TEDx Talking: Mahfuz Chowdhury On What You Need To Know To Secure, Prepare, and Deliver a Highly Effective TEDx Talk
Share stories. — Based on this interview, I’m sure you could have guessed it would be one of my main recommendations. In this case, I’ve intentionally selected it as my very top one.
It’s been six years since I released the first season of my podcast show, Ride With Me, a solo podcast show that allows me to share my thoughts and stories through spoken word. Last week, I delivered a keynote at a Toronto conference and two attendees reminded me of a story that they heard me share in a season 1 episode. They listened to the episode once, six years ago, and still remember the details of the story and takeaway better than I did!
This happened last week and has happened many more times over the last six years. These conversations constantly remind me of the power of storytelling. Using them in your TEDx Talk will allow your stories to be remembered for a lifetime.
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 Mahfuz Chowdhury.
Mahfuz Chowdhury is a national award-winning Brand Strategist, keynote speaker, podcast host, and author of two published books, including his latest release “The Resilient Brand: Storytelling In A Digital Era”.
Over the last year, Mahfuz was invited to speak at three international TEDx Conferences. More specifically, he was scheduled to deliver all three TEDx Talks over four months!
This allowed him to bring together his passion for branding and storytelling to share his unique perspective on resilience.
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?
To put it simply: I am a shy introvert who has an enormous passion for storytelling.
Over the last 15 years, I have constantly looked for opportunities to share my ideas through engaging stories, including speaking on stage (as difficult as it may be for a shy introvert), blog writing, social media content, podcast episodes, and publishing hardcopy books.
This passion has also resulted in my joining Candybox Marketing, a sweet digital marketing agency in Canada, which has provided me with endless opportunities to help other brands express their unique stories online.
Can you tell us a bit about what you do professionally, and what brought you to this specific career path?
While pursuing my journey to become a professional marketing leader, I remember sitting in the back of a college classroom and being introduced to TEDx for the first time. The professor shared ‘Why Great Leaders Inspire Action’ by Simon Sinek, and I was absolutely hooked!
Since then, I’ve binged on hundreds (maybe even a thousand) of TED talks and can credit these incredible thought leaders for accelerating my personal and professional development.
It has been 12 years since being introduced to Simon Sinek’s inspiring talk, and I stand here today as a national award-winning brand strategist, international keynote speaker, published author, and podcast host. Something about this year felt like the right time to pay it forward to the TEDx community that has so generously poured into me.
Over this past year, I have had this incredible desire to deliver my first TEDx talk.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussions. Can you tell us a bit about your particular experience with TEDx talks?
When I started applying to speak at a TEDx event, I had no idea that I would be accepted to speak at three different conferences within four months!
I searched for upcoming TEDx conferences in Canada and the United States that had a theme aligned with my focus on brand resilience. This resulted in me applying for 27 different events that matched my expertise.
The three conferences I was accepted to were: TEDxHawkesbury, TEDxUMSV, and TEDxTorontoMetU!
Each of them had a slightly different approach during their selection process:
TEDxHawkesbury instantly found my idea a great fit for their conference and sent me an invitation letter!
TEDxUMSV invited me to try out for their conference by delivering a virtual presentation in front of their committee. A week after my tryout, they sent me an official invitation!
TEDxTorontoMetU informed me that I made the shortlist and entered me into an interview process. I received this email while I was away on vacation in Bangladesh, but I wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip away and decided to find a quiet room at 2 am to take the interview call. A few days later, they sent me an acceptance letter!
My emotions ping-ponged between excitement and anxiety. I knew delivering three different talks in a short time would require a lot of preparation, but it was equally an opportunity to approach my idea from three different angles.
This opportunity allowed me to dig into my passion for storytelling to deliver three memorable TEDx talks: “Brand Resilience,” “Brands Showed Us That We’ve Been Doing Resilience All Wrong,” and “An Elastic Approach to Resilience.”
There is not a day that goes by when I am not grateful for this incredible opportunity. Speaking at these three TEDx Conferences and meeting other incredible thought leaders will forever be an all-time experience!
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?
The obvious answer is that TED’s YouTube channel currently has over 24 million subscribers and would allow your talk to get exposure unlike any other. You also receive a professionally edited video of your talk that can be used to promote yourself and your message. This platform is what allowed many thought leaders to get their ‘breakthrough moment’ into their respective industries.
