How to Deliver a Message with Impact

Your name is called. The audience applauds. You walk out onto the red dot, under the blindingly bright lights, heart racing, about to deliver your first TED talk.

Can you picture it?

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That scene had been a dream of mine for several years, and after hundreds of hours of preparation, it finally became a reality for me on the 14th of September, 2018, at TEDxOneonta, in New York State. If you’re an avid TED fan, you’ll know how brilliant the talks can be and I wanted mine to be right up there with the best of them. Captivating, entertaining, thought-provoking and most of all, something that would inspire action.

It was a monumental task crafting my talk, “Snack on Exercise – Boost Your Brain, Body & Mood,” and in this article, I take you behind the scenes to hear how I created my talk, prepared to deliver it and managed the inevitable nerves on the day of the talk.

I hope it might inspire you if you dream of one day speaking on the red dot yourself, and in the meantime assist you as a teacher to deliver your message and lessons with impact.

1. Start With The End In Mind

Preparing for a talk of this importance was a roller coaster of emotions. My mood frequently went from optimistic and excited, to sheer panic, and back again. It felt as if I was on railway tracks hurtling towards this deadline, with no way to slow it down. When I felt overwhelmed I realised I needed to start with the end in mind and picture the best possible outcome. I imagined standing on the red circle saying my final words, having the crowd erupt into applause and feeling proud and elated. Neuroscience shows us that we are more likely to
achieve the things we have first pictured and for which we have prepared. If you have a presentation coming up or are pitching an idea in a meeting, picture it going well ahead of time. You might even want to spend time in the room itself and practise your opening and closing lines so that you’ll feel more confident when it comes to the actual moment.

2. Stories are the Star

The biggest challenge in preparing for a TED talk is the time limit and figuring out what to leave out. I worked with my coaches Lisa and Teri backwards and forwards through 17 iterations before confirming the final content. There were many stats, stories and phrases that I’d spent hours researching and crafting, which ended up not making the final cut. Teri called this refining process, ‘killing my darlings,’ but in the end it helped the core message and idea come through. She had two key phrases for me: “When you squeeze too much in, you squeeze the audience out,” and, “Show them. Don’t tell them.” One of the keys was focusing on stories. The human brains love stories. We find them captivating and they’re often the best remembered part of any talk. Without stories we are left with facts, figures and statements. If you watch my talk you might notice, I included seven different stories which helped bring the topic to life.

It’s the stories that captivate attention, that allow us to draw striking analogies and connect on an emotional level that will stick with people long after the talk itself. Whenever you speak, whether in a small meeting, to a large group, or one on one, conveying your message via a concise, compelling story will have far more impact than just stating the facts, regardless of how important they are.

3. What’s in it for the audience?

One of the keys of any successful presentation (or conversation for that matter) is to understand how it benefits the listeners. If there’s no, “What’s in it for me?” factor, they will quickly lose interest. To connect directly with the audience, it’s important to speak as if to each individual person in the audience. You can do this by avoiding saying, “Ladies and gentlemen,” or other collective nouns, but instead by using “you” statements to reach that personal level. I had to change several “What if we…” lines to “What if you…” lines and it made such a difference, as the “you” statements call people to action.

In Nancy Duarte’s TEDx talk, “The Secret Structure of Great Talks,” she explains the formula for a phenomenal presentation. She shows how great orators will start by connecting the audience to the status quo, then flip back and forth from the negatives of the present to the benefits of a new status quo, and finish by describing the ideal outcome or what she calls the “new bliss.” I only came across her talk two weeks out from T-day (TEDx-day) and was apprehensive about potentially having to go back to the drawing board, but fortunately, I realised that my speech did exactly that. I contrasted the benefits of snacking on exercise (both for individuals and as a society) with the downsides and challenges of sedentary lives, flipping back and forth with stories and examples. My biggest hope was that people would walk away inspired to take action and try the concept out in their own lives.

Before you plan any presentation, consider your audience and how they can benefit from it. By creating an audience-centric message, you will have a much greater impact than if you start simply with what you want to share. Decide how you want people to feel and what you want them to do differently after your talk. Then structure it with that in mind.

4. Preparation Pays Off

The other key to a super-successful presentation is to practise, practise, practise. I recorded myself delivering the talk over and over, watching it back, sometimes with the sound on, with the sound off and just listening to the audio, so I could focus on each aspect of my verbal and non-verbal communication.

Three weeks from T-day, I attended the International Toastmasters Convention in Chicago. They’re an organisation focused on creating better leaders and communicators. I delivered my talk to several groups and got insightful feedback. What I had thought was a fairly good version went through several more changes. I worked on where to stand within the red circle for each story and practised gestures that would add impact.

