The TEDx Fashion DO’s and DONT’s
By Bilyana Georgieva, TEDx Coach, Digital Nerd and Multi-Award Winning Professional Speaker, founder of The ‘Red Dot Speaker Star’ (formerly ‘Soon-To-Be a TEDx Speaker’) Program.
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Having the right hair, makeup and outfit on the day of your TEDx talk is just as important as writing your script.
I know you may think at the moment -
“I’m not a girly girl”
or
“I’m a man, I don’t need a make up! I’ll have a quick stop by the barber the day before my TEDx”
Wrong! Keep reading ..
Many speakers make the mistake of picking their outfit last minute. The outfit you choose for your TEDx talk is your legacy outfit. The video of your talk will be around forever and you don’t want to look back and be disappointed of yourself, feeling like you have made a BIG mistake.
Today, I’ll help you find the right look for your TEDx talk.
Hairstyle
Let’s start from the top.
Your hairstyle is super important when going on the TEDx stage.
You don’t want to blend into the background and have your hair disappear..
The biggest piece of advice I can give to you is to
find out the colour of the background on the TEDx stage long before you get there!
Most of the TEDx stages have black background.
If you have dark hair, you will blend into the background..
A way to avoid this happening is to find a hair accessory to put into your hair so that it breaks up the background from your hair.
If you struggle to do your own hair, ask your TEDx organiser if they can find a hairdresser to do your hair on the day.
Of course, that comes with extra cost, as you may have to pay for this but you will also have beautiful hair that you will be happy with when you look back at your legacy in a form of a TEDx talk video.
Same goes with light background colours and bright hair.
Now, lets move to the next crucial element for your radiant, good look:
Makeup
Makeup is just as important for men and is it for women on the TEDx stage. One thing you don’t want when you get on stage is to be shiny.
How many times you’ve watched YouTube videos, where men and women are ok in the first 5 min and by the end of the video their face is like swimming in sweat?
Truth is that ..
the mixture of nerves and the lighting on stage will cause you to sweat a little. But little looks A LOT on camera
Be ready for this. It’s normal!
The best way to prevent the shininess is to apply a stage makeup.
That goes for both women and men, including those with beard and especially the bald guys. Love you lots, and that’s why I’m giving you advice today
You can ask your TEDx organiser if they would be able to find a makeup artist to do your makeup on the day as they will use specialist stage makeup.
A perfect example of what you want to look like is from one of the speakers in the Top 10 World’s TEDx talks for April 2022.
Nguyễn Thúc Thùy Tiên has a beautiful natural makeup look and has no shine on her face as she has used the correct makeup to prevent it happening.
And last for today -
Clothes
The most important part of your look. Your outfit.
You need to pick an outfit that stands out from the background.
If you want to be VISIBLE stand out VISUALLY!
You need to find out the colour of your background before you pick your outfit. If the background is black, you need to avoid wearing black clothing. I would suggest wearing vibrant red, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue.. as it really stands out.
Why bright? Because the cameras always lower the colour down with one shade. So a bright green will look like a normal green.
There have been so many speakers who get up on stage wearing black, stand on a black background and end up looking like a floating head and hands on stage.
You don’t want to look back on your talk and not be able to see where you are on stage, are you moving at all and what you are wearing..
A beautiful example of what you should do is from Jude Aburdan who was number five in the Top 10 World’s TEDx talks for April 2022. She wore a stunning green blazer and really stood out from the background.
Did these tips help you to find your perfect look for the TEDx stage?
Comment bellow with a ‘Yes’ if today’s article gave you a food for thoughts and helps you to prepare for the big day
Remember:
This is your LEGACY LOOK and you want it to be the best of you
A big thanks to Hollie Hadley for helping me out with this article and choosing great examples of stunning looking TEDx speakers!
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Sending you love and energy!
Yours,
Bilyana