Public Speaking – The (ugly) truth about my TEDx talk

In this post I share a few of the screw ups I made before and during my TEDx talk last year.

Public speaking – we all make mistakes. Even a speaking coach!

I know that most people don’t like to air their dirty linen in public but, I’ve created my vlog so you can learn…both from what I know to be best practice, and also from my mistakes.

So how could I NOT share the goss behind my TEDx? The blunders I made, the silly decisions,  and my efforts to put things right.

It’s a longish video so go ahead and watch it as I’m not even going to attempt to write a full summary here.

Public speaking – what I learned from my TEDx talk

Here are some of the main things I learned from my experience. Watch the video to find out why I make these recommendations.

  1. Avoid changing your talk at the very last minute
  2. If you take a key ingredient out of your talk, make sure you understand the implications
  3. When the talk organiser gives you instructions, FOLLOW THEM or at least, know WHY those instructions were provided
  4. Sometimes it makes sense to stop your talk, go back to the beginning and give it another go
  5. Sometimes, if you screw up, all is not lost. But try not to screw up if you can avoid it. Duh, of course!!

And here’s the talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6q0BOKAyC4

Watching it back (I was SO disappointed with myself that it took me 2 months before I could watch it back in full) it sounds a bit self indulgent to me.

Public speaking – personal story vs self indulgence

While I think personal story is an important ingredient of nearly every speech, the various distractions that I share in my blog video detail how I came to leave out out a few key chunks from the talk that would have made it more balanced. There were more stats and facts I wanted to share, and also some references to millennials in the workplace.

Sigh…

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Anyway, if you have time, watch it for yourself and let me know what you think. And more importantly, learn from my mistakes.

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P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you improve your speaking or grow your business:

1 – Get my free guide – 27 places to find speaking opportunities.

Find out where your next speaking opportunity might come from – whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or experienced speaker.

2 – Join my Facebook Group – Public Speaking for Female Coaches and Entrepreneurs.

Join us for tips, discussions and community!

3 — Are you an ambitious coach, consultant or small business owner? If you’d like to wow your audiences and find more speaking opportunities, then watch the FREE on-demand training video here: https://sholakaye.com/masterclass

4 – Find out about my VIP Days and private coaching. Book me for a VIP half or full-day session if you want to make some serious progress!