Thought leadership is a product demo of your brain, and one of the best ways to share it is speaking at conferences.
Two new books will help you do just that:
TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking, by Chris Anderson, head of TED, released in May.
Get Picked: Tips, Tricks, and Tools for Creating an Irresistible Speaker Proposal, by two of our extended bluefeet team – David Pitlik and Aurora Gregory, out today.
Step One: Get Picked
You may have a great topic, but without a pitch to do it justice, your talk may never be heard outside your head.
Those who are fortunate enough to have a team of people like David and Aurora may not need this, but if you have a team that isn’t very experienced at running a speakers’ bureau, or if you have to DIY, this book is for you.
From targeting your audience to crafting your proposal to tips for your talk, Get Picked is a primer to walk you through what you need.
Step Two: Create and Give a Great Talk
This is where the TED book shines. An engaging yet thorough explanation of styles, tips and techniques, each is illustrated with examples from TED talks.
Not only do you get the great explanation on the page, you can then watch it in action – a major bonus to really appreciate how a great talks works.
Anderson describes public speaking as the printing press of our era. Even without a TED talk, anyone can post a video sharing an idea with the world, perhaps finding an audience in some remote part of the globe.
It’s also fun to hear stories of the speakers that don’t get posted to TED because they broke the rules or disrespected the audience. He never names names, but the stories make his points clearly.
If you’ve got something to say, dive into these two books and prepare to share a product sample of your brain with the world.
