My TEDx: A Plant-based Diet Changed My Life
I got a call in early April of 2018. I didn’t recognize the number.
“This is Pat.”
It was an old family friend I hadn’t seen in a year or two. Our families used to spend Columbus Day weekend together up in a tiny foliage-drenched post card town called Grafton, in the southeastern part of Vermont. Honestly, my first thought was, I hope everything’s OK…
After catching up briefly, she mentioned that she had been running the TEDx program at Babson College for the past few years. She had been following my podcast and story and asked if I’d be interested in being a speaker.
“We don’t have any speakers in the lineup talking about health. What do you think?”
What do I think?
You know that feeling in your stomach when you’re afraid? Like you’re standing on the 42nd floor looking down at the street. Thankfully, I knew that feeling well, an old friend I like to call “fake fear.” Not to be confused with real fear, like when our gut tells us this situation doesn’t feel right, or this guy is acting a bit shady, or holy sh*t that’s a bear. When we encounter real fear, we need to get the hell out of there.
But fake fear is when we’re not actually in danger. We’re not going to get injured or die from giving a talk. It’s fear of failure, it’s self doubt, it’s just in our heads. For me, fake fear has become a guiding light, a compass. When I feel fake fear, I know I need to follow it, to chase it, and to run full speed towards it. Almost everything I’m proud of in my life has come from saying yes to fake fear. On the other side of fake fear is another you, a leveled-up you.
“I’m in.”
But then came the curveball… it’s in two weeks.
Now, I know she wouldn’t say it or like me saying it, but let’s face it… I was the substitute, the backup. I’m quite certain you don’t start planning a TEDx event two weeks in advance. They needed one more speaker for whatever reason. Maybe someone dropped out, maybe someone else said no. I don’t know.
What I did know was, I was going to be the best damn substitute speaker anyone had ever seen. Not only did I know this was a massive opportunity for me, but I now had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. Bledsoe just got knocked out of the game and they called in Brady, the 6th round draft pick no one had ever heard of.
Time to get to work.
Over the next two weeks, I was a force to be reckoned with. Anything that pulled me away from my new goal of giving a world-class TEDx, I said no to. I didn’t have a sip of alcohol and strictly ate all whole plant foods. I had a big game in two weeks, and I wasn’t going to lose.
Over the course of those two weeks and since the talk, I’ve learned a lot. There’s 7 main things I’d recommend to anyone seeking to deliver an impactful TEDx.
Study The Tape
As an ex-quarterback, this was nothing new to me. If you want to know what works, you have to study those who have done it best. The first day or two I spent watching all of the most viewed TED and TEDx talks in the health and wellness arena. Everyone from Tim Ferris to Tony Robbins to Brené Brown and whoever else I discovered that had talks with millions of views.
Then, I drilled down further, who has the best talks about diet? Who has the best talks about transformation? Who told the best life-changing stories? I watched Neal Barnard, Rip Esselstyn, Michael Greger, and many others.
Tell A Story
It became clear that the best talks didn’t just throw facts, figures, and scientific studies at the audience. Rather, they told a story and used science to back up their stories. The best of the best told personal stories, moving stories of struggle, grief, loss, pain, and love. They wove science in between the overall narrative in a way that made the science feel more tangible, more impactful, and to drive home the importance of what they were sharing.
I knew I had my own story to share and I knew science backed it up. I began to focus on weaving the two together in a way that was compelling and didn’t cause yawning.
Bring Emotion
One of my favorite TEDx talks of all time is by Damien Mander. Each time I revisit it, I’m moved to tears. You can truly FEEL his message and energy through the screen. Furthermore, as a fellow dude, he so beautifully shows his strength as a big badass guy while also allowing himself to show vulnerability, compassion, and love. It is beyond powerful. All the best talks evoke emotion. If it can move you to tears or make you break out in laughter, it will be successful.
As someone who was planning to talk about a plant-based diet and love, I was well aware of the criticisms that were going to come along with it (primarily from men). If I was going to evoke emotion, I knew I also had to show strength. Damien’s talk was a great guide for me.
Memorize It, But Tell It
When it comes to TEDx, you really have to memorize your talk. Personally, that’s not my style at all. I like to have the general direction planned and the points I want to get across, but to deliver talks in a casual manner. However, I don’t think that works with TEDx because of the format.
