TedxAmsterdam: interview met speaker coach Tara Phillips
How Do You Give a Compelling TED Talk?
Before a speaker takes the TEDx stage, a lot of time and energy will go into writing and rehearsing the talk. Fortunately, TEDxAmsterdam has a team of excellent speaker coaches. They help the speakers verbalize their ideas, order their thoughts, and shape their talk. Tara Phillips is the Team Lead for the speaker coaches. We asked her about the secrets of creating a TEDx talk.
What’s the first step, where do you start?
It varies. Some speakers will come to me with a talk that they have given before. Or they’re very clear on what to say. But a TED talk is very different from a normal speech in so many ways. Therefore their regular talk doesn’t automatically suffice. With some I’ll have a session before they write anything down. We’ll look at what they want to say and how they want to say it, what kind of impact they want to make, and what kind of reaction they’re hoping for. In any case, the absolute essential thing is that they talk about one thing. One message only.
“Talk about one thing only. It makes a speech so much more powerful.”
Is that something that you often have to stress?
They’re invited for a particular reason. There’s a certain theme and a particular program. But within that there’s freedom and flexibility.
At first, a lot of speakers want to put in absolutely everything they’ve ever thought about or believed in or studied. But it’s going to be so much more powerful if you have one message and make all other material support that. As speaker coaches we have to guide them towards that one thing. That’s the most difficult part of it.
How do you do that?
Ask lots of questions. Try to eke out the part that’s most important. Then I ask them to summarize that one message in one or two sentences. We keep working on that until they know it so clearly and specifically that if anyone on the street asks them about it, they can just explain it instantly. Once they’ve got it as sharp and as compelling as they can, we look at what they’re going to say to support that message.
What time-frame are we talking about here? How much time is there between the first draft or meeting and the actual talk?
Ideally at least a month. Six weeks to two months would be absolutely perfect. But the speakers we’re inviting are often really busy doing this brilliant thing that we asked them to talk about. They’ll start thinking about it a month before, write something down three weeks before and then start panicking two weeks before.
You mentioned that a TED talk is very different from a regular speech. In what ways?
First of all: the length, anywhere between three and eighteen minutes. In a way, anyone can talk for an hour. You’re bound to fit in everything you need to say if you have an hour. But eighteen minutes? That completely changes the game.
Another big difference is that people are invited to talk about their passion. So there’s more of an assumption that you’re going to be personal. And because they are invited to talk about something really amazing, there’s often more of a wow factor. The audience is in awe.
More than their usual audiences?
Yes. Every speech is an element of a whole day that is so carefully curated and so diverse that it really makes a difference.
Is there something that every TED talk absolutely needs to have in order to be brilliant?
Passion. Authenticity. Clarity. A compelling Idea Worth Spreading.
How do you make that happen?
Keep it simple. That doesn’t mean dumbing down, it just means keeping it simple. That way you allow the passion and the interest of the speaker to come through.
Have an easy to follow structure – the audience needs to be taken on a journey.
Tell stories. Stories connect people at such a fundamental human level; they move hearts and minds.
Tips for giving brilliant talks from TEDxAmsterdam’s Speaker Coaches
Maarten Fijnaut:
www.fijnaut.com
“BE the message. Make sure your topic runs through your veins.”
Simon Hodges at Words that Change:
www.wordsthatchange.nl
“When a speaker is most himself, speaking from an authentic viewpoint, the audience naturally warms to him. Grand visions and exciting stories are wonderful, but a sense of getting a true vision of life is exhilarating. And that comes through the speaker being entirely himself.”
Elza Kuipers:
www.linkedin.com
“Prepare, Practice, Pitch!”
Joni Bais at Great Communicators:
“Be present. If the speaker doesn’t feel ready, he’s not connected with the audience. Make time to prepare mentally and emotionally. Know the space where you’ll be speaking. Do the things that help you to concentrate. Create a ritual that really helps you to be present and ready to reach out to your audience.”
David Beckett at Best3Minutes:
www.Best3Minutes.com
“Get your story straight using Post-its. After all, as TEDx speaker David Allen (author of Getting Things Done) says: your mind is a great place for having ideas, not for holding them. Get everything related to your subject out of your head and onto Post-its. Then start organizing the content and creating a structure — opening, three major points and the closing. This will help you see the overall picture, and create a satisfying and logical flow to the story.”
Geerteke van Lierop at Great Communicators:
www.greatcommunicators.nl
“If you are really living your story, people will feel it. Make it personal, show your passion and keep it simple.”
Categorized as behind the scenes, Speakers.