149: MMM - My feedback for Chris at the TED Conference

Hey everybody, and welcome to This Moved Me, a podcast about creating talks that move the world. With me, your host, Sally Koering Zimney. Together with some fabulous guests, we will have a casual conversation about the art of public speaking, because a good talk can move the world, and it'll be fun. Yeah, I would think making alien cows meaningful. That's not a small task. I love your giggle. Wow. Oh my gosh, so waiting for everybody to figure out the alphabet. Hey Movers, it's Sally and I'm back and really excited to jump in with you. You know, I was inspired to do this. I was gonna share a different episode with you, an interview episode which will be coming around the corner soon with Harris III, who is this magician. Um, and I think, you know, kind of my way in with him and my connection with him is through the Story Gathering conference, which I have talked a lot about on this show because I think it's really connected to this work. And, and it was really a cool Conference is the wrong word. Really cool experience. So that's coming with Harris, but there was a timely thing that I wanted to jump on. On Monday evening, I went and watched the TED Conference opening session. And I was not in Vancouver, sadly and unfortunately, but I was sitting in a movie theater, what Chris Anderson called a cinema for those of you out there watching at the cinema, but yeah, it was like me and maybe 3 other people. It was kind of sad in that respect, but it was so cool to see this conference being pulled together and see it as an event, see it as an experience from beginning to end, from lights down to the start to the end. So, you know, because I think we're all used to seeing TED Talks as these individual things, but I love the magic of the flow of the experience and being in the room. So I was like, "Oh yeah, yeah, I want to go check this out." And I'd had a crazy day, honestly, and it was really the last thing that I needed to do, but I'm so glad I went. It was really interesting. And something that happened that I want to talk about is Chris Anderson at the end of it, and, and I've mentioned his name already, but he's the curator of the TED conference. So he essentially decides who's speaking and about what and kind of creates the whole experience. And he recently wrote a book about TED Talks that is a public speaking book that I haven't read. That it's on my bedside table, so I'm not gonna lie about it and make it sound like I've read it when I haven't. But I have heard— I've been working with some clients who've read it and they're like, what do you think about this? I'm like, ah, I gotta read it, I gotta read it. So anyway, he's written this book and he curates these talks and he I know does like workshops about public speaking, so I'm really curious about him. And he did this thing that I, I'm still kind of like amazed by and appreciate, and I want to point it out. So we, you know, went through the whole experience of the evening, and at the end he said, "I want to hear from you. Here is my email address, and if you have been watching online or watching in the cinema," he said, "I want to hear from you. Send me an email." What did you think? Send me some feedback. And then he closed it out and he said, thanks so much, good night. And I thought, oh my gosh, like this man has just invited millions of people to send him an email. Like he might totally regret that. But I always have feedback. My friends always, always have feedback. And I thought, okay, well I'm gonna send Chris an email. And I thought, oh my gosh, this could be some interesting fodder for us to have a conversation about too on the show, because I think there's some really important things that happened that I want to pull out that are worthy of us digging into a little bit more. So here is the feedback that I sent to Chris Anderson from the TED conference. Okay. I let them know because of course I, I let them know all the great stuff too. Uh, there, they, there was a mistake right at the beginning, so if you're watching online, you know what I'm talking about. They couldn't get— they were, they started out with this amazing like robot dancing with, um, a human. It was like a human robot dance. It was so beautiful, but I think the, like, there was something not working with the robot. They couldn't get it started right away, right away, so it started off with kind of a boo-boo. The lights go down and then nothing happened, and they came up a little bit but then went back down. And, um, and essentially that lights came all the way back up and Chris Anderson comes out and says, we're having a little trouble, but, um, you can tell right now that something big is about to happen, and, and we, we want to get this right. So, and it was fine, it was totally fine. He handled it really well, and everyone's just excited to get it started and want it to work well. So I don't think it veered off in any way or impacted the evening. That's not what they wanted to happen, but that's live theater and I love it! Woo-woo! But the robot dance was so beautiful and so moving. I mean, technically beautiful, and I've, I've got this really strong message about it, about this intertwining between the human and our technology and how we, we are in this dance together and who's