Episode 24
Season 2
How to Navigate the TEDx Process and Experience
Welcome Marta Spirk, TEDx Speaker, best-selling book author, podcaster, mom to six-year-old triplets, and empowerment coach.
Marta has cracked the code to landing TEDx talks and shares her experience with supporting TEDx events as an organizer and volunteer, and as a stage speaker herself.
Marta helps women to boost their confidence to pursue their dreams by looking at their most valuable resource: THEMSELVES.
"It is both my passion and mission to give women the permission to succeed, letting their voices be heard to create the impact they were meant to have as they step into their entrepreneurial potential," said Marta.
Join Veronica and Marta as they discuss how TEDx talks can help you support your visibility strategy.
Transcripts -
Veronica: [00:00:00] Hello. Hello and welcome to Saturday soundbites. I'm your host Veronica sofa. And here on Saturday soundbites, we talk all things, visibility strategy. We talk about marketing, branding, advertising, public relations, and all the things you need to do to grow your brand and get some visibility, cuz it all works together.
And it's super important to have a strategy in. Place. So I try to bring you guests that I know you are going to love, and I'm always very successful. And today I have another fantastic one, but before I bring her on, I'm going to take care of little housekeeping. If you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe.
We don't want you to miss any episodes of Saturday soundbites. And if you are watching on Facebook or YouTube, drop us some comments in my guests and I. We'll circle back and connect with you. So we'll go ahead and get started today, cuz we are going to be talking about TEDx opportunities with the amazing Martha Burke.
Welcome and join us for Saturday soundbites.
Marta: Yay. Hi Veronica. I'm so excited to be here.
Veronica: Awesome. Awesome. Okay. Well, before we start talking about the benefits of [00:01:00] TEDx talks and some of the strategies and the success that you've had. Tell us a little bit about
Marta: yourself. What's your background? So I'm originally from Brazil born and raised.
I grew up obsessed with the English language, with the American culture and my career path. I have two degrees in English, in translation and also in applied linguistics. And then in 2016, I had triplets. And that sent me on a different journey of a lot of personal development, personal discovery that got me into starting my own coaching business.
And now I focus on helping women entrepreneurs with the confidence piece to become more visible mm-hmm . So I cover both the mindset that goes along with showing yourself and stepping out and also the strategy that goes with that so that people know you're you have a business and you're ready to take in.
Veronica: mm-hmm . And how did that, how did that transition happen? So all of a sudden you've got three new lives that you're responsible for and your, your career path changes a a little bit. [00:02:00] And all of a sudden you have to modify things. You start you you've got a book, you've got podcast, you started doing a, a successful coaching business.
How did that all kind of come together for you? Obviously there were steps involved, but how, what did that journey look like for you?
Marta: Oh, my gosh, it was a lots of trial and trial and error, lots of learning, humility that I needed to learn from other people that had already walked the walk and trying different things.
Really. And this is one of the things that I'm passionate about now, having my podcast is having people come on to say that it's never a linear journey. It's never just, you know, you find the thing day one, and it's the same thing you do forever because that. Rarely the case. lots of pivoting, you know, so I started with network marketing and that is when I really found the world of personal development through that and understanding I was responsible for my thoughts.
I was responsible for my actions and for my own success. And that's when the seed for what I do in terms of being empowered really began. With understanding. Wow. So I get to [00:03:00] do all these things. And now what I, what I've been saying a lot is that you get to realize many of your dreams through your business because things that you would've never imagined were, you know, within reach for you, when you are in control of your schedule and of your next steps, then you can start pursuing different things.
So I started a lot with the, the mindset and especially with mom. So my, my niche. Initially was with moms, cuz I was very early postpartum. I started my business when my babies were nine months old. Oh wow. That's so much. I was craving finding myself. And a lot of that was the urgency of the responsibility of now I have to share this with three.
Right. It's not going to be, and this is something my husband and I talk a lot about, like, it's not like we have get a do over, you know, learn from the first child. The second one, you kind of adapt. It's all at the same time. And with three very different personalities that they've been, you know, developing now that they're getting older, they're six, almost six and a half.
You start seeing how different they are and. it's a lot of, [00:04:00] with the work that I do now in helping women see how unique they are. I see it every single day, cuz they're being raised by the same people in the same environment, completely different people, you know? Yeah. Talents tastes everything. And so with that, working with moms and then finally it was in 2020, it was a big pivotal moment for me cuz it was kind.
I think for many people, the perfect excuse for you to give up on whatever it is that you were doing. