TEDx Talking: Penny Zenker, The Focusologist On What You Need To Know To Secure, Prepare, and Deliver a Highly Effective TEDx Talk
Staying connected with the audience in real time is not easy because you are also focused on the delivery. Watch for people’s reactions. Do they laugh? Are they sitting forward, attentive in their seats? This will help you gauge the energy in the room. I find when the energy is low in the room, then I need to ham it up even more to spark their energy.
In a world that is more connected than ever, the power of a well-crafted message to inspire, educate, and evoke change cannot be understated. TEDx Talks have emerged as a prestigious platform for sharing ideas worth spreading, reaching a global audience and creating impact on a grand scale. In this series, we are discussing the process of delivering a TEDx Talk that resonates and leaves a lasting impression. We are talking with experts who have successfully navigated the TEDx journey, including TEDx speakers, speaking coaches with a focus on TEDx preparations, and organizers involved in the selection and coaching of speakers. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Penny Zenker.
Penny Zenker is known as “The Focusologist,” an international speaker, business strategy coach, and best-selling author.
By the time she was 31, Penny had built and sold a multi-million dollar company in Zurich. Later at the world’s 4th largest market research company, she managed business unit turnarounds and was a Tony Robbins business coach guiding entrepreneurs globally to double their businesses.
Penny’s book, The Productivity Zone, was an instant Amazon Best Seller and her TEDx, The Energy of Thought, has gained attention around the world with over 1 million views. Her new book, The Reset Mindset, will be published in 2024.
Penny has been featured on NBC News, Forbes, Inc., ESPN, Wharton Business Radio, and many more.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us your “Origin Story”? Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
My father died in an accident when I was 19 years old. He was walking across the street and looked over at my mother for a second as he stepped onto the crosswalk to walk with the light. He turned to see a bus that was turning the corner. He sped up, but the bus nicked him on the side, pushing him forward faster than his legs could carry him. He hit the curb with force on the soft spot of his temple, the one spot that rendered him brain-dead instantly.
At first, I asked why, but this was an empty answer and would never bring him back. Then, I started to ask what. What does this mean? What can I do? What can I control?
So instead of shying away from life’s risks and adventures — I embraced them. I worked in Zurich, Switzerland for 16 years, and I have traveled around the world. I have raced mountain bikes, competed in mountaineering adventures, been skydiving, wrote a book, and was an executive producer of a movie called, Wish Man. And I keep looking for big goals to reach for and to live life to the fullest.
Can you tell us a bit about what you do professionally and what brought you to this specific career path?
I am a motivational and business keynote speaker. Although I’m an extrovert, being the center of attention in a large room was something that brought me great anxiety. If I were attending a class and wanted to ask a question, I would raise my hand, but I would feel my heart beating as if it would jump out of my chest. I didn’t like to think that all those eyes were on me. What if I said something stupid?
But my desire to make a difference beyond one-on-one and inspire large groups of people was greater than my fear. This is why I continue to push myself to reach larger audiences and share the important life lessons that have led me to live a happier and more successful life than I otherwise would have.
Before we talk about the details, let’s consider the big picture. Preparing for a TEDx talk and securing it obviously requires a lot of mindshare, bandwidth, resources, and energy. From your personal experience, why is it worth it to invest all that to do a TEDx talk?
Absolutely. For me, speaking at TEDx kicked off my speaking career, though I did not originally sign up for that reason. I did it because of the platform itself and what it stands for — ideas worth spreading. I wanted to make a difference, and this platform was a milestone in embarking on bigger audiences to overcome my imposter syndrome and bring my messages to the world in a bigger way.
It brought me immediate credibility and now that my talk has reached over 1 million views, it continues to generate new speaking engagements.
Now, let’s talk about the how. Can you describe the application process for becoming a TEDx speaker? What are some common challenges faced in the application process that our readers should be forewarned about?
I did not find the TEDx speaker application process to be difficult. The hardest part is coming up with a compelling short video to showcase your message. My video started with “Have you ever had a near-death experience?” Perhaps that rhetorical question hooked them.