pushing who and who's keeping who down and who's lifting who up. And it was the perfect entrée into the talks that were happening this evening. And I always love when you can start with something that takes our brains out of the mix for just a moment and gives us sensory experience like they did. So I loved that sensory experience at the beginning. And really honestly, it was, it was a really interesting mix throughout the evening of these traditional kind of TED Talks, right? That where a person is there because they are an expert, not because they're a great speaker necessarily, and they have practiced themselves into a sort of automation of some sense, and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I know there are many TED Talks that are brilliant and amazing and moving and kind of move beyond that, but there are also a lot that, that sort of stay in the brain, if you know what I mean, and they are kind of sit in the brain, and there were a handful of those at this TED Conference, but there were also a handful of them that really broke the mold, that pushed outside kind of the typical boundaries of what a TED Talk is, and I found that super exciting. So that is the first thing, the first piece of feedback that I wanted to give Chris is to keep breaking the mold. My favorite moments were the ones that, that did this, okay, go, is this musical group that has turned their music videos into these just unbelievable sensory experiences. And so we watched the video while they played live, and then the main singer dude whose name I don't know, he, he talked for about 15 minutes. He gave it— he gave a little TED Talk, and it was awesome. It was so good, and it was freed from kind of the typical like sitting out by yourself, serious, giant screens in the back. They used this foam core for their visuals, which was kind of quirky and fun and very much in line with who they are. And so kind of a sub— subtext to this is to stay true to who you are, even with the constraints that you're given, because there is a way. There is a way for you to do that, to like stay true to your voice and also remain in line with what the conference wants you to do. I found that really, really powerful. Then there was a painter who painted at the end, and he— man, I loved it because he integrated the painting into his talk and then did some painting himself. What I loved about this talk is that he took his time, and the typical TED Talk I don't think it takes its time and sort of sinks into the moment. Often it's just like, you know, time, time is sort of a pressure cooker of that situation. So at the end of it, I realized the typical TED Talk really isn't cutting it for me anymore, and they need to keep pushing, keep breaking the mold. Okay, that was my first one. The second piece of feedback was about what happened at the end end of each talk, whoever they were, there was this question about this hesitancy. Do I go off stage? Do I not go off stage? Do I wait for Chris? Chris is gonna come talk to me. Where do I wait for him? There were some people, it looked to me like they were waiting to see if they got a standing ovation, and that's, that's poor form. Don't do that. Don't do that. Assume that you are not, because you probably won't. No one should ever expect a standing ovation, but if you got one, I mean, good for you, then come back on, like, but leave them wanting more. Don't wait for it because it looks sort of sad, and I feel sad for you as a speaker and feel a little awkward and badly that I didn't feel the urge to jump up after your talk. So it makes the audience feel a little strange about it and sort of looks like you maybe think you're better than you are. Oh dear, I know I hate to say that out loud. But this hesitancy to go off stage or on stage or what to do afterwards, that I think really is an easy fix and easy to get cleared up. The direction is when you're done speaking, you acknowledge the audience for one moment and then you're whoop, zip yourself right off that stage and let get off before the applause dies down, people, right? So that, that's the goal. That's the goal. Because it does, it sweeps you right along, and it looks like, yep, I came in, I did my thing, and I'm gone. Thank you for, for your affirmation and acknowledgement, and I will take it and go, and I don't need more than that. Don't wait for the standing ovation. So break the mold. Keep breaking the mold. Don't wait for that standing ovation. Get the heck off stage. And thirdly and finally is about maybe a philosophical shift that I would love to push TED about, to help challenge their speakers to move away from memorization and to move towards integration, what I call integration. And I, I don't know, maybe this is controversial. I don't know, because I think it's pretty common knowledge that TED speakers are expected to memorize their speeches. And I totally see why as an event planner, right? It's a way to ensure you know what they're going to say. It, it requires and asks for a really high level of work and excellence if you're gonna memorize and As someone who's put on a lot of events and invited in outside speakers, I totally get wanting to do that, wanting to control that, and wanting to get a sense of perfection, that people cannot wing this thing. Speaking at TED is a potential game