I have personally reviewed hundreds of TEDx speaker application videos. This post is a guide for you to create a video that stands out and gets selected for a speaker invitation!
The most important aspect of your TEDx speaker application is the pitch video.
Organizers want to see you. They want to hear you speak. They want to understand if you have worthwhile idea worth sharing.
It is particularly important that you submit a phenomenal video in the eyes of the TEDx organizers. A great idea submitted by a decorated professional yet accompanied with a poor video will most likely result in no invitation to speak.
So don’t let this be you.
A great video starts with a great idea. So make sure you have read through the best practices for discovering the right TEDx Talk topic for you.
Your video should not be of high production quality. Not at all. We encourage speakers to record with their smartphone and discourage them from editing the video. It should be one take. No jump cuts that indicate you cannot summarize your idea worth spreading in a single two minute video.
This post is divided into three sections: Content Details, Non-verbal Details, and Technical Details.
Content Details
To understand the formula for a great pitch video, you must first understand what is an ideal structure is for a TEDx Talk.
As seen in the TEDx Quick Start Guide, we know the best framework for a TEDx Talk is as follows:
- Story / Intro
- Announcement of Main Idea
- Supporting point 1 (with reference to main idea via throughline)
- Supporting point 2 (with reference to main idea via throughline)
- Supporting point 3 (with reference to main idea via throughline)
- Call to Action & Conclusion
All you need to focus on for your pitch video is the first two bullets – a compelling story that introduces your idea worth spreading, and the announcement of your idea worth spreading.
Why start with a story?
Stories are the best way to capture human attention. Our brains literally respond to stories differently than facts and figures and numbers. This is why we have used stories as far back as 40,000 years ago, when the first cave paintings were discovered. Because of their sheer communication power.
While listening to stories, not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but other areas of our brain that we would use when experiencing the events of the story are too. If someone tells us about how delicious certain foods were, our sensory cortex lights up. If it is about motion, our motor cortex is activated. More brain functionality is utilized during a story.
There is one more magical characteristic about stories. When we tell stories that have influenced our own lives, it can have the same effect on the listener. Princeton research shows the brains of the person telling the story and the listener can synchronize. When a storyteller has activity in their insula, an emotional brain region, the listeners have the same response. By simply telling a story, the speaker can plant ideas, thoughts, and even emotions into the listener’s brains.
Knowing these aspects, it should now be abundantly clear why your TEDx Talk, and inherently your TEDx idea pitch, should start with a story. If you can, start with a story about the lowest moment in your journey. The time where you did not know where to turn. When you thought the project, or whatever you were working on, was over. When there was no hope, no light at the end of the tunnel. Start with the part of the story that will captivate TEDx organizers and leave them wanting to hear the rest of your talk.
At the end of the introduction story, introduce your main idea, your idea worth spreading, and thank the TEDx organizers for their consideration.
Though it can be better to start with a story, not ever speaker does nor do they have to. If you are going to open without a story, that is fine, but here are some things to avoid.
Do not start by saying hello, or stating your name. Do not seek to validate your application and why you are applying because you have done this and you have done that. Do not plug your organization or business or book right away either.
Find some way to introduce your topic. Whether that is the problem statement or some other fact about your industry – it does not matter. What does matter is that you have a compelling introduction to your application that captivates the TEDx organizer’s attention.
Once you have done this, and own the organizer’s attention, you must announce your idea worth spreading – you have to explicitly reinforce what your idea is exactly. There should be a moment that makes your idea obvious – where you essentially say “…And my idea worth spreading is…” Doing so will ensure the organizers fully understand your idea pitch, see its value and uniqueness, and shortlist you for a potential invitation.
Finally, before you sign off, thank the organizers for their consideration.
Non-verbal Details
There are also nonverbal cues that TEDx organizers are looking for in your application. Things that if omitted, may jeopardize your submission even if you have every credential in the world and are armed with a great TEDx idea.
