MC: Ursula Botha.
Ursula opened the meeting welcoming everyone with a special mention to the many guests brought to the zoom by the topic.
After the breakout rooms (extended to 10 minutes for greater discussion time) the panel were brought on to share their individual perspectives as TEDx speakers.
Panel:
Ntsiki Mkhize: Has done two TEDx talks and would recommend careful selection of your topic and use the coaches for greater benefit. Ensure the topic is interesting and of value to the audience.
Brad Shorkend: Advises to follow the TEDx process in detail. He said “It is not about being right, it is about being amazing”. The lesson he learnt was that it was not about him and the audience wants to see value.
Lois Wagner: Did hers virtually during Covid. Recommends ensuring the message is of value. Has received over 21 000 views.
Eksteen De Waal: It is a journey. The audience is online as well as in front of you. 74% of TED talks have less than 1000 views so you need to work with TEDx to promote it.
Reneka Panday:
Licensee and Speaker Curator TEDx University of JHB.
TED is a worldwide while TEDx operate under individual licences independently organised events.
- Speakers and events are not about coaches and motivational, but are about individuals with a unique idea.
- It takes about 1 year to organise an event.
- There are significant benefits to being a TEDx speaker: Credibility, prestige, coaching, media coverage, networking. recognition, opens doors for more speaking ops.
- Focus on what your passionate about
- There is an entire structure with TEDx to support you in coaching and social media marketing. All for free.
Hylton Gudmanz:
TEDx Coach.
- Limit slides to a minimum. Your message must be authentic making it conversational and genuine,
- Keep things bite sized and short. Talks are now 8 – 10 mins. Use the coaches to help prepare your nuggets.
- Make the talk flow with a cohesive golden thread
- You will go through 3 – 5 coaching steps which is the time you make the mistakes
- Ensure it is memorable
- Keep it fresh based on what you want to be known for
- Give the audience a call to think, share, act
- On average 2 hours prep per 1 min speaking.
Meeting ended with all members and guests indicating a strong willingness to learn more and many inspired to investigate doing their own TEDx talks.
Meeting ended with the reminder that January’s PSASA Virtual will be on the 16th January.
Blog writer: Tim Wagner
