How a TEDx Talk Goes Viral...

Is a TEDx talk on your bucket list? It probably is, and if it isn't, I'm not sure why. Really not, because they are so potentially powerful for us. Let's do it. Hey movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney with Be Moved. Let's go create some talks that will move this world. We're going to talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources. Resources, and we are going to be moved so that our audience can be moved. This moved me. What is moving you? Hey everybody, welcome back to This Moved Me. I'm Sally Koering Zimney, your virtual speaker coach, and I empower purpose-driven entrepreneurs and changemakers like you to leverage speaking on behalf of your business or your idea, unleash your authentic voice so that you can grow your impact, finally leave self-doubt and obscurity in the dust. Oh yeah! And today we are talking about how to land that TEDx talk. Let's land it! And most people I know Unless they are like deathly afraid of speaking. But even people who are, I swear, everybody's got a TEDx talk on their bucket list. And we know why, right? We've seen what TEDx can do for your career, for your credibility, for your business, for your growth. It can be game-changing. I use that phrase way too much, but I, but I mean it, right? The TEDx talk can be game-changing. And what is so powerful about that TEDx talk, and what's unique about a TEDx talk versus lots of other talks, is that it's a fairly democratic process. It's really about the purity of the idea. So there's good and bad to that, right? Like, many TEDx events are not focused on the quality of the the speaker. They're not necessarily focused on your speaking experience. Even they prioritize the idea. And what that means is that any of us could get a TEDx Talk, right? Any of us. And that's both scary and infuriating. But if we are intentional with our approach, this is accessible for you. So I'm really excited to introduce you to the two organizers of the TEDxSaintCloud event, which is where I got to share my own TEDx a few years ago. Their names are Brian Hart and Erin Perry-Boren, and they have put together a super successful TEDx experience in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, which is where I'm from, and it's really grown significantly in the past few years. I got to speak at the very first TEDxSaintCloud, And just this year in 2020, they produced their digital version a few weeks before when you're probably listening to this now. Now, before we dive in, I want to talk about today's sponsor for the show, and that is the new Movers U. And Movers U, you've probably heard about it at this point. It is the online membership experience for you to help uplevel your speaking and use your voice to grow your impact. Now, Movers U is designed to support you through all the seasons of your speaking content development mindset, business scale and growth through courses, coaching, and community. It's pretty much the bomb. It's pretty awesome. And right now I am offering founding members pricing if there are any spots left. Okay, so I'm recording this a few weeks before when you're hearing this, and we already have spots filling up. We were halfway through. And so I don't know how many are left. There might not be any left, but it's worth trying. It's worth checking because the first 50 members get in at $29 a month, which is bonkers. It's bonkers because for $29 a month, you get a masterclass, you get a Q&A, you get hot seat live coaching, and you get access to all of the mini courses in Movers U along with this huge library of resources that exists in there. All topically organized. It's magical. It's awesome. And a community of awesome people who are going to support you along the way. It's win-win, win-win, win-win, win-win. It's $29 to get started and to make 2021 a year where you can feel more confident in your skills, see growth in your own ability to show up, to get visible, to share your story. And 2021 could be the year where you really begin building revenue into your speaking as well. So join us over at bemoved.com/join-movers-the-letter-u to learn more. Now let's get to the interview. Here they are, Brian Hart and Erin Cech. Sally Koering Zimney. So way back in the inaugural TEDx St. Cloud, which I honestly was so thrilled, so still am thrilled to have been a part of it because it's a bucket list moment. And so what, what initially got you invested and involved in this? Because it's a labor of love. You are completely volunteers. And it's a ton of time. I mean, I put on events as a profession and it is so much work to do them well. So what initially got you involved in it?

Yeah, so we were both on the Innovation Corps committee for the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation, and that's where the TEDx St. Cloud idea kind of came to life. I was very involved on the marketing side and I know for me, it was something I just wanted to see St. Cloud have really badly. I knew there was a lot going on and I wanted a spot for us to showcase it.

