In 2024 I was chosen as a TEDx Speaker from more than 150 applicants at TEDxEustis. Since then many people have asked how I did it and how they can do it, too. (If you don’t even know what a TEDx Speaker is, you’ll want to read my other blog first.
Here are the 10 steps I took to become a TEDx speaker:
1. Find a TEDx Event
Becoming a speaker begins with finding an upcoming TEDx event to which you can apply. I was fortunate to locate TEDxEustis, just 40 minutes from my home. You can apply to any TEDx, but the cost of travel is on your own. I highly recommend attending an event in person before you submit a proposal to speak so you understand the way it all works.
You are not paid to be a TEDx speaker and you won’t own the video afterwards. You are not allowed to post the entire video to your own social channels once it’s complete. The final video will live on the TEDx official YouTube site and they receive any advertising dollars that may come from your hundreds, thousands, or even millions of views. (I’m thinking BIG for you!)
2. Submit an Online Form
If you’re okay with funding yourself and not owning the rights to your talk, the next step is a submission form. You’ll fill out an online form answering questions such as:
- What is your one idea worth spreading?
- What is the title of your talk? (They help with this later if needed)
- Why are YOU the best person to share this idea?
- What kind of speaking experience do you have? (NONE is required)
If you have a specific TEDx location where you’d like to speak, pay attention to when and how often they host their events. Some hold annual talks; some only host talks once every other year. I’ve also found talks online that appear to have only happened once and were never repeated. Keep checking the host location website to see when submissions are being accepted.
The TEDxEustis event where I participated has been held at the end of January or early February for seven consecutive years starting in 2018. The submission deadline for me was in early August and speakers were chosen and notified at the end of August 2023.
3. Be Chosen
Each TEDx Speaker event works differently so I can only speak to my experience with TEDxEustis. For 2024 more than 150 submissions were received and only 14 speakers were chosen. Some of the speakers are picked based solely on the topics and ideas shared on the submission form. Some speakers are “recruited” because they have a great story that would make an excellent TEDx talk.
I’m told that larger TEDx organizations can cultivate their speaker lineups solely from people they contact and coach. Smaller TEDx events supplement the speaker pool with a submission process. At the end of the day it’s a mix of personally chosen speakers and people who submit an idea on their own. I was one of the ones who submitted my idea.
4. Get a Coach Assigned
After the 14 were selected and notified, we were assigned a coach. Not every TEDx event provides a coach. This is something unique to TEDxEustis. The coaches help with honing ideas and crafting the actual speech. They help you practice and present. My coach was assigned about four months before the event so we had plenty of time to practice, practice, practice.
Writing the speech out on paper is the first step. Based on my speaking style and speed (using Arial pt 14 font and 1.15 line spacing in a Google Doc), my 10-minute speech was five and a half pages long. It started longer, but my coach and the TEDx Speaker team helped me cut out the redundancy and lines that didn’t land as I intended.
5. Write An Outline
Before you start writing the speech itself, you need an outline. This will help you stay on track and hit the most important parts of your idea worth spreading.
My outline looked like this: (and yes, for the grammar nerds, it’s not a TRUE outline but more like a list of notes to keep me on track and in order)
- Opening weather joke – getting paid to lie
- How it started – background, journalism degree, early years
- Early (first) reinvention – transitioning from news to weather
- Doing the work – back to school, meteorology degree,
- Later (second) reinvention – transitioning from weather to the unknown
- Embracing opportunity – moving past the “yes…but…” conversations
- Conquering fear – focusing on what’s gained rather than what’s given up
- Reinvention steps – 1. Do the work 2. Take your time 3. Remove “yes, buts” and fear 4. Focus on gains
- Conclusion – reinvention is possible at any age
Some people prefer a more wordy outline. I kept mine simple and basic. If you watch the final version of my speech, you’ll notice that I basically followed the outline but there is a lot more information in the speech than is in the outline.
6. Write the Speech
This part wasn’t difficult for me because I have written in many formats for most of my career. However, I recognize that this can be a daunting task for people with no writing background. My best advice is to do “voice to text” if you can. Pretend you are sharing “your story” or your “one idea worth spreading” with a friend. Talk to your imaginary friend while recording your voice. Then put that on paper and use it as your first draft.
I would stay away from asking A.I. (ChatGPT, etc.) to write your speech for you. You want this to be YOUR WORDS. Also, take it from someone who speaks for a living, it is MUCH easier to memorize a speech that’s in your own words than one that was created by someone else.
Some TEDx Speaker events allow you to use a PowerPoint or outline during your presentation. TEDxEustis does not allow notes, props, or anything else on the stage with you unless it’s a necessary part of your talk. One of my co-speakers at TEDxEustis2024, Matrick Thorpe, presented “Lessons Learned in the Pursuit of Music.” His cello was integral in his talk and therefore included.
7. Practice, Practice, Practice
TEDxEustis requires that every speech be memorized. Their required length for my class was 10-14 minutes. Other events allow more time (up to 18 minutes).
Practicing is the biggest part of the TEDx experience. You must feel confident and comfortable with your speech. You don’t want to be fumbling for words on stage or sound like you’re reading a script. Once the words are memorized you can practice sounding more conversational. Too often, people don’t have their speech memorized early enough so when they get on the stage, the nerves take over and they can’t remember the lines.
