I did a TED Talk — here’s what i learnt
A few weeks ago i got something ticked off my work bucket list.
I did a TED Talk.
And i wanted to write a blog about my experience and to reflect on how it all went.
So…
Why did i want to do one?
To quote a Ted Talk i like:
“I have always wanted to have done a TED Talk… in the past”
You want to be the one that can say “oh i have done a TED Talk” but without doing all the work to actually get there.
Like who doesn't want to walk out onto a stage and say this:
In all seriousness, i wanted to go out and talk about something i am passionate about. Creativity.
As someone who didn't really ‘discover’ there were creative until starting work i wanted everyone to understand how they can be more creative and how important it is that we reinforce this in education as well as the workplace.
6 months ago an opportunity arose to do a Ted Talk in a location that wasn't very far from where i am. I saw a post on LinkedIn about a TEDX event and thought screw it i might as well sign up.
So i signed up…
Then came the first hurdle.
I needed to come up with a title for my talk and a little paragraph describing it. The funny thing was this was the first time i had even thought about this.
Who signs up for a TED Talk without knowing what they are going to talk about?? Me apparently…
So i thought why don't i do something on creativity?
Then looked up a bunch of talks i had done previously until i found one section i had done on asking the right questions. I took elements of this and smashed out a little paragraph. To them it was hyping up a talk i wanted to give that was already written. For me it was a general idea of a talk that i thought sounded cool.
I'm really selling myself well with this blog aren't i… Wait until the procrastination section starts!
I ended up going with the title:
The wrong answers and the right questions
Then i could talk about how creative we are when young and how looking for answers through tests and exams is detrimental to the development of our creativity.
That's enough spoiling of my talk you can watch it yourself!
So a few weeks after submitting my talk i got an email saying i was through to the next stage and could i submit a 5 min section of my talk. The issue was…
I had no talk.
I took some images i liked, some points i wanted to make and i sorta smushed them together into a presentation that i could record and send across as a ‘segment’ of my talk.
So i recorded my segment and cut it down to 5mins (i ended up writing way more then i thought) and submitted.
It was a longer wait this time, about a month. But i remember talking to people in my team about how i submitted and was waiting to hear back.
In hindsight maybe i should have been writing the talk during this time but i didn't want to waste time on something that might not get through?
Anyway,
A month later i got a notification that i was through and my talk was selected in the line up!
This is when the real work needed to begin…
*Spoilers* It didn’t.
Writing the talk… Procrastination 101
Look. I wanted to look like this and start right away
but… i have a habit of procrastination. If a talk on procrastination hadn't already been perfected i probably would have done my talk on that. I just never would have got around to writing it.
Anyway I'm getting side-tracked…
In reality, work, personal and just general avoidance got in the way so i was more like this.
Eventually i got together some words and broke down the different points i wanted to make. This involved watching a lot of TED Talks, looking at YouTube videos on public speaking and lots of research.
Top tips like starting with a pause and a question are something i am going to continue to keep using.
That's all thanks to David JP Phillips and his videos. I even sent this to the other speakers as preparation.
Practice makes perfect?
Once i had a first draft of the script i turned that into prompt cards and then spent the next few weeks practicing and trying to force it into memory.
I edited as i went, taking out sections, adding in videos and jokes and making sure that my core point was reinforced across the entire talk.
I then printed all of this out and began to practice with the cards. Where i would stand, body language, intonation etc.
The Big day:
I sat in a couple of the talks before me because they were interesting and boy was that a mistake!
There was two 16 year olds who were talking about gender equality and careers that made me reflect on the tone i went for with my talk.
But one of the speakers reassured me that this was my talk and i shoulf keep to my voice and tone because its good to have something different and that is MY talk not someone elses.
One of the most popular TED Talks ever is the one on procrastination and i based my tone around that. Light-hearted and fun. It helps people feel at ease and makes them susceptible to your ideas and points more.
I did make some edits as i was practicing in the morning before the talk and building up to it.
All the other speakers were trying to learn their words off by heart and were being quite brutal when they messed up. A lot of tension backstage.
The faces and reactions of the other speakers as i was editing my talk 15mins before going on stage was priceless.
I always try to keep speaking free flowing and sometimes that means shifting ideas around and changing wording. I didn't want to come across as reading through a strict script.
So i went out and did the talk.
The initial moment of being up on the stage is nerve wracking but after that you start to get into the flow and it becomes easier.
Once people started laughing and reacting to the right moments it was a lot easier to relax and get through the longest 12mins ever.
It was also great to see some of the people i invited come along to support me :)
The link is now live and you can watch the talk on the TED site here:
Sam McLaren: The wrong answers and the right questions | TED Talk
Afterwards:
Afterwards i could relax slightly and get a drink and sit in on some the other talks which i really enjoyed. It was a long day so i did think about wanting to go home and chill but I'm glad i stayed on for a bit.
I got some great comments from people attending which was nice and as you can see above i got some nice pictures!
What's next:
That’s a good question!
Now the talk is up on the TED platform i can share that around. Please share if you enjoyed it or get in contact if you want to discuss more.
I think moving forward i would like to encourage others to speak up and create talks sharing their unique perspectives and ideas. Even hosting a new TED event or leading on some public speaking training to get people to present their ideas, thoughts, feelings etc.
I’ll keep you posted on what happens!
Sam out.
