🎤 Want to land a TEDx talk? In this episode, award-winning marketer and speaker Kim Rittberg shares her journey delivering two TEDx talks, plus insider tips to help you prepare, stay calm, and shine on stage.
You will learn:
00:01 – How to land a TEDx talk
00:15 – Kim’s background in media & storytelling
00:33 – The TEDx process & handling rejections
01:12 – How Kim crafted her first TEDx talk
01:49 – Why full memorization matters
02:34 – Editing your talk for maximum impact
03:14 – Managing nerves & pre-performance routines
04:08 – Last-minute rituals for confidence
04:44 – Bringing “dinner party energy” to the stage
05:05 – Her second TEDx talk on overcoming fear
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Transcript:
(00:01) If you are looking to get on more stages or do a TEDx, this is the episode you need to be listening to. How do you get the TEDx? How do you prepare for the TEDx? What does it feel like? What do you do when you think you're going to pass out right before you go on stage? Let's talk about it right now.
(00:15) Hey everyone, I'm Kim Rittberg. I'm a six-time award-winning marketer. I've worked at Netflix, Fox. I launched the first ever video unit for US Weekly. But now, I help professionals own their voice, show up confidently on camera, and figure out what to make. and then we make the videos together all to grow your impact and your business.
(00:33) So, I have had the honor of delivering two TEDx talks and oh my god, I was like it's one of those things you're like that's kind of on my bucket list. I'll get to it eventually and eventually is 2025. Here it is. So, I want to go through a little bit about what the process is like and advice I have for other people doing it.
(00:50) So, for TEDx, they are locally organized events uh all over the country and each one has a theme. So you have your big idea that you have written out and you're applying to speak at these TEDx talks based on your big idea. Now each event has its own theme. So if you're getting rejections, it's really not that your idea is bad or that you're a bad speaker, but rather it might not match with the theme that they have.
(01:12) So I applied to a lot of places and then I got accepted and my first TEDx was in Houston called TEDx Greenhouse Road and my topic is how to the secret to making engaging video content. And the reason why I landed on that is that is a thing I talk about a lot. My area of expertise is video.
(01:30) Uh my background, my resume is really all TV and media. And so I really have the credibility to back it up. And then I structured it um in sort of a way that I have for other speeches which is like here are the things to walk away with. And it's framed with some of my personal stories. So you're writing your script, right? As you get you get invited, that's your pitch.
(01:49) Then you write your script. And then as you're actually getting ready to practice your TEDx, the biggest thing for me was I'm type A person. If I say I'm going to show up for your speaking event, I'm going to overprepare. But the main thing for TEDx is that it's fully memorized. And I have not learned this many lines since I was a secretary in Annie in seventh grade at summer camp.
(02:11) Not even at a performing arts summer camp, like regular summer camp. So, all to say was uh it took me a lot a lot of hours and I thought I was ready and then I worked with my coach. His name is Caesar and he's awesome and I'll link him out. And he's like, "Cool. Yeah, you just keep working on it, you know, keep practicing it like a bunch more times till the I'm" I'm like, "How many more times?" He's like, "About three times a day until the day.
(02:34) " I was like, "What? I have to 10 to 15 more rehearsals. What?" But you do you have to memorize it so much so that you're delivering it with personality and gusto instead of like robotically memorizing it. So that's the important part and that's a huge difference between other things where you might have notes or a monitor where you kind of cheat, right? And then as you start practicing edit you're going to want to edit things out.
(02:57) If it doesn't it's not necessary take it out because you really want your um TEDx now they want them to be around 10 minutes or less. And the thing that I learned, I mean, it's a thing that I really teach a lot for I I do a lot of public speaking seminars, how people can show up on camera, but also in public, how they can speak with confidence.
(03:14) You're going to be nervous beforehand, right? Always. It's kind of your body gets into fight or flight method, even if you're prepared. And so, have your pre-performance routine locked down. So, I like to call this I have a whole thing that I'll do a different a different uh segment on.
(03:32) But right before you go on stage, you're going to want to be amping up your energy, like smiling, laughing, dancing, loosening up your body, you're also going to want to be breathing, calming your body down. So, when your heart's going boom boom boom boom boom boom boom, your breathing is calming you down.
(03:48) So, that's really important because a lot of these things, especially TEDx, you're kind of sitting and waiting. And that's, you know, your energy is low. you're sitting and waiting to go on. So, you have to kind of, you know, stay loose, be flexible, be happy, but also calm. And then in the few, like basically in the 30 seconds minute before I just like look at a wall and breathe deeply, my brother is a comedian.
(04:08) He's like, "Oh, in the minutes before I go on stage, I don't look at anyone. I don't let anyone talk to me." I like that advice. So, basically, if you see me uh looking at a wall and being really weird before I go onto a keynote, that's what I'm doing. Um, and so, and then the last thing I do really advise everyone before you go on stage to bring that dinner party energy.
(04:26) And that means when you're hosting a dinner party, you come warm. You're excited to have people. It's like an embrace, right? Your voice is warm. Your body's warm. You're like, "I'm so happy to have you here." And you're not screaming, right? You're not like a TV presenter like, "Hey everybody, you're on a game show." But it's this really warm energy.
(04:44) And my daughter asked me like, "How do you how do you go on camera?" Right? Like how do you how do you go on stage and not be nervous? Like you just have to say I'm doing this because it's fun. No one's making me do this, right? So that is my experience for TEDx. Oh, and then my second one, sorry, my second one will be out soon.
(05:05) Uh I got accepted to a second one and so I wrote that I wrote and um perfected that. But that's another topic that I speak about a lot which is about fear. And I've learned from training people to be on camera that what really holds us back is fear. And I have a four-step process on how to break through that. So, I'm really excited about that as well.
(05:23) And those are my tips for uh for the TEDx. And that's my experience. And I would love to hear, are you looking to do more speaking engagements? Are you looking to get more visibility? Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Kim Rittberg. And on YouTube, I'm Kim Rittberg Content. I would love a follow there. and uh drop me a line and say hi and let me know what your what your goals are and what you've been doing.
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