However, to me, it was a bit more than that. It was an opportunity to share ideas that I was very passionate about with the world. It was about taking on the challenge of condensing complex thoughts that circulate in my mind every day and converting them into a short and specific delivery. It was about closing the full circle by pouring into a platform that has poured into me over the last dozen years. It was about impacting people, or even one person, to help better their lives through my message.
The messages I receive from viewers who share how my TED Talk impacted them make every minute worth it.
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?
For many years, I avoided applying to be a TEDx speaker because I once heard that you had to know someone on the ‘inside’ to get selected for their event.
After having my application accepted for three different events, I can tell you with full confidence that this is simply a silly rumor.
What it really comes down to are two major things: your big idea and your credibility.
Let me break each of them down:
- Your big idea: TED’s slogan is ‘ideas worth spreading,’ and they definitely live up to this reputation.
Imagine you were on the receiving end of this process, and you were the person responsible for sorting through every application and selecting a small handful of speakers.
To make it extra difficult, let’s assume most submissions consisted of fantastic ideas. How would you make this decision?
Chances are, you are looking for the ideas that instantly make you say ‘Aha!’ or ‘I never thought of it that way.’
This is why it is not only important to be able to articulate your idea precisely but also to describe it in a way where your unique insight is well crafted.
Writing captivating insights is something I do a lot in the marketing and advertising world, so this transferable skill is a nice advantage!
A great technique to convert your idea into a unique insight is by filling in the following blanks: most people think that __________, but it actually is ___________.
The first blank should be about a common misconception that your talk will debunk or disprove. The second blank should be your fresh perspective or idea that challenges the common misconception.
Using this format in your application process will allow you to quickly communicate your big idea and your unique insight.
2. Your credibility:
Although I have a lot of experience as a keynote speaker, meeting other TEDx speakers at these three events made it evident that being a ‘public speaker’ was not a prerequisite to being selected for their events.
What I mean by ‘credibility’ is being able to answer: why are you the right person to share this idea?
As someone who reinvented himself from a struggling student to an award-winning brand strategist, it made sense that my big idea gravitated around resilience and brand stories. However, I might have gotten the complete opposite reaction if my big idea was about a breakthrough in the healthcare industry.
No matter how insightful your idea might be, it needs to be clear that you have the expertise, either professionally or through lived experience, to spread these ideas on their big stage.
Once you can bring these two ingredients together, my biggest encouragement is to keep applying and be patient. Remember that there are hundreds of applications submitted for most TEDx events and they have the very challenging task of narrowing them down to less than 10% of the speakers. Not being selected does not make your idea any less important. This often occurs because your idea might not have been the right fit for their event’s theme. Just keep trying!
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?
TED’s official website does an incredible job of keeping its event calendar up to date with all upcoming TEDx events around the world. This is a great way to find local (or international) events to which you can apply directly through their website.
Some of the events might have already selected their speakers for the year, and that’s okay! Follow their events page on Instagram or LinkedIn to be the first to know as soon as they open up their applications for their next TEDx event. Keeping up with their social accounts will also shed light on the types of speakers and topics they have selected for their past events.
What strategies did you use or would you recommend to ensure that a talk is engaging and impactful?
I might be a bit biased here, but I truly believe that great storytelling is the difference between a good talk and an exceptional talk!
Sharing relatable stories will allow you to paint a visual in the minds of your viewers, similar to how book readers often feel like they’ve transformed into another universe when engaged in a good story. This approach will create a personal connection with your audience and make a lasting impact!
My talks consisted of me sharing childhood stories about watching Muhammad Ali fight on TV and late nights spent working on school projects. The feedback that I received after the events made it evident that these were some of the most memorable parts of the talks.
My recommendation is to stack a story for every key takeaway. The story can either be a personal experience or an analogy to better articulate your main points. You will find that, although the takeaways can sometimes be forgotten, the stories can be remembered for a lifetime!
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?
I couldn’t agree more with Mark Twain!
As someone who has a more freeform approach in his keynote presentations, boiling down my ideas was something I found to be very challenging.
What helps is starting with a freeform draft where you allow yourself to pour your ideas onto a blank page. This might result in a long and unstructured script, but it also provides all the necessary options to choose from during the editing process.
During the editing process, start by highlighting the parts of your script that are non-negotiable. These are the parts of your script that are necessary to communicate your main message. This process will help you identify items that can be taken out to reduce the length of your script. More importantly, you will also find that these highlighted parts start to create a more organized structure for your talk.