For sure. Yeah. And TEDx is such an amazing platform because you get to utilize the strength of the brand.

And, uh, it just continues to grow. It's that community likes to come together. It's a group of curious people. Across a wide range of subjects. And the TEDx format is just a terrific way to introduce new ideas to people.

Awesome. Yeah. So what does it look like now versus our first year where we were— there was, you know, you only had 100 tickets to sell. Where are you at now?

Well, it's been quite a journey. Each year has been different. We love the Paramount Theater as our home, and the team there is just terrific to work with. And actually, this is the 99th year of the Paramount. Next year, we'll be celebrating their 100th year anniversary, and we're looking forward to helping them celebrate. We continue to grow after, you know, the first year a TEDx event is organized, you have a 100-seat license. And then if you meet, you know, a bunch of criteria set by TED, you can apply for a larger license, which we've had since that first year. So the Paramount holds 800 people roughly. And we grew in years 2 and 3 to almost fill the house last year. And I was quite confident that we would have filled the house this year until that lousy COVID came along. So this year has been really interesting. We're going to originate live from the Paramount. So we'll still be at our home. The speakers will be live and there'll be just a few people in the theater too, so that our speakers have someone to speak to. It's difficult to talk to just the camera and crew. Yeah. And, uh, but we are going to livestream and we wanted to make it something other than a standard Zoom call. So we, thanks to former speaker Mark Gill, who's a data visualization engineer, He's created a virtual Paramount Theater virtual reality experience in Altspace. And so we are going to project and livestream that alt reality space to everybody. So I think probably, I don't know what, 80, 90% of our audience will be watching us from a regular browser and having a 2D experience. But there is the option for people that have virtual reality headsets to enter the virtual reality Paramount Theater and experience the event in Altspace.

That is so cool. Oh my gosh, I cannot wait. That is amazing. How do I— I got to get some headsets before then. That's so cool. I love it. And I mean, So curious from your perspective, obviously shifting to not being able to all gather changes things. We as speakers and event people, we are really grappling with this, but I will say some of the benefits that I've seen, and I'd be curious about your perspective on this, is it's unlimited tickets, right? So now whoever can come up to the last minute, I mean, maybe not last minute, right? But it opens it up in a really powerful way. And I, I love the creativity of the ways in which we are trying to bring these ideas and this experience to life. So good for you.

Sally, one of the things that has been interesting thinking about your audience of aspiring speakers is that, you know, I think most people have started to experience a little bit of fatigue with Zoom or online meetings and streamed events. Events. So we were very conscious of the fact that we have probably limited attention span time frames for an all-online event. How long are people going to be willing to sit in front of, you know, their computer monitor or in their virtual reality headset? So we challenge— we're going to have 5 talks this year. And we challenge the speakers to aim for a talk of about 10 minutes.

Love it.

Which is super challenging. The shorter the talk, I think the more preparation goes into it because every idea and, and word and story becomes so pivotal. And so it's been really fun to watch the speakers grapple with that challenge and respond brilliantly. For example, TEDx St. Cloud is, I think, in the minority of TEDx events. And there's well over 3,000 TEDx events a year at this point. So there's like any given day of the year, there's 100 TEDx happening somewhere. I think unusually, our event is relatively short. It's always been an evening event and We started with 4 speakers our first year, and we had 6 speakers the next 2 years. This year we're having 5 talks but 7 speakers. We have 2 talks that are co-presented, so that means we have a very small number of spaces available, whereas other TEDx events that are half day or full day, they may present 20, 30 or more speakers in their event. So that would be something to kind of research and become familiar with, is the TEDx event that I'm interested in.