I highly recommend reading the speech out loud in its entirety every single day from the time it’s written until you present it. Record audio of yourself reading the speech and listen to it while you’re in the car or cleaning the house. You only have one shot at this and you want to feel completely confident on the day of the event. Block off chunks of time when you can memorize sections of your speech.
Practice standing up and looking at a pretend audience. Some people will tell you to practice in front of the mirror, but I don’t do that. I find it too distracting. Others find it too comfortable. Watching your reflection in the mirror is not the same as looking at hundreds of people staring at you. Try recording video of yourself on your phone and watching it back. Look at your whole body – not just your face – so you’ll see what the audience will see. You may also want to watch another TEDx Speaker on YouTube to see how they move their hands, command the stage, and make eye contact with the audience.
TEDxEustis provided optional virtual rehearsals with other speakers, coaches, curators, and the core team for speakers who wanted extra practice. There was one required virtual run-through and a dress rehearsal the day before the event.
8. Attend Dress Rehearsal
TEDx Eustis coordinated a lunch and mandatory dress rehearsal the day before the actual event. Speakers from out of town were given local hotel information in advance so they could make their own travel arrangements. This was the first time I was meeting most of my fellow speakers in person.
They sent us tips on what to wear and told us to avoid chunky or distracting jewelry. I wore simple hoop earrings but ended up removing them when we discovered they interfered with the microphone.
We did a complete run-through of the event at the actual location on the actual stage. We went in the order we would be presenting the next day and listened to each other’s speeches. This helped take some of the nervousness out when we could perform in front of other people who weren’t our family and friends.
9. Break a Leg!
The show started at 9 AM on a Saturday and I was the very first TEDx Speaker! As nerve-wracking as that was, it was also a relief to get it done. Then I could thoroughly enjoy the other 13 talks that came after me.
Although there is a live audience in an auditorium who laugh and cry and react to your talk, you are not performing for the audience. TEDx talks are recorded and uploaded to YouTube so you are performing for the cameras. You don’t look directly into the cameras which are set up in the back of the room. You look at the audience and you perform in front of the audience, but you are allowed to stop and start again if necessary!
Obviously presenting the entire talk with zero mistakes is ideal, but there aren’t too many people who are that perfect. There were a few times that I forgot my next line. I was able to look to my coach, who was sitting in the front row with a copy of my speech in hand, and he fed me my line. Then I just paused, reset, and started over from that sentence. With editing magic afterward, the speech looks flawless.
I don’t know how other TEDx events are staffed, but TEDxEustis uses volunteers for theirs. Eustis High School TV production students and teachers operated the cameras and hooked up the microphones. They set up the lights and edited the videos to be sent to YouTube. The entire event is run by volunteers in the community who are passionate about the TEDx goals. Several businesses sponsored the event to defray the costs of renting the space.
Because I was the first speaker of the morning, there was a problem with my microphone cutting out. I had to restart my speech three times – and take off my earrings after the second one. To watch the video now, you’d never know all of that happened.
It took about four hours to record all 14 speeches. We had a few brief intermissions between groups of speakers where people could chat and grab a snack. Audience members are asked to stay for the entire event. Speakers take group photos afterward and some set up tables to sell or advertise their wares. I had a table to sign my children’s weather books during the breaks.
Once the day ends, you wait. It could be weeks or it could be months before the talk is posted to YouTube. TEDx posts videos randomly and with no warning so you just have to wait and see when yours shows up. My talk was live on February 3 and my completed video was posted on YouTube by TEDx on March 26. A few of my 14 fellow speakers had to wait even longer.
Sadly, you don’t get to choose how the video is edited or which thumbnail is randomly chosen. I definitely would have picked a different screengrab of my face rather than the one of me in mid-sentence. Once you’re done on the stage, your ability to make any changes is over.
10. SHARE with Everyone You Know & Even Those You Don’t!
Depending on how you hope to use your TEDx talk video, you’ll want to have a distribution plan. Yes, you should post it to all of your social media channels and text it to everyone on your contact list. Ask them to watch, hit like, and add a comment. All of those things help get more reach which means more people can see it outside of your limited circle.
Beware of companies who charge you to get more reach for your video. There are a LOT of them out there – and some are scams. I had several reach out to me when my video posted. They “guaranteed” I would get hundreds of thousands (or even a million) views but wouldn’t guarantee that these were real views by real people. There is so much fake software out there now and ways to scam the system.
If a video has been on YouTube for a while, and it’s incredible content, it makes more sense that the millions of views are legitimate.
My goal is always authenticity so I want real people to watch my video. I refuse to pay someone to increase my viewer count on YouTube. Am I stupid for doing that? Maybe. But I’m also the person who refuses to let A.I. write a blog post for me even when everyone else is doing it.
I can’t, in good conscience, brag about a video with a million views if I know most of them aren’t actual views. So HUGE thanks to each of you, real people, who have watched and shared my TEDx talk.
“Reinvention at Any Age” is near and dear to my heart and I hope it inspires you to reinvent yourself whether you WANT to or you HAVE to. And, of course, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE!
If you’d like to see the entire Class of TEDxEustis 2024, I created a YouTube playlist of all 14 speakers. ENJOY!
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