How to introduce yourself

I’m going to make a prediction.

Rebecca Okamoto’s TEDx talk will become one of the most watched talks of all time. She understands something that most TEDx speakers don’t…👇

Most people treat TEDx talks like a legacy project.

That usually means creating a talk that expresses who they are, instead of one that serves their audience’s needs. Most common ingredients?

1. A big idea they want to be known for

2. Stories about finding their purpose and sharing their “why”

3. A complete showcase of their expertise

You could have forgiven Rebecca for doing the same. She’s been in the communication game for over 12 years - clearly she is a subject matter expert.

And yet, she decided to centre her talk around a concept that most people would dismiss as ‘too basic’ therefore ‘not impactful enough’. Have a watch…👇

How to introduce yourself in 20 words or less:

Three things I want you to take from Rebecca’s strategy:

1. Design your talk for recommendability ♻️
   If you’re planning to use a TEDx talk as a visibility tool, build it around an everyday, universal problem. Why? Because it will dramatically increase your chances of creating a viral loop.
    

2. Less is more ⏳
   Less is also far more enjoyable (most people find preparing for a TEDx talk completely miserable), trying to pack so much in is a big contributing factor for this. Just because something is simple, it doesn’t mean it can’t be impactful. Her talk lasted 9 minutes; she could have taken 18, but she didn’t.
   

3. Don’t listen to your ego 🙉
   It will tell you that this is not the way to make the most of an opportunity like this. I cannot overstate how much courage it must have taken to go down this route.

Alex

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