Welcome back to our Anatomy of a Ted Talk Series! In this talk, art historian and critic Sarah Lewis’s TED talk «Embrace the Near Win» encourges us to embrace the almost-failure, the near-win, in our lives and how they push us forward on our path to success.
A while back, I introduced you to the FRAMEWORK we use with our clients to create their Talks. It breaks down the presentation into different key elements that contribute to an overall great talk. This is NOT A FORMULA – it’s a simple framework– the box which holds the sand– so that you can create your unique, authentic talk!
This framework has helped people write TED-style talks, keynote speeches, 5-minute pitches as well as full day-long workshops. It can be adapted to the context of your presentation while guiding you to cover the most important elements for effectively connecting with your audience.
Let’s take a look at how Sarah Lewis’s powerful 12-minute talk fits in with the framework!
ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE
MINUTE 00:13 “I feel so fortunate that my first job was working at the Museum of Modern Art on a retrospective of painter Elizabeth Murray. I learned so much from her. After the curator Robert Storr selected all the paintings from her lifetime body of work, I loved looking at the paintings from the 1970s. There were some motifs and elements that would come up again later in her life. I remember asking her what she thought of those early works. If you didn’t know they were hers, you might not have been able to guess. She told me that a few didn’t quite meet her own mark for what she wanted them to be. One of the works, in fact, so didn’t meet her mark, she had set it out in the trash in her studio, and her neighbor had taken it because she saw its value.”
INTRODUCE YOUR IDEA
MINUTE 01:04 “But this is the thing: What gets us to convert success into mastery? This is a question I’ve long asked myself. I think it comes when we start to value the gift of a near win.”
INTRODUCE YOURSELF
Sarah keeps her talk short,
MINUTE 00:13 “I feel so fortunate that my first job was working at the Museum of Modern Art on a retrospective of painter Elizabeth Murray..”
PRESENT THE EVIDENCE/DATA
MINUTE 01:33 “I started to understand this when I went on one cold May day to watch a set of varsity archers, all women as fate would have it, at the northern tip of Manhattan at Columbia’s Baker Athletics Complex. I wanted to see what’s called archer’s paradox, the idea that in order to actually hit your target, you have to aim at something slightly skew from it.”
MINUTE 3:50 “Mastery is not just the same as excellence, though. It’s not the same as success, which I see as an event, a moment in time, and a label that the world confers upon you. Mastery is not a commitment to a goal but to a constant pursuit. What gets us to do this, what gets us to forward thrust more is to value the near win. .”
MINUTE 05:34 “The pursuit of mastery, in other words, is an ever-onward almost. «Lord, grant that I desire more than I can accomplish,» Michelangelo implored, as if to that Old Testament God on the Sistine Chapel, and he himself was that Adam with his finger outstretched and not quite touching that God’s hand.”
MINUTE 6:39 “ Part of the reason that the near win is inbuilt to mastery is because the greater our proficiency, the more clearly we might see that we don’t know all that we thought we did. It’s called the Dunning–Kruger effect. ”
MINUTE 7:20 “It’s Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who in 1984 missed taking the gold in the heptathlon by one-third of a second, and her husband predicted that would give her the tenacity she needed in follow-up competition. In 1988, she won the gold in the heptathlon and set a record of 7,291 points, a score that no athlete has come very close to since.”
REMIND THE AUDIENCE OF YOUR IDEA
MINUTE 9:15 “We know that we thrive when we stay at our own leading edge, and it’s why the deliberate incomplete is inbuilt into creation myths. In Navajo culture, some craftsmen and women would deliberately put an imperfection in textiles and ceramics. It’s what’s called a spirit line, a deliberate flaw in the pattern to give the weaver or maker a way out, but also a reason to continue making work. Masters are not experts because they take a subject to its conceptual end. They’re masters because they realize that there isn’t one.”
REVEAL THE NEW REALITY
MINUTE 10:49 “We build out of the unfinished idea, even if that idea is our former self. This is the dynamic of mastery. Coming close to what you thought you wanted can help you attain more than you ever dreamed you could.”
INVITE YOUR AUDIENCE TO TAKE ACTION
MINUTE 10:49 “Even if we created utopias, I believe we would still have the incomplete. Completion is a goal, but we hope it is never the end. “
If you are saying to yourself… easier said than done, this formula looks great, BUT not sure how it can work for you, then schedule a CLARITY CALL and let us help you write your SIGNATURE TALK.
