ROOKIE MISTAKES: The #1 TEDx Blunder and 5 Ways to Overcome It. What's the most common TEDx mistake that hopeful speakers make? Settling for the 1st opportunity that comes your way. Not all TEDx events are created equal. With 3K+ annual conferences all around the world and all run by volunteers... There’s a wide gap in quality and know-how. Fact is that many, many event organizers are learning on the job. Often they don’t have the resources to properly vet speaker ideas or produce...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
INSTANTLY CONNECT WITH AN AUDIENCE. (Your 6-Step Guide to Relatability.) Connecting with your audience — whether for a keynote, pitch, or TED Talk — is an art that every speaker aims to master. To help you achieve this, we've compiled 6 essential tips from top TED Talk speakers that can significantly boost your relatability and connection. These 6 proven relatability strategies will elevate your next presentation to new heights: 1. SHARE STICKY STORIES. Personal anecdotes can create a strong...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
FINDING THE FUNNY: 5 Ways to Leverage Humor in TED Talks. Today, let's dive into five dimensions of humor in TED Talks. After all, chuckles matter. Even TED Head Chris Anderson emphasizes the importance of humor in a talk. In his bestseller, TED Talks, he writes: “Audiences who laugh with you quickly come to like you. And if people like you, they’re much readier to take seriously what you have to say. Laughter blows open someone’s defenses...” Successful TED Talk speakers — about 60% of the...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
3 COMMON TED TALK no-No-NOs. (And what to do about them.) Gearing up for a TEDx Talk? Before you take the stage, beware of these three common pitfalls that can derail your presentation. 1. DO NOT ASSUME YOUR IDEA IS TED-WORTHY. Your book thesis isn’t a TED topic. And not all ideas are really “spread-ready” or spread-worthy. Don’t assume the next step is focusing on scriptwriting and rehearsals. That idea likely needs a 2nd look. → There’s a proven and powerful framework for bringing...
2 months ago • 2 min read
UNVEILING THE 6 SHAPES OF STORY: Decoding Kurt Vonnegut’s Narrative Arcs. From ancient myths to modern blockbusters, stories have the power to connect and compel with audiences. But beneath the surface of every narrative lies a hidden structure — a design that gives shape to the audience’s emotional arc. Credit: Yousuf Karsh (c) 1990 In the early 1980s, while in graduate school, Kurt Vonnegut proposed that the simple shapes of stories could be fed into computers. At first, his professors...
4 months ago • 3 min read
THE NEW PUBLIC SPEAKING TOOLBOX: 3 Ways TED Talks Redefined Keynotes TED forever changed how we spread ideas from stage and screen. In discovery calls with potential clients, I regularly reference 3 ways that TED Talks have improved the public speaking toolbox: 1. CUSTOMIZED TOOLS 2. 3D PRINTED TOOLS 3. DISCARDED TOOLS Let’s briefly unpack what I mean by those three and touch on some actionable next-level examples... CUSTOMIZED TOOLS a) TED CUSTOMIZED the scripting process to emphasize...
4 months ago • 2 min read
FIVE (critical) POWERPOINT LAWS TOP TEDsters USE. These PowerPoint laws worked for my client with 46-million views on TED. It is an all-time TOP 10 TED Talk. And guess what...? While Dr. Robert Waldinger shared Harvard research from an enormous data set... Not a single slide included a graph, statistic, or pie chart. No bullet points either. He scrupulously followed these rules. Consider doing the same. They work wonders! 1. Don’t use fonts, animation, and transitions.** Just as...
5 months ago • 2 min read
THE HUMOR BUFFET. (The secret to TEDster joking.) As a TED-style speaking expert, I’m often asked about talk humor. I always turn to Gene Wilder. Willy Wonka knew something about humor and captivating an audience. He once observed: “A little nonsense, now and then, is relished by the wisest men.” That said, I’m not a fan of heavy-handed, scripted humor in a talk. Performing stand-up comedy is a heavy lift. (Google “Jerry Seinfeld” and “practice” to learn more.) And yet, "too serious" can...
6 months ago • 3 min read
FROM MEHHH TO MEMORABLE: 5 Moves to Prep a Message. When thinking about a keynote or all-hands presentation, few of us anticipate a flat, “Mehhhh” delivery. Rights?? We imagine smiles, high-fives and even a standing ovation! But as we know, a lot can get in the way of that dream. - Frenetic PowerPoint edits. - Last-minute re-Re-RE-scripting. - Hotel bathroom mirror rehearsals. - “Wait, what the #$%! was my topic again??” Take heart, my team can be right beside you — coaching you to bridge...
7 months ago • 4 min read