I'd love to hear from the two of you what you, what you really think the, the power of the TEDx event is. What have you seen in terms of the impact that it has either on you or on the community or on the greater, uh, world. Because it doesn't just exist— it's the cool thing about it— it doesn't just exist in the now, in the moment, at the Paramount Theater, those folks who are there or are watching immediately. It lives on. So I would just love to hear from you because I know that's part of what drives you.

What is most exciting to me is the energy that I experience when the TEDxSaintCloud community gathers. When we have that group of people, you know, at the reception, at intermission time, talking about the talks that they've heard already, who they're looking forward to listening to, there is a palpable energy in the event and the people, and it's really positive energy. It's focused on curiosity and wonder and exploration and excitement about trying something new or thinking about something in a different way, and you can really feel that. So first and foremost, I think we think of that as just kind of something we can do One of the fringe benefits, and it's something I suppose every aspiring TEDx speaker thinks about, is that there's always the possibility that when you get on the TEDx platform that you might get promoted to the TED.com platform. And we've had that happen once so far in our experience, and Eric Sonnerud, a speaker 2 years ago who talked about the importance of small farms in our economy, and, and the threats that they're facing. His talk was promoted to TED.com last year, and so he went from our, you know, St. Cloud, Minnesota audience to a global audience. And the last time I looked, he was at about 1.6 million views. My gosh. So that's just kind of astonishing that you can get that kind of reach with a powerful idea.

What do you think it was about his talk that did that?

He had a unique point of view as a young farmer and take on, you know, the challenges facing smaller farmers in our area specifically and work that's been done. You know, he talked about trying to get people to move personally from a farm, farm-to-table awareness, or, you know, kind of buying locally grown food, to thinking about it much bigger in terms of what does that mean we should be doing in our laws and support systems for farmers. So it was just, I thought, a really personal and passionate perspective on farming.

Love it.

Erin?

Yeah, I think it was He hit a very relevant topic at a very relevant time, and he did it very, very well.

Yeah, it's timely, right? And it hit on a pain point of the now. I often talk with my speakers who want to do a TEDx talk. It's like, it can't just be about your expertise and doing it well. There has to be this third layer of the urgency of now, how needed it is, speaking to something that the world is really feeling, because that— I think that's when that potential becomes real.

Yeah, agreed.

Nice, love it. Well, on behalf of TEDx St. Cloud Speaker, I just want to thank you both for all of your time and energy in making this happen, because it really was a dream come true for me. Even as, as a speaker, and I speak a lot, I was like, I just really want to stand on that little red dot.

I really do.

And so thanks for all of your work and effort, not just for me, but for the whole community too. And now 1.6 million other people, right? So thanks to both of you.

Thank you to all our speakers. We know it's a lot of work.

It is a lot of work, a lot of emotion. Not lying. Oh, it's a big moment. It is a really big moment. It can be kind of harrowing, but that risk, the courage moment up in front is totally worth it. Whatever happens, even if it is an experience just for— just for the people who show up and are in the room with you, that is really special in and of itself. So it's not all about going viral, even though that is pretty much everybody's secret little goal.

Thanks, Sally. It's fun, fun to chat about TEDx.

Yeah, good luck with the event next week. I hope it goes super well. I'm sure it will. Yay, so good. Thanks, Aaron. Thank you, Brian. I really loved that conversation, especially if we're looking ahead to 2021 and wanting to use that incredibly powerful platform as part of our growth. Now, what you just heard was actually just an excerpt of the entire interview, which is one of our masterclasses that is taking place over in Movers U. So this masterclass is our highlight for this month of December. But every month we bring in a new full-length, fully fleshed-out masterclass experience that is powerful, it's relevant, it's tactical and masterclass level so that you can take the next stage in your speaking journey. $29 a month through the end of December or until all 50 spots are filled up. Whichever happens first. So I think we're close, you guys. So head on over there, go to bemoved.com/join-movers-the-letter-u. We're gonna take 2021 by storm together. Yes, we are. And I can't wait to see you in there. Movers, this moved me. This movie. See you next week.

Bye-bye.