changer. It's a potential, like, milestone in your work and your contribution to the world. It can catapult you into a sort of a different hemisphere. So I don't think anybody is not taking this seriously. And I think what ends up happening is we, we are missing out on an authenticity that is not present for those people who are so focused on, on essentially reciting what they have written.. And it's not that they're emotionless, and it's not that they're totally disconnected to what they're saying, but it is, it is different. And I think every— I think you probably know what I'm talking about. It's the difference between a really connected speaker and not just connected to the audience, but really connected to what they're saying. And you can get there by memorizing, but it It takes months of work and it takes some experience and skill to translate something that has been written that you have memorized to help that move, move that from your head down into your body. It's really not easy and most leaders who aren't professional performers, who don't have that background and experience, they can't pull it off. And it shows. Not everybody, there were lots of, I mean, I think everybody was interesting in their own way, absolutely. But so for example, Tim Ferriss was one of the speakers and he messed up a few times, like just like his slide went ahead once for him and he sort of like bobbled a few words that kind of like came out funny in his mouth and he went back and corrected them and he sort of drew some focus to them. It can feel like some kind of, and I use this word lightly, some kind of sin at TED because the stakes are so high. When really I want to see a human being up there, and when we screw up it should be a humanizing moment. And it didn't feel that way in that moment, I think because it doesn't feel right in that setting. And so there's a philosophy shift that would have to come in order to make space and make room for that kind of messiness, for lack of a better word. And it just reminded me that, that we don't give TED speakers— and, and sometimes that's culturally, sometimes they're doing it themselves— enough room to be real full people up there. And this is not true across the board, of course, but It really can play into a speaker's mindset and how they approach and who they are when they show up on that stage. And the bottom line is I end up not believing these people, which is a problem. I end up feeling not totally connected to them. So it's a push, and I would just be really curious and would love to have a conversation about this with people who are already embedded in the TED culture and world. Like, where are— where's the culture at? Because I saw two different things happening last night. I saw some people breaking away from the traditional TED Talk, and then I saw some people really doubling down on it and sticking with it. So I'm curious where the culture is at and if there's room to push more towards integration and less towards memorization. More towards bringing it in your body and less towards having just like a straight line from brain to mouth, brain to mouth, which is kind of a TED Talk thing, go from brain to mouth. And I, and I just want us to be more human up there. So this begs the question of like, what is integration? Like, what are you talking about and how do you get there? Well, I think that's a really, really important conversation, and so I am gonna do some work on that. I will be pulling some stuff together and really laying out how can I— can I, instead of memorizing my talk, how can I bring it into my body? And I'm gonna create a little course that I would love for you to check out, okay? I don't have it ready yet, but I'm gonna work on it. I've started pulling it together and I'm really excited. And I feel like this applies kind of across the board, like whoever you are, whether you're getting up and doing a TED Talk or whether you are working on a big speech that you've got to give internally at work. Like, how do you take this content and have it go from just being something that is like zooming out your mouth because you've memorized it, or even worse, you haven't memorized it and so you're trying desperately to remember it, which is the worst of all the worlds, or like, how do we bring that to a deeper level? How do we bring that beyond the brain into the body? There is a process that I think works. It's not a shortcut. It still takes a lot of time, but it's a different process than I think most of us use. So I'm, I'm really excited to share it. If you are interested in what this looks like, shoot me an email, info@thismovedme.com, and I will check it out and maybe we can scoop you up and get you involved in this and help you become a speaker that is more connected, right? That can take that content and shift it into our bodies in a more efficient way, in a really intentional way. So super excited about that. All right, team. Surprise! Another mini move to me. A TED Talk! Woo! Go TED! TED Opening Event Session! There was so much good stuff in this, so much beautiful stuff. And man, to be in that room someday. Vancouver. Now. Someday. Get there. Did you get a chance to listen to the Speaking Truths? I hope you did that. There's 7 of them, that's a lot of speaking truth. My gosh, I need some water. Okay, I'm okay, okay.