Speaking is about so much more than speaking, it’s about sharing your message and connecting with your audience. Alexia (Lex) Vernon joins us today to talk about how to speak as a total pro move, how to make the most of your time on stage and what it really takes to land a TEDx talk. Show notes with key points, takeaways, and links for this episode available at www.maggiepatterson.com/episode106.

Items Discussed in this Episode:

• Alexia breaks down the notion that we have to be super extroverted in order to speak on stage
• Alexia shares her best tip to find your natural speaking style and use it for public speaking
• You want to create for your audience the same feeling you have when speaking to your best friend
• Alexia shares the difference between an good speaker, and a great speaker that people will remember in years from now
• People can’t just feel lit up during your speech, to be truly effective you want your audience to walk away knowing what they need to do differently
• Alexia and I discuss another big hang up: having a story that doesn’t seem ‘epic’ enough
• People learn in lots of different ways, don’t force yourself to tell a story that isn’t ‘you’
• Alexia talks about what we can do now to jump start our speaking abilities and confidence
• When watching other speakers, make sure you’re just absorbing how they make the speech their own and not starting to take their speaking tactics and make them your own
• If you want to make doing a TED talk a goal, Alexia shares the number one tip for working towards that
• As a TEDx event organizer, Alexia lets us in on what she looks for in an application for a speaker

Top 3 Takeaways for this Episode:

1. Speaking is about more than speaking, you want to light your audience up and have them walk away knowing what they want to do differently.
2. Get over the story you have about speaking, you don’t have to be extroverted or super high energy. You can do you on stage and still rock it.
3. TEDx talks aren’t about your message, they’re about an idea that’s worth spreading that’s new and never been heard. Your idea is the #1 thing organizers are going to look for.

Links for this Episode:

Lex’s Website

Spotlight Speakers Salon FB Group

Link to Free Marketing Moxie Facebook Group