There should also be an importance placed on clearly communicating your key insight early in your talk. Dragging on for too long without the ‘big reveal’ typically loses the audience and makes it difficult to pinpoint your key message. As a rule of thumb, your big idea should be clearly stated within the first 20–30% of your talk. This means that your main message should not be revealed any longer than 1.5 minutes during a 5-minute talk.
Finally, please don’t discount the importance of sharing at least one good story. This may not feel like a non-negotiable but is essential to elevate the delivery of your TED Talk.
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?
When I had this same debate in my head, I laid all my options on the table and asked myself, ‘Which one of these ideas am I the most passionate about?’
Without hesitation, I immediately knew it was about ‘brand resilience’. This was especially true because my passion for this topic was so large that I decided to write a book about it before I even considered delivering a TED talk.
Ask yourself the same question, and you’ll be amazed by how well the heart and the mind align on a decision.
If you put it to the test and still feel like you are equally as passionate about two or more topics, I would first suggest trying again to be sure that you feel this way. If you still do, you can probably make a case that all of them are worthy of their own TED talk. In this case, I would choose the one that is better aligned with the theme of the TEDx conference you are leaning towards as it will likely increase your chances of having your application accepted.
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?
Depending on the TEDx conference, you may be given the opportunity to work directly with coaches to help elevate your talk. This was the case during TEDxTorontoMetU, where I was grateful to be working with two fantastic coaches throughout the entire process. Huge shoutout to Shankeerna Sasithakumar and Jaye Huynh!
This process involved meeting with them every few weeks to review my script and discuss ways to improve my messaging. As we got closer to the event date, they even helped me rehearse and provided suggestions on my body language and tonality. I mentioned to them that they helped me go from a talk that I liked to a talk that I loved!
A coach may not be provided for every conference, so it is equally as important to get feedback from someone who would be honest and critical. For me, this was my amazing wife, Priya Hasan!
Whether it was her listening to me rehearse every night before going to bed or having my script open on her cellphone in the passenger seat while I practiced during long drives, she was there every step of the way to help me master the talk and provide suggestions. Priya did this for all three of the talks and sat in the front row for every one of the conferences with a smile on her face. I dedicate these three talks to her!
Stay open-minded as you collect feedback from others. There is always an opportunity to improve your delivery without losing the meaning behind your message. I found this to be the case every single time I reviewed my talk with my coaches and my wife.
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?
I’ve been speaking on stage consistently for over 15 years, and I can tell you with full confidence that the stage fright doesn’t disappear; nor should it. Getting nervous before a talk means that you care about the outcome and care about the audience’s experience. I would be more concerned if you told me that you didn’t feel anything.
Understanding that the nervousness is natural and helps you put in your best effort will hopefully bring you some peace.
My second suggestion is to practice your talk as much as you possibly can before the big day. This can be exhausting, and quite possibly your least favorite part of the process, but rehearsing the speech repeatedly will allow you to increase your confidence level on stage. You’ll be surprised by how much your memory’s autopilot will help combat your nervous thoughts before your talk.
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?
Since I was a child, ‘The Boy Who Cries Wolf’ has been one of my favorite children’s books. It shares an entertaining tale that you tend to remember for a lifetime. What made me love it even more is the realization that you don’t need the book to spell out the lesson or the key learning for you. Instead, you just know what the takeaway is based on the outcome of the boy in the story.
I share this because your stories can do the same for the people in the audience. It can take them through an engaging journey that can be remembered for a lifetime. Even if they forget your message, the outcome of your stories will help jog their memory.
Based on your experience or research, what are the “Five Things You Need To Deliver a Highly Effective TEDx Talk ”?
1. Share stories.
Based on this interview, I’m sure you could have guessed it would be one of my main recommendations. In this case, I’ve intentionally selected it as my very top one.
It’s been six years since I released the first season of my podcast show, Ride With Me, a solo podcast show that allows me to share my thoughts and stories through spoken word. Last week, I delivered a keynote at a Toronto conference and two attendees reminded me of a story that they heard me share in a season 1 episode. They listened to the episode once, six years ago, and still remember the details of the story and takeaway better than I did!
This happened last week and has happened many more times over the last six years. These conversations constantly remind me of the power of storytelling. Using them in your TEDx Talk will allow your stories to be remembered for a lifetime.
2. Emphasize your key insight.
With a short amount of time provided to deliver your talk, you may find yourself trying to fit in a lot of content in a single script. The irony is that saying a lot often results in saying nothing.