Is there a website where you can apply for a TEDx talk? How do you apply and submit? How can you find out about all of the TEDx’s that are available?
I did a simple Google search for where TEDx was being held that had topics that fit my talk idea, filled out the application form, and submitted a video. (https://www.ted.com/tedx/events?autocomplete_filter=university&filter=university&when=upcoming)
What strategies did you use or would you recommend to ensure that a talk is engaging and impactful?
For the video, I started with a story and a hook in my application that would get people’s attention. Then I leaned on my experience to fill out the details of the story and the lessons I had to share.
For my TEDx talk, I started with the question: “What would you say if I told you had the power to manipulate time? Would you believe me?” It got people intrigued. I mentioned a popular movie to further draw attention and make my case for the energy of thought and the power we hold in our hands — even the power to manipulate time.
Another strategy I recommend is to memorize your speech. The best way to memorize speech is to learn it while walking on the treadmill. This works for several reasons. First, it takes your thinking off the memorization because you are also focused on moving, reducing stress and anxiety you might be feeling, and allowing your brain to be at its peak with fewer distractions mentally and emotionally. It also taps into your brain’s neuroplasticity to form new connections and pathways. This flexibility is crucial for learning new information and adapting to new experiences.
I also recommend practicing your talk and thinking about how it comes across on the stage. When you stage a few gestures or stage movements throughout your talk, it becomes connected with the content in such a way that it encodes the motion and the block of text together to increase memory recall.
There’s a saying from Mark Twain about how it takes more time to prepare for a five-minute talk than for a two-hour talk. The point is that crystallizing an idea and using the exact words is much more difficult than a freeform talk. So, how does a person do that? How does a person boil down an idea into five minutes?
It is very challenging. You can’t ramble, and at the same time, you need to capture people’s hearts and minds. I recommend starting small and expanding versus starting with too much and trying to shorten your talk. Shortening a longer, unfocused talk is much harder than spending some time to think about the core messages through a few prompts.
Someone once gave me an exercise that helped me get focused on what I wanted to say. You have a billboard to advertise. How do you sum up your message or mission to fit the billboard? What do you want the audience to take away? How do you want them to feel? What is your hook that will make people want to listen and connect it back to their own lives? What is one statistic or piece of evidence to support your claim? Or create a wow for people by helping them see or think about something in a novel way.
For five minutes, I find the best approach is just to tell a quick story with an opening and the connection at the end to drive your message home.
Most of us can think of maybe half a dozen different topics that they could speak about. How does a person choose, and say “Okay, this is the one for a TED talk”? How do they choose which of all their ideas should be the one?
Choose the topic that you have the most passion for. It might even be one that scares you, and that could be just the reason why you need to choose that one.
Feedback is crucial in shaping a compelling TEDx talk. Can you describe how to seek out and incorporate feedback during the talk’s preparation? Who do you turn to for honest critiques, and how do you iterate on your presentation based on the feedback received?
Feedback is critical to any process of creation. You have to be open to making changes and eliminating parts you love, all in the name of the flow and experience.
For my TEDx talk, I had several points of feedback. I was assigned a speaker’s coach, and we met a few times before the event. We did a few different run-throughs to get feedback on the content, a second read-through, and then a more dynamic version without my notes for the delivery. Each time, I was able to add a few tweaks based on their feedback, which made all the difference.
A week or two before the event, I set up a few live events with friends and networking groups to give me the live feeling of speaking to others. I also asked for their feedback: What did they take away? Where did they get lost?
To improve the quality of feedback you receive, be clear and specific about what you want them to listen for. Prepare your audience for the type of specifics you’re looking for before you start.
Let’s talk about the actual delivery of an excellent TEDx Talk. Most people are scared of speaking in public. How do you manage the stage fright before the talk?
The way to manage stage fright is to be prepared. When you’ve prepared enough, you’re confident that you’ve got this. There are also a few things that you can do for yourself on the day of the event. I’d like to do a short meditation and breathing exercise to ground myself.
