How to build a personal foundation through branding, blogging & social media
Back in March, I let you know of my upcoming talk at TEDxCMU and on April 3rd 2011, I gave my talk and now it is available to watch online for free, in HD.
You can view my talk on ‘Building a Personal Foundation through Branding, Blogging & Social Media’ below, or you can click through to view it on YouTube. I’d love to hear your honest feedback if you do watch it.
How I prepared for the talk
After I accepted & signed the contract to speak at TEDxCMU, this is how I prepared for the talk, in the 3 weeks I had to do so.
- Procrastinated for 2 weeks. Watched 10 or so TED videos, many found here. Researched how to prepare for a TED format talk and brushed up on my public speaking skills (still need more of these).
- Wrote an outline of what I wanted to talk about, then wrote a 10 page speech.
- Scrapped the speech and instead created slides based loosely around the speech, that I could talk about from memory.
- Practiced and timed the talk 6 times, based on these slides. Cut and added things where needed to adhere to TED’s 16–18 min rule. Wrote a smaller summary of points I had to remember and matched these points with the slides. Practiced some more.
- Three days before the event, I took off half a day off work to practice, which allowed me to practice about 6 more times while refining the talk / slides.
- One day before the event, I finalised my slides and sent them off to TEDxCMU, to compile for the event. I flew to Pittsburgh and took my laptop with me to practice my speech in the hotel room. Went to sleep.
- Woke up every two hours, anxious I had missed my alarm clock. Finally woke up at the right time and then did one more practice speech, before driving to the event.
TEDxCMU 2011 Speakers
There were many other inspirational, moving & thought provoking talks on the day, of whom I have listed below. If you are a student or are needing inspirational advice, I would recommend watching the talks I’ve put a star next too. These were my personal favourites, as well as Luis von Ahn’s talk.
Session 1
- Doc Chemers — Host Introduction
- Jenny Blake on the “App Centered Career”
- Jacob Cass on Personal Branding
- Luis von Ahn unveils DuoLingo
Session 2
- Paul Dateh and Ken Belcher Performance
- Charlie Hoehn on the new way to work.
- William Gahl on Medical Mysteries
Session 3
- Heather Knight and Robot Comedy
- Mickey McManus on Taming Complexity
- Michealene Risley on Human Rights
- Amber Rae on Being Unexpected *
TEDxCMU 2011 Photos
Below you can see some photos of the event, with many more found over on the TEDxCMU Flickr page.
A poster of the 2011 TEDxCMU speakers outside of the conference room.
The theme of the event; IM-POSSIBLE.
The first slide of my talk; Building a Personal Foundation.
Talking about my NYC job offer via Twitter while at University.
The 450 odd people watching the TEDxCMU presentation.
TEDxCMU 2011 speakers & organisers. (Thank you!)
At the end of the event, the audience was invited to sign the black board with their thoughts.
The final result of the board at the end of the event.
Please share your thoughts, comments or questions.
