Soness Stevens - TEDx Talks: Getting, Giving, and Excelling At One

Productivity Gladiator

In this episode, Soness Stevens, the Original TEDx Speaker Coach,
joins Brian to talk about getting, giving, & excelling at, a TEDx Talk. This episode is a departure from the normal episode, since Brian’s TEDx talk went live and went viral, Brian’s received a lot of questions about how to get a TEDx talk, and tips or advice on giving one. This episode with Soness shares solid answers to those questions.

Link for the full page with all the details, the video, and more, for this episode:
https://www.productivitygladiator.com/episodes/soness-stevens-getting-giving-excelling-at-a-ted-talk

Today’s Guest

Soness Stevens
The 1st TEDx Speaker coach

www.yourspeakingjourney.com

Soness Stevens LinkedIn

Soness Stevens, the Original TEDx Speaker Coach is a communications expert, four-time speaker at TEDx, coach to more than 140 TED & TEDx presenters, and member of the TED Global faculty. Her stories inspire audiences to cry, laugh, and give standing ovations. Audiences of 10 to 1,000 are moved, connected, and engaged by Soness's presentations. 750,000 people have undergone transformation over 20 years.

You can contact Soness Stevens here.

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When do you know you have an idea that’s Good for a TEDx talk?

—TED calls a talk an “idea worth spreading”

—Chris Anderson, the head of TED says:
“Everyone has an idea worth spreading”

—Soness adds to that:
“…when they make it clear concise and replicable.”

The application process

Brian’s Process: it took 2 years (with a 14 month COVID Delay):

—Researched over 100 events.

—23 applications in total / ended up with 2 offers.

—Idea combined with a story people can relate to.

—2 offers within a couple of weeks for each other.

Other recommendations:

—Pick an event that’s relevant to your topic and to your audience

—Recommend focusing on one event and one application at a time. A good quality and tailored application to a specific event, with a video of yourself mentioning your idea, will beat the “blast everyone with the same blueprint” every time.

—Only accept or plan to give one TEDx talk at a time, for one idea at a time.

In a TEDx speaker application 4 things to address:

1) What’s the idea worth spreading?

2) How does your talk align with that TEDx event’s theme?

3) Why should anyone care?

4) Why should they listen to YOU share the idea?

Developing Your Talk

From Brian:

Write it first, focus entirely on the content and “what you’ll say”, up until 4 weeks before talk, then switch to memorizing your delivery on “how you’ll say it”.

For 6 months - 3x per week zoom calls with friends. I read them the talk and showed them the slides. At the end, I asked them “On a scale of 0-not at all likely, to 10-extremely likely, how likely would you be to recommend this talk to a friend or colleague.?” and “Tell me why?”. This is the Net Promoter Score question. When I was consistently getting 9s & 10s almost all the time I knew the content of the talk was ready.

From Soness:

Takes more of a creative side, must bring in your personality. Bring out the type of person. Unique delivery to you. Make sure you bring in your humor.

Feedback should be taken with a grain of salt. Everyone wants to be helpful, so they’re going to give you whatever they can think of, that can cause you to lose track of your talk completely.

Delivering Your Talk

—Clear & Concise

—From Brian “I recommend it’s memorized word for word, you should be so comfortable with it it’s like wearing an old pair of pants.”

—From Soness, one of her clients said “I know this talk so well I feel like I could give it while changing a tire in the rain.”

What to do after your TEDx talk Comes Out

—From Soness: Some people experience post talk shame where they want to “take it back”. Overcoming this comes from good preparation and connection with your talk. Often that shame comes from not being comfortable with it when you give it.

—Media blitz and share it with everyone you know.

—Set up your posts and emails in advance.

—You can even prerecord interviews and then have the channel wait to put them out until your TEDx talk is released.

Links to TEDx Talks referenced in this episode:

Brian’s Talk:

Reimagining the actual value of your time | Brian Nelson-Palmer | TEDxWhiting

Speakers Soness Mentioned Stories About:

How to deal with toxic family relationships | Johnson Chong | TEDxRolandPark

The Bystander Effect: Why Some People Act and Others Don't | Kelly Charles-Collins | TEDxOcala

A Corporation is a Collection of Unique Souls like You & Me | Shirley Liu | TEDxCambridgeUniversity

The Flipside of Loneliness | Monica Rivera | TEDxFlatbush

Happy Soles: Happy Souls | Rob Nugen | TEDxOgikubo

WHAT EVERY WOMAN NEEDS TO KNOW TO CLOSE THE GENDER GAP | AYSHA VAN DE PAER | TEDxLausanneWomen

Books To Help Prepare For A TEDx Talk

Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds
by Carmine Gallo

How to Deliver a TED Talk: Secrets of the World's Most Inspiring Presentations: Revised and Expanded New Edition
by Jeremey Donovan

TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking
by Chris Anderson

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About The Creator/Host: I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that my life was going to be 10-20 years shorter than everyone else. As a kid I took time for granted, but now as an adult, time is the most precious thing that I have. I teach overworked project managers how to level-up their life balance and pump up their practical productivity through my Productivity Gladiator training system. If what you’ve seen here intrigues you, reach out, let’s chat! Time is the currency of your life, spend it wisely.