You may have heard of Amy Cuddy’s power pose. I stand in a Superman pose before I go on stage. It grounds me in my personal power. Another thing that I remind myself that someone taught me was that the audience doesn’t have the book. They don’t know what you are going to say, so if you miss a line or something, just keep going. They won’t know. If you stumble upon a word, just keep going.
We’re all human, and that will only make you more endearing. The audience actually wants you to succeed. It isn’t about getting up there and being perfect; it’s about connecting and being real.
What can a person do to ensure that people will remember the talk and that it won’t just go in one ear and out the other? Can you share how you gauge and adapt to audience reactions in real time during your talk to ensure maximum engagement?
People will remember the energy you left them with and how you made them feel. They will more easily remember any impactful visuals that can be on the screen or in their mind from a story or metaphor.
Staying connected with the audience in real time is not easy because you are also focused on the delivery. Watch for people’s reactions. Do they laugh? Are they sitting forward, attentive in their seats? This will help you gauge the energy in the room. I find when the energy is low in the room, then I need to ham it up even more to spark their energy.
Based on your experience or research, what are the “Five Things You Need To Deliver a Highly Effective TEDx Talk ”?
I think there are five important things that make a TEDx talk engaging and impactful:
1 . A Hook — That hook can be a big promise, a contrary belief or a special insight.
I find hooks, quotes, questions, and statistics to be anchors in my talks, making it easier to remember the flow. Starting with a hook and a question got me over the initial nerves that come from an important talk like this. I think the statistics helped my nerves because they are irrefutable, and you are stating researched facts that support your content and opinion.
2 . A Story — A story draws people into their own story and also creates a personal connection to the speaker.
People relate to your stories, so they are an important part of delivering the message. Make sure you take them on a journey and help them be there with you. Let them feel the storm and your feelings of overwhelm. Don’t report on it, bring them into your story. Then, let the statements that unpack the story help them to see how this relates to their own experiences.
3 . Teachings — Teach your audience something practical they can use to reach your big promise or benefit from your insight. Teachings can include steps to take, strategies, or assessments of some kind.
4 . Social Proof — Social proof can be statistics and/or studies that help to validate your point; it could be a case study or story of someone overcoming the problem or benefiting from the solution.
5 . Interaction — Interaction can be added with a simple question to get people engaged, a poll, an exercise, or something that creates a personal connection to the problem and content.
After delivering a TEDx talk, what strategies do you use to maximize its impact and reach? Could you share how to engage with your audience through social media, follow-up events, or other means to encourage action or further discussion on the topic?
Honestly, I could have done a much better job at maximizing impact and reach. I posted a few times before the event, after I was selected, the day before the practice run, and at the event. I also sent out follow up when the video came out months later and posted about it on all social media channels and through emails to encourage everyone to watch my TEDx talk.
I asked people specifically to comment on the YouTube post because the more comments you get, the more YouTube shows it to others. Most people did not do it. People mean well but they are busy, so you may have to nudge them a few times. Make sure you send enough requests out so that you know you will get some comments.
Ideally, create a whole marketing campaign around it and really promote your talk. Make a list of ideas like 1) create a watch party and a Q&A afterward, 2) post memes and include the link to watch, and 3) For SEO, create a compilation of your favorite big-time TEDx speakers and include yours shamelessly and keep going.
I even saw someone do a sign language version of my TEDx talk. How cool! I am grateful that so many people watched it.
How can our readers watch your TEDx talk and follow your work?
Penny Zenker’s TEDx talk: The Energy of Thought
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pennyzenker/
https://www.facebook.com/pennyzperspective
https://www.instagram.com/pennyzenker/
https://www.youtube.com/c/PennyZenkerKeynoteSpeaker
Itunes: Take Back Time Podcast
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
TEDx Talking: Penny Zenker, The Focusologist On What You Need To Know To Secure, Prepare, and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.