We’ve had TEDtalks and we’ve had Ignite – we’ve had Vibewire’s fastBREAK and we’ve had TEDx. All these events have a number of elements in common – they require the speakers to deliver short, focused talks. They promote presence – being in the room, and they honour in-person storytelling.
But while these event formats have been successful, for the most part, this format of short, sharp, in-person events have remained on the periphery of our culture. TED attracts an elite business focused crowd and Ignite appeals to the startup and innovation communities. fastBREAK is about creating an intergenerational conversation on important topics of our times – and TEDx seeks to make the TED brand experience more accessible while maintaining an air of exclusivity.
And that’s what is so interesting about the new Topic Talks series (April and May 2012). “For the passionately curious” this series of talks kicks off with Ray Martin, Thomas Keneally, Gretel Killeen, Patrick Lindsay and Sebastian Robertson. And they are physically accessible – with dates set for the Cremorne Orpheum theatre, Parramatta Riverside and Randwick Ritz.
It’s a great opportunity to hear accomplished storytellers – but I am equally interested to understand where the series may go in the future. It would be great to hear from under-represented voices.
This presentation was part of the City of Sydney library workshop program at the Customs House Library. I spoke on the topic of Social Media for Enterprise 2.0 to a packed room of people hungry for knowledge (or maybe it was just lunchtime hunger I was sensing).
In response to questions, I was luckily able to point to the Getting Started with Online Marketing infographic. Again, it is a great checklist for new and experienced practitioners alike. Hope you like the presentation!
I can still remember the sketchy, randomness of the very first #fastBREAK event that we held back in 2009. Rather than spending a Friday morning drinking coffee and chatting with friends before work, we went out on a limb. I asked Scott Drummond, Jye Smith, Isadore Biffin, Elias Bizannes and Matt Moore to give us five minutes of insight and passion. And together they inspired a movement.
Three years later, Vibewire’s#fastBREAK series is a cornerstone of Australia’s innovation scene – drawing young, established, mid-career and seasoned speakers into an intergenerational conversation with a curious and inquisitive audience.
Co-produced by the Powerhouse Museum, #fastBREAK is a brilliant opportunity to step out from behind your device, computer or even your TV and soak up inspiration and imagination from people who are pushing against the envelope of social innovation and creative industrial practice. It’s an hour of ideas, passion and personal storytelling from 7:45am on the last Friday of every month. It is designed to get you out of bed, fed, caffeinated and inspired and then off to work.
Have you ever made a deep change in your life? Did you look at the status quo and decide you didn’t like the shape, smell or grind that defined your life? If so – did you have the courage to change? Did you make that u-turn?
At the recent fastBREAK event – Vibewire’s co-production with the Powerhouse Museum, five speakers explored this topic. My favourite was this one story by Phil Gomes. He explains how he was able to turn his interest and passion for bikes and cycling into a job as an online editor with SBS Cycling Central.
It wasn’t easy – or even quick. But Phil makes the point – “be the agent of your own change”.
Every now and then, a conference comes along that I’d really like to attend. For me, these conferences aren’t JUST packed full of great speakers – it’s also about the audience. I try to think through WHO will attend, what they will bring to the conference and the potential topics that we could discuss during the event, at ad hoc tweetups and so on.
With that in mind, the upcoming Internet Show in Melbourne is about as promising a conference as we get this side of the shadow of SXSW. It’s two days of jam-packed action – lots of panels, some speed networking – and of course, great speakers like the firebrand, Rob Campbell (always NSFW but essential nonetheless) and Eaon Pritchard (founder of twelevision who promises not to make an exhibition of himself). Check out the full program here.
I am also participating in the event as a speaker. I’ll be talking about SAP’s Premier Customer Network, the power of closed communities and what it means to put a business social network to work.
If you want to come along to the conference, use the voucher code NZDY when you register online at www.internetshow.com.au to get a special rate. For registration assistance, call +61 2 9021 8807.
When I studied theatre, I fell in love with the practice of directing. I loved doing the research – the dramaturgy – into the play or performance pieces we were studying. I was fascinated with the potential and challenge of interpretation. But most of all, I was captivated by the process of performance – of what it took to coach, cajole, push and nurture people through the process in such a way that they would connect and wow the audience.
Over the next few months, I am giving a number of workshops and presentations at various conferences (you can see my list over at Plancast – and don’t forget, you can book me to speak too) – and this means I have to turn this directorial focus around onto myself. This is easier said than done – especially when you work virtually (ie alone) most of the time.
Over the years, I have learned some tricks to get around this challenge:
Learn your lines – this one is a challenge for me, as I have always had a problem with learning scripts (I was a much better director than actor). But when you are presenting, you cannot get away from learning your lines. Sites like CuePrompter can help you keep your key story on track.
Rehearse – after you have learned your lines, you then need to think about what’s going to happen in front of an audience. How will you sync slides? Is there music or video?
Rehearse some more – we used to say that the difference between amateurs and professionals is that amateurs rehearse until they get it right, professionals rehearse until they can’t get it wrong. I have heard that some people will go through their presentation 40 times before going in front of an audience.
Record your presentation – setup a webcam or a video camera and present to it. Then sit back and watch it an hour or so later. Make sure there is a solid narrative through your performance. Look for ways to improve that flow
Now, these tips are all about preparation BEFORE you step in front of a room full of people. What can you do when you are in front of an audience? Here are some great tips from the rocking Tara Hunt.
Take a look through Tara’s deck. Is there something that resonates with you? How do you feel about the Hero’s Journey? How do you apply that to your own presentations? Has this worked for you? Or even better – who have you seen who does this well? Share a video link, please!
