Have you ever dreamed of giving a TEDx talk on the world’s most coveted stage?
If you’re a speaker, a coach, or an innovative fitness trainer with groundbreaking ideas about heath and wellness, chances are the answer is yes.
TED began as a modest California conference that has morphed into the benchmark of success for many speakers, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders. While there used to be just one annual conference, TED has expanded and there are now ample opportunities to participate in the TED experience throughout the year and throughout the world.
Giving a TEDx talk instantly boosts your credibility as a wellness professional. If TED chooses your talk to showcase on its website, you’re likely to reach thousands, even millions of new fans (not to mention potential clients!).
The great news is that TED has a soft spot for fitness pros, wellness experts, and thought-provoking coaches.
Here are 5 ways to get yourself nominated to speak at TED and catapult your business to a level that’s truly epic.
- Be remarkable
In TED’s world, ideas are shared and spread among geniuses, world leaders, billionaires, inventors, best-selling authors and Pulitzer Prize winners.
If your business is humming along nicely but you’re not doing anything different from the coach or trainer down the block, chances are TED will pass you by.
If, however, you have some truly groundbreaking ideas about health and wellness that you’ve either a) shared with your tribe, or b) wanted to share with your tribe, TED could be a good fit for you.
Take action: Develop an online platform where you can share your ideas and start building momentum. A regular blog is a great way to do this, as is a Youtube channel. The more traction you can gain on your own, the more likely the TED panel will take notice of you when you apply to speak.
- Build a tribe
Your ideas need steam, and they need support. Building a tribe is great for your bottom line, but it’s also great for your journey to TED.
TED’s job is to locate and book speakers with exciting ideas, but they also have to market their talks to the public.
If you can demonstrate that you already have an established tribe following you online, opening your emails, buying your products, and watching your videos, the folks in charge of marketing your TED talk will have less heavy lifting to do, and be much more inclined to hire you.
Take action:
- Amp up your efforts to build your tribe online.
- In addition to regular social media marketing, consider a paid campaign to boost Facebook page likes or invest in some sponsored pins on Pinterest.
- Secure testimonials from current clients and integrate them into your website.
- Increase activity on your blog or Youtube channel by participating in groups that swap comments, shares, and likes.
- Establish thought leadership
TED wants new, fresh, innovative ideas that are worth sharing. In Step 1 I said you needed to be remarkable. In Step 3, we’ll dig deeper and look at the way in which you need to be remarkable in order to book a TEDx talk.
TED speakers from the fitness and wellness world never spout typical ideas about weight loss, nutrition, mindfulness, or positive thinking.
Instead, they break new ground by offering food-for-thought that is as unique as it is uplifting.
- J. Jacobs’ TEDx talk, How Healthy Living Nearly Killed Me, certainly seems counterintuitive for most fitness pros. But A.J.’s thought leadership centers around the idea of moderation in all things, which he argues is the true measure of health.
- Most nutritionists help adults eat healthier by educating them about food. During his TEDx talk, Teach Every Child About Food, Jamie Oliver lays the groundwork for a new world in which children are instilled with healthy eating habits as part of their regular education.
- Christopher McDougall argues that human beings evolve through the act of running in his TEDx talk, Are We Born To Run?
Each of these TED speakers takes a common health and fitness topic, turns it on its head, and presents it from a completely fresh perspective. It is these ideas that establish them as thought leaders in their respective fields and encourage the TED panel to offer them a talk.
Take action: Watch as many health and fitness-related TED talks as you can. Brainstorm ideas based on what you see, then look for ways you can approach those ideas from an unexpected perspective.
- Showcase your accomplishments
As a future TED speaker, you’re going to be keeping company with the likes of Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, David Cameron, Jimmy Carter…
Now, that’s not to save that you have to be a billionaire or a world leader (or a billionaire world leader) in order to book TED.
But being able to showcase your accomplishments can’t hurt. If you have certifications, awards, nominations, and other accolades, be sure they’re prominently displayed on your website and easy for the nomination committee to find.
If you’re just starting your business and don’t have much to show in terms of accomplishments, don’t worry – TED also prides itself on booking emerging thought leaders who are still “unknowns” in the mainstream.
Take action: Contact your web designer about a redesign to showcase your accomplishments on the homepage of your website. Hire a professional copywriter to make sure your web copy presents you as an accomplished thought leader OR an up-and-coming thought leader.
- Nominate yourself
Once you have all of your ducks in a row, including remarkable ideas, a fanatic tribe, established thought leadership and an accomplished web presence, it’s time to apply for TED!
It’s possible to nominate yourself as a speaker, but it’s more powerful to have someone else nominate you. Ask a trusted client or friend to fill out the nomination form on your behalf.
TED claims “once is enough” when it comes to nominations, so there’s no need to recruit thousands of people to nominate you.
However, I believe in the marketing Rule of 7, which psychologists say is now the Rule of 12 – it takes our brains at least 12 times to see a message or image before we remember it. If you happen to have 12 friends that owe you favors, a TED nomination could be a great (and effective!) gesture.
Take action: Reach out to a few friends or clients who may be willing to nominate you. Give them a link to the nomination form and consider providing them with written answers to the form questions.
Opportunities to do a TEDx talk are growing every day thanks to the popularity of the conference and its expansion around the world.
Whether you’re a coach, trainer, established fitness guru or emerging entrepreneur, you can get nominated to give a TEDx talk.
Just remember to…
- Be remarkable
- Build a tribe
- Establish thought leadership
- Showcase your accomplishments
- Nominate yourself or have someone nominate you
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