How to Write and Rehease for a TEDx Talk

Re-Writes and Rehearsing Matters. I received notice that I would be delivering a TEDx Talk five weeks before the event. The topic, "The Art of Giving Small", is not content I present to clients, thus I had to write, rewrite, and rehearse in a short amount of time. While I did not expect my video to "go viral", The honor of being on this stage was something I took seriously. I wanted to do a good job for the audience, the committee that selected me, and the person who referred me to the opportunity. I also believe deeply in the concept of "Compounded Generosity" and hoped to showcase the idea in a good light. Never before have I invested 40+ hours in preparing for a single speech. I realized this was a one=time opportunity, and while my experience of having delivered over 800 professional speeches was important, a shorter TED style talk was unique and was going to require me to push myself. I hired a coach (Hayley Foster - The Short Talk Expert) to help me craft the message. Over and over we re-wrote the words, and she talked me through my core message and coached my on how to highlight the most meaningful parts of my story. Her trained eyes and ears helped me weed out the "fluff" and keep the parts that would paint the picture in the minds of those who would see the talk live or later watch the video. The multiple re-writes and the dozens of times presenting the talk in my living room (and recording it) made all the difference. Had I attempted to do this project without a coach I am not sure the message would have come through as clearly. If I had tried to rely on my skills as a speaker, without the dozens of hours of writing and rehearsing it would not have turned out as well.

I learned through the process that when you are doing something important, you must dedicate the time to craft the final product with all you have. Never leave anything up to chance when you have the choice of being dedicated to the preparation.

Have a Great Day.

thom singer