Ten years ago, a post on how to book a TEDx talk would have been very short, because TEDx didn’t even exist until 2009! Since then, there’ve been 15,000 TEDx (local TED-style) events, and the number of Internet views of TED speeches recently hit the billion mark. Obviously, the word is out! And since many people want to share their ideas from a TEDx Read More
When You Need People to Do What You Say, Use Accountability!
If the people you work with are human, they probably don’t always follow your instructions… and that can lead to a follow-up conversation (or confrontation) that many of us find awkward. Never fear, though: You can avoid feeling like the bad guy or having to listen to lame excuses if you build accountability in, from the start. Here’s how Read More
How To Master Business Communication: Learn the Unwritten Rules
Groups Always Enforce Unwritten Rules Funny thing about human beings: We like to organize ourselves into groups, and we like to tell each other how to act. This means that every group of people — from a single household to a country of billions — has unwritten rules for how each member should behave. (Think of the statement, “In Read More
How to Create Your TED Talk: An 8-Step Process
First, A Little Background TED (which stands for technology, education, design) began life in 1984 as a yearly (and very expensive!) conference where industry leaders and creative types went to exchange “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Back then, it was all about the live experience, and speakers were expected to bring some quirky spontaneity to the stage. But fast forward Read More
Be Brief, Be Bold, Be Gone When You Speak to Senior Leaders (and Everyone Else)
“Be brief, be bold, be gone” is a perfect description of how to talk to people who are high up in your organization’s food chain. That’s because senior leaders like their information sparse, and have famously short attention spans. But they aren’t the only ones who like conciseness and clarity, which is why “The 3 Bs” can help Read More