Your Talk is a Gift

Seth Godin is the author of several books about “marketing, the spread of ideas and managing both customers and employees with respect”. They are bestsellers. His blog is one of my favourites and I highly recommend it. This post is part of a series based on original posts by Seth. Your talk is a gift

In this blog post from 3 April 2016, Seth discusses the TED Talks that he has given over the years. The anecdotes about his different experiences are insightful. Having given my own TEDx Talk, I can relate.

Here are my takeaways from his post:

  • Sometimes you have to make significant last-minute changes to your talk.
  • When you care about your speech, it becomes a physical endeavour as much as a mental one.
  • A great talk is a blend of assiduous practice and improvisation.
  • Not every talk will be a success.
  • Your talk should change the audience in some way or get them to do something. Ideally both.
  • Despite all your preparation, the unexpected will happen.
  • Your talk is a gift and it’s time for you to give it.
Your talk is a gift

———

Your talk is a gift

by Seth Godin

In a few weeks, Chris Anderson’s much awaited book on TED Talks comes out. I’ve just finished reading it, and it’s well worth a pre-order. When Chris took the leap 11 years ago and published the first online TED talks, he fundamentally changed the way we consume (and thus give) presentations. Today, it might seem obvious, but sharing these talks online the way he did was a very big leap, and a brilliant idea.

The bullet point, long endangered, was now dead. Even if you’re not planning to give a TED talk any time soon, his book will give you a structure for how we present to groups today. It masterfully weaves and connects lessons from hundreds of talks, including speakers from every walk of life and just about everywhere in the world.

For the last 13 years, TED talks have punctuated my career. It’s a privilege and a challenge to be given that platform, and I’m grateful (and a little awed) by the opportunity. The biggest concept in Chris’s book is essential: Every talk is a gift.

Here’s a quick look back at the five I’ve given …

My newest (and shortest) TED talk is still in the vaults. I had three minutes on-stage, and discovered that the 45-slide (one every three seconds) bangbang approach that I had practiced was going to be impossible. With two days to go, I called an audible, and spent 48 hours brainstorming and developing a new talk just before I gave it. I turned it into this blog post.

When you haven’t grooved the mental pathways by giving a talk a hundred times, the experience of giving a talk to an esteemed audience is, at least for me, enervating and energizing at precisely the same time. I feel like I’m using my sinews and ligaments, not just my muscles, digging deep to remember what comes next, while simultaneously watching the clock and my audience.

This is a high risk/high reward approach. The best talks work when they open doors and turn on lights for the audience … it’s about them, not the speaker’s experience. A gift you took the time to create.

My favorite TED talk has never been featured on the TED site. It has no slides, and I gave it exactly one time. This is my version of flying without a net, of being totally present onstage, because it’s fresh for me and for the audience. (The first riff is totally improvised, it occurred to me as I walked on stage). The rest of the talk represents more than a few hundred hours of research and practice.

I hope that every teacher and every parent has a chance to argue about this one, that’s why I wrote Stop Stealing Dreams. The book is free and so is the talk, below:

My funniest TED talk wasn’t even given at TED. I did it for Mark Hurst’s fantastic GEL conference, and like the Stop Stealing Dreams talk, I have only given it once. It’s hard to describe the mix of fear and thrill that happens when they’re recording a practiced talk that’s brand new to the world … sometimes it doesn’t work, but in this case, the audience really came through for me—and yes, the audience matters. I’m not crazy about my haberdashery choices here, but that’s what happens when you’re busy focusing on something else.

Seth Godin at Gel 2006 from Mark Hurst & Creative Good on Vimeo.

My most popular TED talk is the first one I gave, in Monterey, before TED videos were a thing, when the audience was much smaller and I had no idea I’d be on camera (In Chris’s book, Barry Schwartz remembers doing his talk in a t-shirt and shorts. Yes, it turns out that revolution is being televised). This is a marketing talk for an audience that actively resisted the idea of marketing, and it was very early in my career as a speaker. I think many of the ideas hold up well here, and I won’t make any apologies about it being my first TED …

The best TED attendees are doing work that’s worth sharing, that’s worth talking about. My mission in this one (and the next) was to talk directly to the people in the room and say, “look, if it’s worth devoting your life to, and it’s worth changing the world for, perhaps it’s also worth stepping up and saying, ‘here, I made this’ in a way that spreads.”

And my most polished TED talk almost didn’t work. Walking onstage, I discovered that Herbie Hancock’s piano was sitting right where I was intending to stand. I’m a bit of a wanderer, but hey, it’s Herbie Hancock.

Meanwhile, the big clock is ticking, and there’s not a lot of free time to consider options. A few minutes into the talk, you’ll see that I pull out a light bulb. That bulb was actually a custom made magic trick, a 200 watt bulb that was supposed to light up when I touched it. There was no reason at all for this to happen, it was totally irrelevant to my talk, but I thought it would be fun, so I found a guy to build it for me. Alas, when I touched it, it didn’t light up. Live theatre!

One thing I’m proud of is that many of these talks, particularly this one, make people uncomfortable. I’m trying to create tension between what’s there and what could be, between what we do and what we could do. Thanks for watching. Even better, thanks for leading.

Time for you to give your talk. The stage doesn’t matter, the gift does.

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mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

  1. Wonderful! I love that you pick out that a talk you care about is a physical endeavour. I always say to my students that ‘speaking is sport’ – there is an athletic component that you can’t take for granted.

    1. Thanks for the comment, Matt. I tell my clients the same thing. That’s why you need to warm up before you give a speech. You have to hit the ground running. Cheers!

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John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

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HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

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National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

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General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

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CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

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Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

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Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

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Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International