The 2012 season of Vibewire’s #fastBREAK series gets underway on February 24 – with the topic U-Turn.
fastBREAK is a monthly series of rapid-fire interactive talks held on the last Friday of each month from 7:45-9:00am at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. Each event has five young industry leaders from various sectors exploring the question or topic of the month. These five minute responses circle around the themes of creativity, commercialisation, collaboration, connections and conversation. You can join the fastBREAK meetup community here.
This month’s speakers include:
Robert Beson is the director of AR-MA. Educated in the United States and Australia, Robert holds degrees in literature, classics and architecture.As an architect, Robert has worked in Europe, the United States and Australia with a number of internationally recognised practices and institutions. His work has been exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial, Gwangju Biennial, and the Venice Biennale.In 2010, Robert was awarded the Byera Hadley Traveling scholarship for research on digital fabrication and production of complex structures. Robert has acted as art director and curator for academic institutions, and lectures at UTS and the University of Sydney.
Ralph Hobbs is Art Equity’s Art Director, Ralph Hobbs has a wealth of experience as an artist, art educator and consultant to art institutions. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Art, Diploma of Education and a Masters in Fine Art and Design. His ongoing studies and life-long passion for art has positioned him as an authority in the industry. Highly regarded for his eye for exceptional art and understanding of what makes an artwork both collectible and valuable is an inherent skill that Art Equity clients have appreciated for many years.
Philip Gomes is an Editor and Journalist for SBS and Cycling News, who started his career as a Tennis Player/ coach. He migrated to Australia from Canada and in that time changed his preferred sports to cycling and triathlons. He is now fulfilling a life long dream to become a writer and journalist by converting online publishing into a full-time career as a journalist and online editor at SBS.
Katherine Tu is an Arts/Law student currently studying at the University of Sydney. She is also the Australian Youth Climate Coalition’s NSW State Co-Coordinator. She is passionate about acting on climate change because she wants to see a cleaner, fairer and more just world. Katherine is also active in social justice issues in general, she has previously volunteered for the Australian Red Cross on International Humanitarian Law, Young UNIFEM, and she is currently volunteering with the Aboriginal Legal Service. In her spare time, she likes to read, travel and try and play the ukulele (but isn’t very good at it).
Unless you’ve been hiding under a non-wi-fi-enabled rock for the last six years, then you will have seen or heard of a TED Talk. This famous conference event has hosted some of the most talked about, viewed and imitated presentations ever seen – covering a wide range of topics and ideas, inspiring millions of people around the world.
But how are the speakers selected? How do you attract the all seeing eye of Chris Anderson?
Well, it seems that TED are putting the crowd to work in an innovative new way – to uncover new talents, voices and ideas that “the world needs to hear”.
To apply, you will need to produce a short video of yourself. Thirty of the best applicants will be invited to audition. You can find out more here.
What/who are TED looking for?
Here’s what they say on their website.
Anyone can apply to audition, so long as you have not spoken at a TED Conference, TEDGlobal or TEDActive, and do not have a talk posted on TED.com/talks. We're especially looking for:
THE INVENTOR … sharing an innovation with world-changing potential
THE TEACHER … sharing valuable knowledge in a memorable way to teenagers or adults
THE PRODIGY … young talent ready to break out
THE ARTIST … who can showcase their work in a compelling, new way (Don't just talk about it. Show us your work!)
THE PERFORMER … music, dance, comedy, drama … or something entirely different
THE SAGE … wisdom the world needs from those who have learned it the hard way
THE ENTHUSIAST … with an infectious passion about a topic they can share
THE CHANGE AGENT … helping shape the world's future with work that matters
THE STORYTELLER … vivid, original, meaningful … with a talent for connection
THE SPARK … with a powerful idea worth spreading
So if you’ve got an idea worth spreading, the auditions for Australia take place in Sydney on May 27. BUT you have to apply between March 19 and April 8. Check out the audition FAQ here and start getting your story straight – because time is running out!
Social branding, online communities, social business and product integration are big and popular topics at the moment. Every day you will see blog posts, articles, whitepapers, videos and conferences devoted to these topics – yet there is a vast gap between those who can “talk” about social media and those who “do” social media within a business context.
During the week February 13-17, 2012, Social Media Week seeks to remedy this with a focus on the business impact of social media. For those near San Francisco, you will be able to attend the “content hubs” hosted by Cisco (focusing on B2B operationalisation) and SAP (focusing on the “social audience”).
My colleague, Natascha Thomson, Cross-LOB Marketing Consultant at SAP (@nathomson), discusses the importance of knowing the difference between “hype” and “reality” when it comes to social media best practices, and what people can expect at SAP’s Social Enterprise Hub.
Topics that will be covered include Topical Influencers, Reaching Developers, Testing Your Way Into Social, Enterprise & Startups, Trading & Investment, Developer Relations, Regulation & Legal, Business Systems, Business Information Design, Customer Relationship Management and Human Resource Management. The SAP Social Enterprise Hub should have a live feed for those of us who live too far away to attend – but details are yet to be made available.
You can check out the full schedule for the week here.
Each year the ignite conference runs events around the world. These short form conferences allow speakers 5 minutes and 20 slides to tell their story. It’s a challenging and dynamic format – the slides auto-progress each 15 seconds – so it keeps the speakers and the audience on their toes.
But many of us find the idea of public speaking confronting. What would we speak about? And then there is the time – five minutes is such a short period of time, right? In this 5 minute Ignite talk, Scott Berkun reminds us that the Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech (“four score and seven years ago …”) – takes only two minutes to deliver. He also explains where you can find your story (hint: you already know it), how and why you should share it, and why you’ll be good at it.
Check out the video, then look for the next Ignite in a city near you.