Inside The Tedx Talk Experience: A Speaker's Perspective Application to Stage

Hello and welcome to a one-time only limited edition podcast episode where I share what it's like being a TEDx speaker. So it has been a while since I've done any kind of communication like this. So if the algorithm has been doing what it's doing and you haven't seen anything of anything that's been going on, I'm actually going to talk to you about What it's like being a TEDx speaker. I was able to add that title to my list of accolades as of March 2024. And over the next few minutes, I'm going to talk to you about what it's like being a TEDx speaker, whether it is on your agenda, whether it is a part of your bucket list, or whether you're just really curious. You watch the videos all the time on YouTube or on the website, or you've been to the conferences and you're like, what is it really like? become a TEDx speaker. So over the next few minutes, it's going to be very informational. So sit back, relax, and be sure to catch this and pause it as necessary to take some notes. So first of all, let's rewind a little bit. I am Zaakirah Muhammad, and I am a childhood eye cancer survivor and a brand cultivating strategist and a TEDx speaker. But before I was even able to add TEDx to my title, I was a speaker. I was confidently making it to 100 episodes on my own podcast. I had my own summit. I was on other people's platforms, both in person and online. Now, I think the one thing that I think I should start off with before I talk about the 3 things that really led me to being a TEDx speaker is that I was one of those little girls that was watching the videos on TEDx, super inspired by the talks. Saying, I want to do that one day. So it really started with my intention. I got really intentional about it by setting that intention both in a journal and in the community of other speakers who have, you know, done what I've wanted to do in 2021. So really since 2021, it's been a matter of building that community and utilizing those connections in order to get to where I am today. So come March 2024, I was able to do it at the University of Tulsa. It is an application process. I think one of the most frequently asked questions is, did you get invited? Did you have to apply? Yes, it is a free application process. So I'm going to give a little bit of tips on how I was able to land my first TEDx talk on my very first attempt. But not everyone is lucky to do that because that's, that's very They're very meticulous about the talks that they accept and why they deny it. Now, I'm not an expert, but I've done enough research and gratefully put myself in the rooms virtually and in person with others who have done talks or make their own TEDxes. So let me rewind all the way back. If you're one of those, it's like, okay, what is— what are you even talking about? TEDx stands for Technology, Education, and Design. Those 3 letters stand for Technology, Education, and Design, and they've been around for 40 years. They are based out of Canada. But if you see an x, a small x next to the capital letters, that means that anywhere in the world, any state, any country can have their own and follow the same framework as the main TED platform. So it's been around for 40 years, and I pretty much call it the Super Bowl for public speaking, especially because of the amount of work that goes into it, but the least amount of money that comes out of it. Like, they don't necessarily pay you to speak. So you, again, this is my background is in brand strategy and marketing. So it's going to be a few branding and marketing tips being intertwined in this. So you definitely have to make sure that you set your intentions of why you even want to be a TEDx speaker. And even if the word TEDx is like, okay, now that I understand what it's about, I can make my own. I want to make my own stage. That's completely fine. The same thing applies. So, you know, once I got onto that red circle, that red dot that you see, the red letters, it's, it was nerve-wracking process, but it was not an easy process. So it starts with a lot of script changing. Once you do get accepted into the application process, you do have to change your script a lot. The one that you submit doesn't necessarily stay the same. Gratefully, my title was able to stay the same. A lot of people end up having their title completely changed, especially from the marketing perspective, if behind the scenes the TEDx team decides to market yours. And so basically, being able to have yours marketed, which is why you'll see that some of them, as soon as they're posted, within 24 hours get like a million views. That's because the TEDx team did whatever they do, whatever they've been doing for the last 40 years, and marketed themselves. So I set my intention, I applied. As soon as I got interviewed, I did again talk about my topic, but what I wanted to talk about, I think the nitty-gritty of, you know, what do I want my talk to be known for, that's completely scratched by the time you watch it on YouTube. So there's a lot of And then there's also, again, every chapter does it differently, but we had our first workshop in person. But by the time we had our