You probably know that speaking on stage is a great way to grow your business… and you’ve probably fantasized about giving your own TED, TEDx, or TED Style talk, too.
Maybe you’ve decided to put off pursuing speaking opportunities because you’re not sure how to land speaking opportunities. Or, you’re not sure exactly what you’d say if you found yourself on one of these highly sought-after stages.
You might be worried that your talk won’t be a game changer for the audience. You might have the dreaded fear of public speaking. Or you might have even giving this speaking thing a shot and not gotten the results you wanted…
Well I’m excited to introduce you to Alexia Vernon in this special Off The Charts episode. Alexia’s coached dozens of women and men to take the stage to give powerful, one-of-a-kind TEDx and TED-style talks.
How To Prepare A TED Style Talk
Alexia has created a free video training series, Go from Hot Mess to Hotshot Speaker, where she will show YOU how to harness the power of speaking to drive massive results for your audience, business, and life. She’ll show you how:
- To play nicely with the fear that comes up when you think about stepping into your power as a speaker.
- To demystify the key ingredients of a successful, soul-stirring speech.
- Your expertise and speaking experience might be undermining your chances of getting booked.
This free 3 part training series is a great opportunity to learn how to leverage public speaking to advance your leadership, build your platform, and increase revenue in your business.
Click here to sign up for the series, which goes live tomorrow. I’m a proud affiliate of her work which means I may earn a commission if you decide to work with her. Alexia is also a graduate of my Launch It and Profit program, and I had an early sneak peek at her video training and it’s top notch!
1. Get Really Clear On Your Idea Worth Spreading
Understanding what you want to leave your audience with will help you figure out how to distill all the things you’re an expert on into one coherent message.
Start with identifying your one key story that will serve as an entry point into this message.
Then once you have your talk, it’s time to start looking for venues that need speakers… much like you’d look up blogs that accept guest posts, or podcasts that are looking for guests to interview.
2. How To Speak Authentically and Credibly When You’re Just Getting Started In Business
Many of us spend a lot of time trying to make ourselves look like the expert that knows everything instead of being honest and sharing what we don’t know.
In fact, sharing the journey that brought you to work is what’s really compelling and what Lex considers our secret sauce for connecting with an audience. Think about the people who might be where you were a few years ago.
This way you can get a sense for what sticks with your audience before you apply to speak at say TEDx events.
3. How To Prepare A TED Style Talk and Why
As entrepreneurs, we’ve been inundated with the message that we need to speak to sell. There’s something really exquisite about being able to invite an audience into action by being vulnerable and present, and telling our story.
That’s what becomes memorable and “sticky” for an audience to want to work with us.
In a TED-style talk you start with your story, that becomes a bridge into presenting your idea worth spreading… and this spotlight talk usually lasts 15-20 minutes. You give your audience some key things they need to know now, and invite them to take action on your big idea.
If you do want to sell from the stage, it’s much easier to being with a TED style talk and then layer on a sales massage… as opposed to trying to sell first and being so focused on the offer that you lose the human connection part of your talk.
4. Before You Step On Your Stage
One last piece of advice if you’re just getting started with public speaking…
You might be overcome with sensation. Alexia Vernon uses the term sensation here because we make a choice to label this feeling as fear.
Instead of taking this sensation as a sign to retreat and play small, use it to get to the other side because that’s the place where you really connect with an audience.
Over to you now…
Now I’d love to hear from you: have you thought about giving a TED style talk? What speaking topic would you want to cover? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Be sure to check out Alexia’s free Spotlight Talk training, she’s a master at work!
