Do. Not. Steal. (Because you are and I want you to stop.)

Achtung, baby!
I’m writing you this from cloudy and gorgeous Berlin. My days here are full of meetings, inspiration and working on The Next Big Thing. Berlin is one of my favorite places to be, and I’m so fortunate that I can do what I love here too. And in Antwerp later this week. And in Bali in a few weeks. And then….who knows?
Have you done what you love today?
Do it!

Anyhoo, I wanted to share a slice of a talk I gave last week. I was invited to do a Talk Like Ted masterclass at the Soho House in Amsterdam. I had never given a talk like that before, but as a senior TEDx speaker coach, it was a wonderful opportunity to share my tips and tricks with the (standing-room only) audience. I’d like to share some of them with you here.

I started off by asking people if they had ever seen a TED talk. All of the hands went up.
I then asked who felt that they, too, had a story to tell.
No hands went up.

This breaks my heart.

In my masterclass, I coached the audience through their own hidden gem of a TED talk, and I’d like to do the same for you, just by asking you a few questions.

1. What is something you feel passionate about?
2. What would you like to see changed in the world?
3. What is something that you have learned from your own life experiences?
4. What has surprised you the most in life?

Write your answers down.
When you get ideas out of your head and on to paper, you make them real. They are now no longer yours. You share them with the universe because you’ve taken the first step to make them real. Now that they are real, you can start playing with these delicious building blocks. Your answers to the questions above are all part of your story. No one else can answer these questions in the way that you can. No one. No one else can share your experiences or your lessons but you.

So…..
DO NOT STEAL.

If you have a message to share and you are NOT sharing it somehow, you are denying the hearts, minds, and souls of the world from learning from you. You are stealing something from them that could be of great value and inspiration. DO NOT STEAL. Be generous with your ideas. There is (to quote Tara Mohr) a you-shaped hole in the world. You have something to say that can only be said by you. No one else has your DNA, your experiences, your lessons, your failures, etc etc.

So please don’t tell me you have nothing to say.
You do.

What is it?

At the end of the masterclass, so many people came up to me and told me that they now had the seeds planted of an idea that was going to sprout, and grow.

My talk was on Monday.
On Friday, I was back at the Soho House for the very first Tedx Pitch Night. I was so excited to see if the feedback I had given all the speakers in the first round was implemented in the final round of talks, and who would be selected to give a TEDx talk on stage in December.

A few people who were at my talk on Monday were there on Friday as well. One of them came up to me – she said ‘When I walked into that room, I didn’t believe I had a story. Now I know I do, and I can’t wait to share it! Can you help me work on the structure and the delivery?’ Of course I said yes!

If you’d like to learn more about how to speak with impact and make a real connection to your audience (and yourself!), join me for my Preparing and Presenting Perfect Presentations and Pitches (wow, that’s a mouthful) Masterclass Day on May 9th next year. Grab your spot soon, because the Early Bird price ends on December 31. There’s also a comprehensive module on Presentations (and so much more!) in my online Business English Communication Course, which will help you learn at your own speed anytime, any place!

Now I’m off to spread some Buffilove, Berlin style!

Bis bald! (Even if you have hair…!)

XX Buffi