What we did
Photo Credit: Christian Fiore
Saturday, March 11th, I hosted a workshop on how to “Land Your TedTalk.” Each of us could talk about many different things “we are good at.”
But drilling it down to one concise idea, one poignant story, and one key message for the audience is the essence of a TedTalk. And most struggle with this initial step. This was our work yesterday.
My process:
1. Even though the event was a hybrid of in-person and Zoom, each attendee was a senior woman leader, creating a level playing field. The recruitment process began 6–8 weeks before the workshop. I posted content daily to arrive at the 10 attendees. I created a landing page with the profile of each attendee before they entered the room
2. I sent a detailed agenda of the timeline for the afternoon, broken down in to 15 minute increments. At the end, someone said, “That was really intense.” Sure. I come from the world of television news, where the entire hour is broken down into 2 minute increments. That planning style finds its way into my events. Workshops like this is a taste of what it is like to work with me. The VIP Client days one on one, whether in New York or in Paris are at a slower pace, because we have the entire day.
3. During the workshop, there are a series of questions to answer. First: ‘what is a topic you are passionate about?’ or ‘what is an assumption you want to challenge?” Second: “What is the message you want to leave the audience with?’ Third: “What is a personal story that would support that message?”
4. With my events, I believe in value based networking. After arriving at an answer to each question, folks paired off and shared the results of their journaling. It’s one thing to ‘think the answer’ its another to write the answer. It advances the process, when you have to say it out loud.
5. By the end, folks shared their 3 line pitch: The promise of their talk. The story they would tell (either in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person) and the message they would leave the audience with.
6. The next step is an 8 week storytelling workshop starting Thursday March 30th 6:30–8:00pm EDT. Ending May 18th.
Join the waitlist here
