TEDx 2

I recently did a TED talk and was so challenged by the experience that I want to list some of the lessons I learned for you. In our highly verbal, video, “comm” world, all of us who aspire to be exceptional leaders will have to be exceptional communicators too. I want to do what I can to help you step toward this goal. Telling you what I learned recently will be a good start.

The lessons I learned are remarkable because I was already a fairly accomplished speaker before I spoke for TED. I do not say this with arrogance. It’s just a fact. I’ve given thousands of speeches in my life. In addition, a huge amount of my consulting work has to do with helping high level leaders improve their speaking. I’m always developing ways to increase the power of the spoken word. Still, I had—and have—further to go. My experience at TED brought home how much all of us have to continually battle for communication excellence.

Here are the first two of the seven truths that challenged me when I spoke for TED.

1. You can always get better.
I certainly didn’t think I had no room for improvement when I agreed to speak for TED, but I also had confidence in myself. Perhaps too much. TED put me through my paces. I had to write a purpose statement. Frankly, I had to rewrite it seven times before they accepted it. Then I had to provide an outline of my talk. They edited it—twice—and asked for rewrites. Then I had to do two dry runs in front of their team. They were pleased, but I should tell you that even the idea of having to do a dry run tweaked my ego a bit at first. Once I did it, I saw the need. All that they required made me better.

The bottom line is that we can always become better speakers no matter our previous success. I’ll risk telling you that Zig Ziglar once called me one of the best speakers he had ever heard. I say this because that was ten years ago. A month ago, TED made me better. I could have made the mistake of letting past success cause me to settle and refuse to improve. Don’t settle. Get better. Constantly.

2. Brevity is best.
TED told me I had to give my speech in twelve minutes. I laughed. Thy didn’t. Twelve minutes. It takes me twelve minutes just to say hello in most of the speeches I give. My mistake. Brevity is the key today, when the average attention span in the US is eight minutes. It was not easy to hit twelve minutes. My speech was better for it. Now, I’m better for the discipline. Those of us who speak often—which means most all leaders—we will have to learn to say more in less time in the years to come. Accept it. Practice it. Get good at it.

That’s it. More next time. Have a great weekend.

Stephen