workshop, we should have had our script together. So because I had a sense of this, I knew that I wanted to reach back out to my own community and find my own kind of coach who would be able to help me to narrow down my script because I had 15 minutes. I think back in the day, there's a popular kind of what-if question of if you could talk about something for 18 minutes straight, what would you talk about? Based off of the mentality of, thank you for coming to my TED Talk. But I had 15 minutes, right? And nowadays they're even cutting it down to 10, 11, or 12. So I knew I needed to reach someone who understood where I wanted to go, who'd been where I wanted to go. But also, by the time we did get to workshop number 1, I did have my own coach. Luckily, my coach from the actual TEDx chapter was the person who was the curator for the previous year. They're in college right? So if you graduate, you're no longer the curator. So I was grateful to have the one who actually curated the one before, so she did an amazing job helping me as well. So that was in person, but then you kind of really have to dedicate the time. You have to dedicate the time every single week, the equivalent of you're back in school. Like, I really felt like by the time I walked across that stage to speak, I felt like I was graduating yet again. So you— have to meet with them every single week to tweak the script, tweak the script, tweak the script, memorize it. Don't even forget about memorizing. That's the most important part. Um, I think that's what most people tend to forget about. You have to memorize it. And so for me, that was completely different. Normally I am intuitive, I'm spiritual, I'm an empath, so I will follow my intuition. But, um, memorizing it— I'm just— this is why I feel like Even now going forward, whether it's for my own summit, my own other speaking opportunities aside from the ones that are already secured, that I'm going to make sure that I am asking for my worth in charge intact. Because it's a lot of mental mentality shift that have to happen to just be a TEDx speaker. And then to have that accolade, you know, living on your website and have that video living on YouTube, you know, you're now entering a new chapter. of your own life and a part of your legacy. So memorizing, script changing. Oh, and you do want to look fly when you're on stage. Now, of course, if it was a man just watching this and you're like, I'm just going to get my favorite suit color and a tie and go about it, right? No, that actually is a whole spiritual transformational process in its own. I haven't had my makeup done since prom. 12+ years ago. So I got my makeup done. I'm personally— I'm a woman of faith, so I don't show my hair, but I did have to get my hair done. That's a spiritual process too. And then of course finding the outfit, these shoes. And then me personally, my personal experience is I ordered a dress and it wasn't the dress that I ended up wearing in the video. When you search for my video, Seeing Life from a Different Lens, it's not the dress I wanted to wear. But it just all works out in the end, right? So getting ready, it's a truly rigorous process. Now, my process was 3 months. Gratefully, I applied in October, and gratefully, I caught it at the extension. I had been keeping my eye on when they open and close it. Again, every place is different, but I'm just referring to my specific experience with the University of Tulsa because they are a college. I caught it I guess when they were about to start their fall semester, but it was the extended date. They had already extended it, and then I caught it. I saw it in March, but that was that's when they usually have theirs. So application process was closed, and then so when did I see this? So if I applied October 2023, I started in March. I had moved to Tulsa. Okay, this is again everything you. As you go on in your life, whether it is a TEDx stage or just being a keynote speaker anywhere, you're going to find little bitty tidbits in your life where dots have connected. So I moved to Tulsa February 2022. So I think the first time I took a look, it was March 2022 and the application was already closed. I think maybe I looked again. I don't remember when I looked, but anyways, I applied October 2023. I found out On my birthday, my birthday, December 20th, that I got in. But of course, between October and December, I was already doing intention setting, right? Continuing to do the intention setting that I have had for the last, you know, since 2021. And then the first workshop was 30 days after that, and then it was a 3-month process. But again, everybody's different. After that, That's pretty much it, right? So that's how you get there. That's the process. I think it's— I answered the most frequently asked questions. So I'm gonna pause there and just now just say that what also came out of it is that it was really, from the marketing perspective, it was really a— it's a great lead magnet, obviously, because it's completely free. But it's also a— it's also a— how do you explain it? There's some people that want to test a new idea. That's what their theme had been for the last few years, Ideas That Change