Top tips to land TEDx talk or another speaking engagement
A younger Emerald speaks at Brussels Forum.
How do you get asked to deliver a TEDx talk or another speaking engagement? It is a question I have been asked a good few times, so in this post I will discuss this. It has long been on my to-do list to write out all of the talks I have given in a speaker CV, it must be hundreds over the course of my decade in privacy and as an entrepreneur. While I believe that public speaking is an art form which will take a lifetime to perfect, I have some things I have learned along the way that I think are worth sharing.
Networking for newbies
All my high profile (?) speaking gigs have come through my network. This was true for my talk at the European Parliament, MIT and TEDx. I recently took a course on Power at Stanford Graduate School of Business and one of the key components of gathering power is to build a network. When you work in a given field you may instinctually gravitate towards people who are part of your tribe. In other words; you network with fellow industry professionals or people who you believe can help you climb the ladder. Turns out, this is a poor strategy if you want to reap the benefits of a network both inside and outside of a company. There is benefit in building a robust network of weak ties. As Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer explains:
“weak ties provide you non-redundant information, while the people to whom you are most strongly tied […] probably know approximately the same things and the same people as you do. Therefore, they do not add as much additional value.” (1)
I cannot recommend Professor Pfeffer’s books enough, “The 7 rules of Power” being the lastest excellent read. Being honest, I have never been that thoughtful about it. As I took an unconventional path academically and then professionally, I just happened to meet a lot of different people. It helps if you have a wide variety of interests and enjoy meeting new people. There is a bit of serendipity involved in most good fortune, but you have to do your homework and this includes building a strong network around you.
A talk gets a talk
When I was asked to give a TEDx talk it came through someone who sat in the audience at another talk I gave in the Helix in Dublin. The father of someone who was organising a TEDx event in the south of France happened to be in the audience and recommended to his son that he reach out to me to ask whether I would be interested. I had not worked with his father, nor did I know him particularly well, it was quite a weak tie but it was enough to make a recommendation. I’m always fascinated by the ripple effect of small actions. At the time, my career was starting to gather some steam but I was still struggling to get my startup to where it needed to be. The fact that I said yes to the talk in the Helix, eventually got me on a TEDx stage in France which is a type of talk I always wanted to give. I realise it is not such a big deal anymore, but when I was in my early twenties I remember watching hours of TEDx talks on Youtube never expecting I would give one myself one day. Given the analytics of my previous post on TEDx talks, I know I can’t be alone. It is a special thing.
This is not to say you have to start with a big stage. It can be as simple of as being on a Podcast or joining a panel at a small event. It is important to realise that in most cases there will be many talks before you get the big one you really want. This is a good thing as you get to practice. I certainly hope I have improved over time and I hope that in a few years I will look back on talks I give today and cringe. Haha! Who am I kidding? I already do. Nothing worse than watching yourself on video. The key thing to keep in mind is that you have to start somewhere and when you are speaking, you are moving forward. This brings me to the art of saying “yes”, particularly if you’re early in your career. Give things a go, experiment and accept invitations. I went to a lot of events that seemed random at the time, but often a meaningful connection was made that I only realised a couple of years later.
Shameless self promotion
This is likely an unsavoury part for many of you, but bear with me. It is not so bad, I promise. When you do give a talk, you need to ask yourself “who needs to know you were there?”. Your audiences is in the room, but perhaps there is a bigger audience for what you said. You can extract more value out of your talks in a number of ways. Here are a few suggestions:
Write an article or a blog post about the event
Summarise your talking points on your social media platform of choice
Share a video of a podcast recording if you have permission to do this etc.
If you want more talks, it helps if people know you have spoken at events before so consider making this known in your bio.
Send the elevator back down
Now that you’re on your way to a successful speaking career, can you help others in your network? These days I often take calls from people who were introduced to me through my network or those I met through the various networking activities. Perhaps it is a little woo-woo, but I do believe that you should pay it forward so even if you’re only on the first floor, send the elevator back down and help your fellow overachiever.
If you found this post useful, please leave a comment below. I will be publishing part 3 of my privacy careers series shortly but this post was long overdue.
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/jeffrey-pfeffer-how-lean-power
Emerald de Leeuw’s TEDx talk about how social media affects our mental health, relationships and wellbeing. It’s an oldie, but still valid in my view.