Written By: Viv Vermaak
The Cape Town chapter is growing! We welcomed another new member last night and had to bring a few extra chairs in!
Our MC for the night was Jonathan Weimers, who warmed up the room by asking everyone to name one lesson they have learned that they can share with others.
Contributions included:
‘Never stop believing in miracles.”
‘It costs nothing to be kind.”
“Learn to be comfortable with discomfort.”
‘Have the audacity to be average.”
“Our failures are our lessons.”
In our main session, Eksteen de Waal shared some insights and pointers into becoming a TEDex speaker. Many in our group want to apply for the next TEDex talks in Cape Town, so we were a captive audience. Eksteen is a motivational speaker, writer, author, storyteller and has done two TED talks. He says his first one was such a disaster they are using it as a training manual on how NOT to do it. His second one went well, however, and he shared some insights from his experience.
The most important aspect of a TED talk is to understand they are looking for ‘ideas worth spreading.’ It is a crucial differentiator between a showcase talk, a Pecha Kucha talk or Toastmasters. The application and preparation process is long and vigorous. He said people must be prepared to end up with a totally different speech to the one they thought they were going to make. While coaches are assigned to successful applicants, one has to be prepared. TED looks for 6 things in a contagious talk: social currency, triggers, emotion, stories, public value and practical value.
He gave us good guidance on how to gauge the professionalism of the TED chapter we are applying to, reminding us that we are performing for the cameras ultimately, not the physical audience. His second talk was called “When to hug a nerd” and, instead of using slides he wore a yellow t-shirt with his messages printed on it.
Brad Shorkend also shared his experience of TED talks. He said it took about a year’s preparation and that his first attempt he didn’t make it through to the shortlist. He encouraged all of us to apply as it it was a good stretch for a speaker. “Do something meaningful. Purely the learning is worth it.”
[Cape Chapter meets every third Monday of the month at Vin Boho. Please join us next time. Bring a friend! Whomever spots the first squirrel of the season wins 10 points!]
