🌤️ How to give an old idea new life...

One of the biggest blockers standing in the way of many aspiring thought leaders is the idea that they don’t have anything original to share. Not true. What they fail to realise is that...

The fastest way to talk yourself out of giving a big stage presentation is to watch other talks that have been done around your subject.

Here’s why…

A quick YouTube search will highlight that someone has already given the exact same talk you want to give! Scroll down and you realise, there are tens if not hundreds of talks around your topic.

It’s a gut punch to our ego and all the encouragement our inner critic needs to start throwing out excuses like…

‘It’s been done.’
‘There’s no point.’
‘I’m just adding to the noise.’

Except it hasn’t.

It’s not the same talk.

It can’t be, because they don’t have the same experiences as you.

Case and point? Writer and podcast host, Coleman Hughes.

He gave a TED talk on a topic that has ‘been done’ time and time again over the course of the last decade… colour blindness.

It’s one of the most-watched talks from TED 2023. This clip, taken from his talk, is a 64-second masterclass on how to give an ‘old idea,’ new life 🍿…

Here’s how Coleman did it (so you can too)…

1. Pre-empt that the idea isn’t new 📜
   Calling it out before your audience realises helps them be more receptive to what you’re about to say.

2. Use the word ‘but’ to create tension 🪢

   Tension is what keeps us listening. One of the most common types of tension is the gap between what you think and what your audience thinks about a topic. It’s a tactic that creates an opportunity to challenge the status quo.

3. Use an analogy to reinforce your point ❤️‍🔥
   We all think in analogies. The process of comparing one thing to another helps us to simplify complex information. It’s why so many founders will describe themselves as the ‘Uber for…’ By giving our audience an analogy up front, we are reducing their cognitive load and we make ourselves easy to listen to as a result.

Over the past 8 years, I’ve personally worked on hundreds of presentations; many of them on big stages like TEDx and Websummit (shout out to all those presenting there this week!).*

Very few of them were completely original.

Just this weekend, a MicDrop member stood on a TEDx stage to deliver a talk that really matters to them. The idea might not have been unique, but their take on it was because it was shaped by their own experiences.

No one can take those away from you.

Alex

p.s. I’m bringing together a small group of leaders who want to create a TED-style talk to deliver at conferences in 2024. Reply to this message with the word ‘visionary’ for more info.*