Take a moment to step back and ask yourself if your main message is obvious throughout your talk. Then ask yourself if there are more opportunities to emphasize your key insight within the script.
It can get difficult to answer these questions after spending hours writing and rehearsing. This is where your coaches or your trusted critic can be your biggest asset. Present your talk in front of them and ask them to identify the key takeaways. Their responses will help you gauge the impact of your script and provide opportunities to tweak if necessary.
3. Write with a conversational tone.
This was a lesson I had to learn the hard way.
The more time I spent crafting my script, the more I learned how differently we naturally speak versus how we write.
While reviewing my first draft with the TEDxTorontoMetU coaches, they gave me a much-needed wake-up call with a simple critique. They said: ‘It needs to sound more conversational.’
I realized that I fell into the trap of becoming overly formal in my writing style, which made the overall talk sound less natural and more overly structured.
For example, here is a line from my original draft: ‘Before Amazon’s Prime Day came into existence, my friends and I often found ourselves participating in early morning Boxing Day activities together.’
Was this story important? Absolutely. Was this how I spoke naturally with others? Not a chance!
I took my coach’s feedback to heart, and this became the line that made it to my final draft: ‘Heck, even I lined up outside of Best Buy at 4 am on a chilly Boxing Day to get myself one of these bad boys. Hey, this was before Prime same-day shipping was a thing, okay?!’
Practice your script out loud and ask yourself if it sounds like the ‘natural you.’ Using a conversational tone will help you articulate in a way that resonates with your audience.
Speaking of practice, let’s talk about the next recommendation.
4. Trust in your practice.
I have to admit that memorizing a speech is something I haven’t done since graduating from college, so it took me a little bit of time to put this into practice.
I walked laps around my kitchen island rehearsing, presented in front of my wife for feedback, practiced in front of the mirror, and even recorded myself speaking to review my body language.
It was this combination that helped me master my performance; find the best combination that works for you and then trust your practice.
5. Embrace the moment.
In my early years as a keynote speaker, I remember leaving events after crushing the talk on stage and not remembering a single detail because I blacked out while speaking on autopilot. In fact, I only knew it went well because of the feedback I received from audience members and event planners through emails and social media messages.
These experiences always made me wish I spent a bit more time living in the present moment. It also motivated me to work on eliminating this vicious blackout so that I could enjoy the experience better.
Over the years, I’ve learned to embrace the moment by being fully present throughout the experience.
Part of it can be credited to trusting my practice, which makes it easier to spend less time in my head and more time engaging with the audience.
The second part involves being incredibly grateful for the opportunity, which encourages me to focus on every detail of the experience.
Having the opportunity to speak at a TEDx conference is one heck of a reason to feel grateful. Keep this at the forefront of your mind and encourage yourself to embrace every single part of the moment. I promise you that it will be a moment that you will never want to forget.
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?
This is a great question and one that I’m thinking about a lot as my talks are about to get published over the next few months. Here are some suggestions that I am also taking into consideration:
Start by engaging with your audience on social media. Craft personal messages urging friends and followers to watch and share your talk. Encourage interactions like likes, comments, and shares to keep the conversation going. Focus on genuine engagement!
On a similar note, look for opportunities to share key moments from your talks through short-form video content. This will allow you to share the ‘movie trailer’ of your talks through Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or TikTok videos. This will also increase the chances of your talk being shared with a much wider audience and have viral opportunities.
Lastly, consider hosting follow-up events like Q&A sessions or panel discussions. These events dive deeper into your talk’s themes, answering questions and sparking more discussions. Collaborating with other speakers or experts can bring new perspectives and attract a wider audience curious about the topic.
Remember to time your promotions strategically, aiming for weekdays during lunch or evenings, and consider holiday tie-ins for extra impact. These steps will ensure your TEDx talk continues to inspire and spark conversations long after the event.
How can our readers watch your TEDx talk and follow your work?
As these talks have been delivered recently, the videos are currently in the process of being edited and uploaded to the TED YouTube channel.
I’d love to connect with the readers directly on Instagram (@mahfuzc), where I will be sharing these videos as soon as they are published. It will also give me a great opportunity to connect with your readers and learn more about their stories.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
It was an absolute pleasure. Thanks for having me!
TEDx Talking: Mahfuz Chowdhury On What You Need To Know To Secure, Prepare, and Deliver a Highly… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.