On June 28, Hoboken will host its first TEDx event. I’m proud to announce Rose Communications will be one of the lead sponsors, joining the likes of The Cake Boss and hMAG.
For those who are not familiar with TED, it is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Sharing. They hold events every year featuring incredibly notable speakers who each have 18 minutes to move the crowd with their stories or big ideas. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.
Our message to TEDxHoboken attendees will be, “If an idea exists without a story, does it still make a sound?” As part of our sponsorship, we’ll give attendees a chance to win prizes from our clients whose brand stories are compelling.
The organizers have an impressive roster of speakers ready to inspire, including Peter Shankman, creator of Help A Reporter Out and Dave Carroll, the guy who became famous when United Airlines broke his guitar. Their readiness is, at least in part, the work of John Bates, a trainer who specializes in running TEDx speaker boot camps.
John was in town from the West Coast a couple of weeks ago for a TEDxHoboken salon event and I had a chance to sit down with him. We often prepare our clients to talk to media and I wondered if any of his best practices could be applied to our craft. Here’s what I learned:
- Make people care about you first. Facts don’t matter until they care. John’s approach is based on neurophysiology and he told us the part of the brain that “lights up” when someone says, “Let me tell you a story,” is the same part that expects a reward. This is the opposite of what we advise clients to do in media interviews. We always tell them to make the journalist a believer first with data and then share an anecdote, which I still think is right for that context.
- Be with your audience. This is a more realistic variation on “Imagine your audience wearing underwear.” John said not focusing on yourself and instead focusing on the audience is the number one secret to speaking success. He said conductor Ben Zander is a great example: “Within 20 to 30 seconds, you know who you’re with and you’re thrilled about it.” Sometimes, he added, this means telling the truth about yourself even when it doesn’t make you look good.
- Don’t talk about the speech in the speech. My mentor always told me to watch out for this in new business pitches. John said he’s seen TED and TEDx speakers spend time saying their name, their title, the name of their speech and how long they plan to talk — information the audience already knows. When you do this, you distance yourself from your audience. He also said it’s important not to be locked into sharing events in chronological order; it’s frequently not the best way to build the arc for your narrative. He’s posted a couple of “Speeches to learn from” on his YouTube channel.
We’ll share more TEDx news as the event draws near.