You must speak at the appropriate volume. We get speakers who stand so far from their smartphone, they are barely audible. Put yourself in a closed room or office or somewhere you can speak like you are on stage. Watch the video before you submit. Ensure the volume is acceptable.
You must bring your energy and enthusiasm. In order to move the TEDx organizers, you must get them excited about your idea worth spreading.
Some speakers just seem so thrilled to share their idea with the world, they know they want to have a bigger impact, and are thrilled about the TEDx platform. Make sure you record in the morning or mid afternoon when you have more energy.
You must move your feet, but not too much. Most speaker applicants are unaware of the main purpose of the red circular carpet that many TEDx organizers use on stage. Yes, of course, because it looks super cool. But mainly it is to encourage speakers to move around “the right amount”. If the circle was not there, some would pace the entire length of the stage, which is a mistake. And standing fixed, like a statue, is the wrong approach as well. You should move your feet during your pitch video.
Move your feet with intention. Some people rock back and forth or step forward and then backwards constantly. Do not do these things. Often times stage movement is used to reinforce transitions within your talk. As you close one section, or as a tense moment approaches, first pause, then move your feet a few steps, resecure your footing, and then break the pause. You may only do this a few times in your short pitch video.
Hand movement is a vital part of your nonverbal pitch video. I have definitely seen speakers submit videos where their hands are down at their sides for the entire video. Do not be one of these people. Your hands should be used to gesticulate throughout at least a few areas in your talk. Just like foot movement, hand movement should be used intentionally and strategically. Do not fall into a pattern of waving your hands over and over again in the same fashion, but do move them in unique ways as much as you see fit.
Eye contact is a complicated thing to achieve over video. Even though the person on video is not in front of their audience, they still expect some level of eye contact. So you have to look into the camera lense on your smartphone rather than looking at yourself while you record. It may seem strange and you may it difficult to do this rather than look over at yourself, but trust me, it is worth it for the organizer.
Technical Details
This section will cover the technical details and help you record the best TEDx application video.
From a technical perspective, many of our speakers struggle to make a great application video. They either have conflicting backlighting, or stand too far away, or use an awkward phone angle, etc.
Use landscape view. Because we live in a mobile first world where vertical video is sometimes preferred during recording, many speakers submit their videos in profile mode. This is fine, but we prefer landscape view. I also polled the TEDx organizer Facebook group, and everyone said horizontal video is what they prefer as well.
Make sure you record at eye level. Humans generally communicate at eye level; both parties sitting or both parties standing, so we feel the most comfortable watching video at eye level. See how capture angle impacts the outcome of your video below.
Some speakers record their pitch videos from a webcam like above. Some speakers will use a stack of books to prop up their laptop camera to eye level. Others will have someone hold their smartphone or they will buy a tripod.
Creative speakers may develop some makeshift home setup like a stool stacked on an end-table with their smartphone on the very top. I have even seen people do interesting things with household items like wine corks. You can cut out some of the cork and use them for a phone holder. Try it out!
When you record your pitch video, make sure you have enough light, particularly on your face. Speakers often make the mistake of standing in front of a window so there is too much light behind them, and their face is underexposed.
Make sure your body is facing the light. The best way to guarantee this is to face a window so the bright light is exposing you as the subject, and not creating a dark zone on your face.
Double check that you are standing close enough to your phone while recording so the microphone easily picks up your voice. Some speakers will stand too far and sound faint and distant.
If you would like to learn the best practices for recording the best TEDx speaker application video, see this blog post here.
You are now finished with the pitch video! Again, so much attention has been spent on the video portion of your application because it is the most important. The video is usually the last part of the application process.
You can now take your offline application written answers, have someone review them if you like, and fill in the submission form.
Attach any documents they organizers require. Upload your video to YouTube, and submit!
If you would like support with your TEDx speaker application, just reach out jake@speakerangel.com.
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