In the final weeks, I recorded and reviewed my delivery daily, often wearing my full outfit (including jacket and heels which I had chosen intentionally to highlight my message of getting moving anywhere, even in a professional setting). I used a countdown timer and clicked through my slides so that it was as close to “the real thing” as possible. I also delivered the talk live to four Toastmaster clubs. All of this meant that when it came to the actual event, it felt so natural that I was able to deliver my message virtually word for word.

Next time you have an important message to share, take the time to practise it out loud to yourself, to your smart phone (and watch it back) or at a local Toastmasters club, so that you can have much more impact when you deliver it for real.

5. Routines Rule

When we face high-stake situations, having routines in place that we have used beforehand is really key to improve performance. Think of the Olympic athlete who has a preparation routine before walking out to the start line. Of course it’s important to go with the flow as things won’t unfold quite as you expect, but it’s great to have rituals to rely on to quickly re-centre yourself.

On T-day, after a final session with my coach, which included going over my opening and closing lines, I went out for a walk in nature. I actually ended up getting somewhat lost in the woods so it turned out to be a longer walk than planned, but that’s another story! The idea was to relax and ground myself. After a good lunch (because I knew I wouldn’t eat dinner), I set a timer and had a 45 minute lie down. I didn’t sleep, but just focused on diaphragmatic breathing, thought about how grateful I was for this opportunity and pictured it all going smoothly.

I arrived at the venue at T-minus-3-hours, which allowed plenty of time to bring everything in and have a final tech check. I put on a calming essential oil called “serenity,” and drank a delicious, “throat rescue” tea blend which I’d been using all week to keep my vocal chords in check. I listened to my favourite Ed Sheeran songs while I sat and did my makeup. All of these familiar things helped me stay calm and focused.

Once the show started, I went into a private green room planning to practise my talk one final time, but got cut slightly short in the end, as my time slot was moved forward at the last minute. Expect the unexpected, right!? So, after a final dash to the bathroom I managed to slow down and collect my thoughts backstage.

Waiting in the wings for those final few minutes, I practised Amy Cuddy’s wonder-woman power pose (you can google it), focused on diaphragmatic breathing and reminded myself to speak clearly and pause. Being a fast-talking New Zealander, it was important to start out slow to give an international audience a chance to catch my accent.

Before I knew it, I was delivering my first line. The crowd was wonderfully engaged. From the moment when I asked them to raise their hand if they brushed their teeth every day, they were quick to laugh. I got them up and moving so they could feel what a difference a short amount of movement makes to your body and brain. I had moments of internal panic when I remembered that my husband and children were watching the livestream back home, but somehow the words kept coming and it all worked.

Overall, it was an exhilarating experience. After my final words, I walked backstage with jelly legs, and burst into tears, enveloped in such a sense of relief. I had done it! All without fainting, going blank or falling off the stage. I was on an absolute high!

6. Just Be You

While practise and preparation are vital, the biggest challenge with virtually memorising an entire speech, is not to sound stilted or dry on the day. Moments before stepping out on stage I reminded myself to be present, in the moment, to connect with the audience and to have fun! As Brene Brown shares, it’s our vulnerability and authenticity that truly allow us to connect. “Strong back, soft front.” Always let people see the real you.

Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I don’t know exactly how each person felt during my talk, but the only thing I could do was to be me, to be authentic, vulnerable, real and to share my message with all the passion, love and skill that I could.

Not everyone will have enjoyed it. You can never please everyone. But I’m pleased I gave it all that I could. I just focused on being me, being in the moment and connecting with my fellow human beings who I love and care about. That is all we can ever do.

What about you?

As a teacher, you already have a great wealth of knowledge. Do you have an idea worth spreading to share with the world? I’d love to hear about it.

Feel free to drop me a line via LaurenParsonsWellbeing.com to share it with me.

All you need is a great team of people around you, a ton of determination and the passion to keep pursuing the best talk you can possibly give.

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Lauren Parsons


Lauren is an award-winning Wellbeing Specialist who believes that everyone deserves to thrive. With over 20 years’ experience in the health and wellbeing profession, she is a sought after speaker, coach and consultant.
TEDx speaker, author, founder of the Snack on Exercise movement and host of the Thrive TV Show, Lauren is based in Manawatu, New Zealand. She specialises in helping schools and organisations create a high-energy,
peak- performance team culture, which enables people to thrive.

For more information, visit: www.LaurenParsonsWellbeing.com