What a TedTalk In November 2013
I was hosting a business dinner in New York. I tend to get passionate about things and go off on tangents, emboldened by a glass of wine. The organizer of Tedx Barnard was at the table. She overheard me. While everyone was exchanging pleasantries afterwards, she sauntered over to me.
“Do you know failure?” she asked plaintively.
I might have been 2 glasses of red wine down.
“Yeah…”I laughed. My tone suddenly sobered
“I sure do”
“Have you ever given a #TedTalk?”
“No.”
“Would you want to?”
F*() ‘yes.’
I was immediately inducted into a six week intensive. The TED organization took the talks very seriously. There would be a line up of 6 speakers, including Barbara Corcoran. (What?)
Each of us had to share how we thought about failure. My storyline coach, Isaiah and I met each week, drafting and redrafting my life story to paper.
Back stage, I softly repeated the talk under my breath. After all, it wasn’t just the content. It was also the WAY words land. “Pull breath from the belly” my delivery coach bellowed. It was the most polished and refined re telling of my young life.
Today, that talk is the first thing that pops up when folks Google “Joya Dass.” I learned that from blind dates. I learned that from business outreaches. I learned that from my brother, incarcerated in federal prison. Since 2013, I have given that talk 13 more times. In 2023, my TedTalk will allow me to charge the most I have ever charged for a keynote.
The first and most important step of giving a Tedtalk is drilling down on the ONE THING, the one thread from your zone of genius you would give an 11 minute talk on. Maybe you and I have talked about 100 ways to creatively talk about that ONE thing from your zone of genius for #thoughtleadership .
I’m hosting a half day workshop + brunch to get to that ONE THING March 11th.
Book your spot today. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/535001553047