All TEDx’s must be under 18 minutes and they are obviously filmed. There’s no do-overs and there’s no time to go off on a tangent or you risk not finishing. Furthermore, if you’re expecting millions to tune in, you don’t want to be stumbling over your words or not using the best words, as you might do when talking off the cuff.
At the same time, you don’t want to be like the kid reading the book report off of a bunch of index cards. I think the sweet spot is to have it memorized, but to deliver it as if you don’t.
It Has To Be Yours
This may be the most important tip. You can study the tape of others all you want, but what’s going to make your talk successful is, well, you. Your experiences and perspectives in life are completely unique to you. You have a story that is quite literally like no one else’s. Don’t try to be someone else. Don’t try to be Tim Ferris or Tony Robbins. Be you.
People can sense authenticity. The audience and viewers know if you’re being true to who you are. Furthermore, if you’re up there talking about your true life experience and you’re speaking from the heart, it’s going to be much easier. No one else knows your story better than you. While you may have the talk memorized, the reality is, you’re just sharing what you’ve already lived. If you get stuck, it’s not like you can’t remember how the story ends.
On that note, I would recommend you talk in a first person fashion. Get up there and share your experience: “I discovered this,” “I struggled with that,” “I tried this,” as opposed to “you should do this,” and “you need to do that.” My point is, no one wants to be told what to do or what’s right for them. Simply, share your own experience.
Title It Right
If you want to reach the most people, it’s critical to title your talk and the YouTube upload very carefully. There’s A LOT of amazing TEDx talks out there that unfortunately never reach the masses. The last thing you want is to pour your heart into your talk and not have anyone see it.
The original name of my talk, and the one on the event flyer, was “Food’s Impact on Our Ability to Love.” I thought it was mind blowing and beautifully got my message across in a concise way. In hindsight, it sucked. Let’s be serious, no one is on YouTube or Google typing “how does food impact love?”
The truth is, I got lucky. I don’t know why, but as the woman was uploading the talk onto the TEDx platform, she chose the title: “A Plant-based Diet Changed My Life.” Maybe she knew exactly what she was doing or maybe she just forgot my title. Regardless, that title changed everything.
“Plant-based” is obviously a huge search term right now. More and more people are becoming educated and interested in eating that way, especially after the success of the recent Game Changers documentary. Furthermore, the title is simple, direct, and intriguing. I wonder how it changed his life?
If you look at most of the top TED and TEDx talks, the titles are clear and intriguing. Some examples are “The Art of Misdirection,” “Inside The Mind of A Master Procrastinator,” “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” “The Power of Introverts,” and “How I Held My Breath For 17 Minutes.” How in the hell did you hold your breath for 17 minutes?
Market It
Finally, once your talk is released, like any content you release, the work is really just beginning. TED obviously has a massive audience on YouTube, but they post thousands of videos each year from both TED events and all the independent TEDx events that take place. Maybe if the talk is VERY good and titled perfectly, it will naturally get significant views, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Do everything you can to generate awareness about the talk. Share it everywhere, get your friends and family to share it, reach out to relevant platforms and influencers, go on podcasts, mention it in future talks you give, and anything else you can think of. Not only is it important to market it during the first few weeks the video is live to catch some YouTube algorithm help, but you also want to consistently do it for the foreseeable future. I’ll let you in on a little secret, I’m doing that right now, two years later. Lastly, if you nail the first 6 tips, people will do the sharing for you.
Bythe time the day of my TEDx arrived, I had rehearsed my talk a few hundred times. I rehearsed it twice for the organizers during that two week period, I rehearsed it for my girlfriend who quickly became sick of it, I rehearsed it over and over while out on my runs, I rehearsed it in the shower, tweaking it slightly each time around. On the morning of, I was in a coat room at Babson College during the welcome breakfast rehearsing it as many times as I could. Preparation builds confidence.
It was time to take the field.
Two years later, my talk has been viewed over 600K times and is steadily on pace to reach millions. It is, by far, the most viewed talk ever given at Babson. The opportunities that have arisen since the talk have been overwhelming.
Not bad for the backup.
It’s all going to work out — Pat
