 2019 edition organizers.

After some researches and Inmails, I have an answer from one of the organizer and I manage to set up a quick call with him.

The organizer explains to me that at this time, they have almost selected all their speakers but there COULD BE a last seat…This is MY opportunity.

 This year theme is “Dream, Dare, Do” and as TEDx Business Schools or Universities aim to reach an international audience, all the talks will be done in English.

This is adding a piece in the challenge, but to be honest, it excites me more than it scares me. I love talking and writing in english, ideas are expressed differently but I find English to be a more straightforward language than French, and for my talk that’s great. Moreover the challenge is higher, so I will learn even more than I thought #neverlooseanopportunitytolearn

challenge accepted and french accent assumed!

I explain to the organizer the will I have to express myself on a subject that matters to me: The food system. And more exactly, the power every single person has on our society by making choices in the way they buy and eat.

I am the co-founder of the NGO Manger Citoyen and this a theme I know pretty well.

He loves the idea and we see how this subject could relate to the “Dream, Dare, Do” theme.

Few days later, the organization team calls me : They validate my application, I will be speaker at the 2019 edition !

The preparation:

Less than 3 months in front of me to write, learn and train on my talk. Total time on stage should last between 3 and 18 minutes (TED talk format).

Step 1: The writing (-3 months)

The most difficult part.

It’s all about turning your key message into a memorable story that will leave people with an idea of what do to next.

To deliver this message in the most effective way, one should prioritize, structure main ideas following a clear conducting line and making it the most understandable for the audience, including people who would be very far away from your topic.

You also have to write in the way you will speak, which is obviously very different than writing as I’m doing here for people who will be reading. You have to think about the tone, the period times, the body language associated to your words, the slides that will be going on while you talk and such details makes it quite a though exercise.

There is so much to say. I have many content I’ve learnt over the years and while preparing this talk that I’d like to share: how to deal with all the materials ?

What helped me to reach a final version was this good advice I’ve read several times:

“Degrease your text, makes it the most straightforward, comprehensive, clear and impactful . Get rid of the insignificant lines or details that can pollute a good speech without adding anything valuable to your idea.”

Within about a month I have a final text that I’m aligned with and happy about. "But keep your head cold Laura, this is just the very first step", I keep telling myself

I send the final text and the according slides (only images) to the organizing team.

Few days later my text is validated with minor changes. It’s now time to train ! 

Step 2 : The Learning (-2 months)

Train. Train. Train. Repeat.

My method here : Know my talk by heart in order to be free from the “lyrics” the D-day and the fear of the black out.

Learning my text as a music, knowing until each coma position, is to me the most effective way to be comfortable for my talk and to have the ability to adapt, if necessary, to go out of my text if I feel that the context, the audience and the moment legitimates it.

Presenting and speaking are not the same deal. Great speakers are mastering what is called situational awareness speaking, constantly relating to the audience reactions. I’m not there yet but to have this in mind helps.

To learn quickly and effectively I registered on my phone the best version of my talk and I simply listened it over and over. I first segmented my learning phases in sections accordingly to my talk plan and then I was listening the totality of my speech, 14 minutes in total.

This method is not a ? best practice”, it completely depends on each and everyone memory: some need to write down their text, others to read it over and over, some to listen it or even mix those different approaches. Still, some people will be on the contrary, more comfortable actually not learning their text but based on a general structure, talk freely from this basis. This last method is still more rare and risky for a first time TEDx speaker.

However, one thing to have in mind that I won’t develop here:

Speaking is not a gift. Speaking is actually a science.

Back to my repetition: one month later I really knew my talk by heart. And looking backwards I thought I would repeat even more than I did. Couple of days even passed without looking back at my text.

The moment you are 100% comfortable with your text, when It has become music to your ears, what you need to focus on is the confidence, conviction, level of energy you want to deliver on stage and how to manage your stress/excitement before that.

 Step 3: Mentalization and positive visualization (-15 days)

The days running and the D-day coming closer, apprehension, excitement and stress starts to rise. Especially when projecting yourself in the situation of being on stage delivering your talk in front of hundred unknown pairs of eyes.

The real thing, at least for me during this period, was to think about it as much as I could, to imagine every single minute from my scene entrance to the applause I (hopefully !) would receive while leaving the stage.

Thinking about it a lot was a way to apprehend the fear and to transform it in something I knew, as a good old friend to my brain.

The human being is often the most afraid of the unknown. Getting familiar, even just in thoughts, with the experience you are about to live helps a lot.

Step 4: Last straight line (J-1 and D-Day)

J-1:

The dress code: 

My choice: Being in line with my talk. I am talking about engagement and food activism so arriving on heels or too fashionable is not even an option to consider. I simply chose a black suit and snickers.

I wanted people attention to be focus on my talk.

D-DAY:

Key word: EN-JOY

7:00 am - No way back possible. No last minute change to do. It’s now time, after 3 months of working and training to actually enjoy the moment.

It appeared to me crucial to take a step back in the middle of all the excitation and stress to realize that what I was about achieve is reaching a goal I had set to myself few months before: being speaker at a TEDx conference. Not that it’s an end in itself, but I really wanted to achieve this as a first step.

8:50am - When I took the 8:50am train to Lille on the D-day, I’ve said to myself that whatever would be the outcome of my talk, I had already won.

The simple fact to have formalize an ambition in December 2018, to have initiated the contact with the organizers, to have built a talk, trained over and over and being about to deliver it was already a personal success.

I simply took action.

The real victory was my way through, not the result.

10:00 am - Arrived in Lille, just the time to settle my things in a small lodge shared with other speakers and it’s time to rehearsals in order to adjust technical details : sound system, lights but also to train one last time the full talk on stage before the real deal few hours later.

I remember walking through the stage in order to “feel” the space around me and getting familiar, comfortable with it. I also looked at the empty seats, picturing them full few hours later.

12:00 am - Lunch break before it starts. One last listening of my talk and I’m good to go.

2 :00 pm – The first speaker starts, I am with him backstage and I see him walking in the stage. I’m in the third position (we are eight speakers in total).

It’s now time to go back to my lodge for the final straight line.

2:45pm - These last 15 minutes before being called to put my micro on are very rich in emotions : mix of adrenaline, apprehension, mindfullness of what is happening, proud and joy.

I am 100% focused, determined to nailed it and excited.

During these last minutes I really feel like a boxer before entering on the ring.

I put my earphones on and listen to my favorite songs, I also smile in order to send positive signals to my brain, breathe in, breathe out to regulate my heartbeat and picture myself on stage again. Last, I think about my people, in the room and how I want to make them proud.

I hear my name, it's my turn.

To see what happens next, it's here

As Warren Buffet said:

"Take risks: If you win you will be happy, if you loose you will be wise".