In Clarity,
Dolores Signature in green
A few months ago I had the privilege to be featured in this interview by Srini Rao, host and founder of The Unmistakable Creative podcast. Srini has conducted over 600 interviews with thought leaders and people from all walks of life. He’s the author of 3 books and his work has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Inc, Business Insider, and The Blaze. Srini likes to explore topics like skill mastery, time management, and giving yourself a world-class self education.
We had a great chat! What a great opportunity to be in the “passenger” seat and share my story with Srini. Here are some nuggets:
MIN 20:33 “What is my purpose? What am I here to do?”
This is the story of how I uncovered the deeper layers of who I am and how I ended becoming a CLARITY COACH.
Accepting who we are, discovering our gifts and playing bigger are the building blocks to finding out what your purpose is.
MIN 24:25 “The concept that you are unique, you are valuable is not a concept many of us grow up with…»
In many cultures, we are raised with love and acceptance, but not raised to stand out. With this in mind, how do you embrace your uniqueness and bring it to the world?
MIN 24:55 What would you do for free all day long without getting tired and without resenting it? When you find that answer, you are probably likely to make a lot of money doing that…Give yourself permission to be that good, to have those gifts, to brace yourself for that unique brilliance!”
We also talk about the elephant in the room… what happens when we are too afraid to take action?
MIN 37:50 “What gets you unstuck? Any action is better than non-action.”
MIN 39:00 “The action leads to the discovery and the discovery leads to the path”
I’m so grateful to have been featured on this show! Come on over and check out the rest of the interview HERE and then check out more of my podcast interviews!
In Clarity,
On today’s Clarity TV we ask, Do you BELIEVE YOU CAN?
How many times have you put your TRUST on someone else? A coach, an expert, a teacher, anyone other than yourself?
On today’s episode of CLARITY TV, we sat down with Galit Rozen Ventura to discuss how believing in yourself is the one thing you need in order to succeed.
In Clarity,
PS: Are you ready to take action? Ready to be seen? Schedule a complimentary call with our CLARITY COACHES and let’s help you create an action plan for you to grow your business by being seen! SCHEDULE A CALL NOW
PS2: If you want to get notified or join us live for a next interview, simply LIKE OUR PAGE
When faced with big decisions, do you ever hear crazy talk in your head?
Have you ever said to yourself:
“I can’t.”
“What if I’m wrong?”
“Maybe someone asked that question already?”
How many times do we stop ourselves from raising our hand, speaking up in the meeting, not making the phone call, standing in a corner in networking events?
Dolores Hirschmann of Masters In Clarity
How many opportunities do we miss when we listen to the stories in our head?
I know I’ve missed a few until I started paying attention. Until I realized that asking the question at the microphone, at a large conference, was one of the best ways of begin networking conversations during breaks.
When I realized that speaking up in the meeting raised my profile and gave me more chances of being noticed and ultimately promoted.
When I realized that nobody will make me stand out if I don’t do so for myself.
So, how can YOU overcome all those voices that want to keep you quiet, keep you small? How do you stop the crazy talk in your head? Here are 3 strategies I’ve used that might help you:
- PREPARE: At any time, come to events prepared to ask a question or contribute. Whether is a large event and you seize the opportunity to come to the microphone and ask a question or contribute to the conversation in a small gathering, commit to being heard within the first half of the meeting, ideally before the break. Make it a goal.
- SOOTHE THE FEAR: Advice such as “don’t listen to your fear/scary voice”, drown the “scary voice” with positive statements might only turn down the volume of the fear conversation for a few moments. I suggest you give your fear voice about 2 minutes of attention. Then ask that voice, what is true about what you are saying? They always have a piece of wise nugget (tiny), listen to that nugget of wisdom and then let that scary voice know that “you’ve got this”. You are not afraid and do not worry, you will not put yourself in any danger.
- FOCUS ON THE REWARD: We make all kinds of stories in our head when we want to stay stuck. Not move forward. Fear usually pops up when we are looking to cross the boundary of our comfort zone, so be kind to yourself. Know that it’s a good sign if you are showing discomfort to a situation (we are talking a situation that would not have you physically in danger), take it as a sign that you are daring greatly (like Brene Brown would say). Breathe, be kind to yourself and step beyond that fear. On the other side of FEAR, there is always an expanded version of you, a world of new opportunities!
Whatever you do, look at the stories in your head as old voices that want to keep you safe. They are not your enemy, they are your scary friend who wants to keep you safe, don’t ignore them, reassure them that you are stronger than the fear and then plow forward…
In Clarity,