the World. So most people want to test a new idea on that stage, and based off of the feedback of the audience, the curators, and even whatever traction they get afterwards, that's— if you look at I recommend this. Here's my marketing tip for you to do after listening to this. If there is an influencer that you follow, it depends on how deep you want to go, because sometimes you can already be up all night going down a Netflix rabbit hole. But instead of doing that, go down a TEDx YouTube rabbit hole. Look at your fellow, your favorite influencer who had done a TEDx talk. And maybe find that timeline between when they did the talk promoted that they did the talk and what happened after that. You start to see— this is how I knew how I had to narrow down on my own niche. You start to see that they took that topic and ran with it. It became a book. It became the theme of their YouTube. It became some— maybe a documentary, depending on which theme or education or type of technology design it's going to be used for. So keep that in mind when you're— next time you see your favorite influencer doing a TEDx talk, instead of getting jealous, use it as a case study. All right, so I think now I'll talk about afterwards. So they communicated that it would take 60 days for the video to be released. Again, this is Justin University of Tulsa. And so 60 days was also Memorial Day, so, you know, give or take, it actually was— I found it on YouTube 63 days after it was Really, after it was filmed, actually. And so because I knew there'd be time in between there, I intentionally took the time to make sure that there was a behind-the-scenes photographer and videographer to make sure there's content to get of the filming day. And so that I can be— I can talk a little bit more about what I— what it was like behind the scenes. So you can also go to my YouTube and search my YouTube channel and see Life Different with Zaakirah Nayyar, Z-A-A-K-I-R-A-H-N-A-Y-Y-A-R. And then you'll see a playlist on there and it has my behind the scenes video, which is just a shortened version of this that you're watching and/or listening to. So I made sure that I had behind the scenes video because I knew that there would be time between. What I didn't know, again, this is that lead magnet of customer discovery too, is that the people that gravitated toward me toward the end of the talk, Also saw, had monocular vision like me. They were sharing their experiences of how they lost their eye or lost their vision and how it impacted them mentally and the complete other side of it. I've always wanted to be a TEDx speaker. How do I do that? Right? So the beautiful part is that that's literally what I've been talking about since 2021, since being on other podcasts and launching my own podcast, how to overcome your own mental change and to tell your story and tell your story so consistently in a way by intertwining empathy and love and advocacy and marketing and branding to then land on stages such as TEDx. Yes. Now I'm just going to stop right there because that is a lot of information. And so basically all I will say is that I'm actually launching a thought leadership community Um, it's going to be a private off of Facebook, off of, uh, Instagram. There's so many options out there now for communities. It's so overwhelming for, you know, those who come to me for marketing. But I'm going to launch a community, um, predominantly for if you are considered marginalized or minority and you've wanted to be a speaker to tell your story. You know, you've overcome the trauma, you've made it, you're just like, okay, well, what do I do now? I feel like I'm healed enough. What do I do now? So if you go to bit.ly/masteryourtalk, that is basically the entryway into the community. But first, it's basically a free email course where you're going to get to just get even more details into what I did share of what it was like. Because I know you can take in information differently. You can read it, you can listen to it, you can watch it, or you can do it yourself, right? So be sure to go to bit.ly/masteryourtalk, and then it's about a week-long free email course where you can get more details into what it's like to prepare for your own talk. And then my big option is for you to join the private community, so make sure you do that. That's where I'm going to put a pin, and I can't wait to hear what you got out of it, what your favorite takeaways are. So be sure to take a look at my actual talk, which is on the TEDx YouTube called Seeing Life from a Different Lens. And then it'll make it a lot easier if you just go to my YouTube, search for See Life Different with Zaakirah Nyar, and then I have one big playlist right there that would take you to the behind-the-scenes video, the actual video, and various clips going that way. So thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Be sure to tag me on social media if there was your favorite quote or takeaway, and be sure to share this. So just in case there are others who, you know, this has been on their goal, on their wish list, and I happen to be that vessel for them. So be sure to share it. Sharing is caring. And I will see you when I see you.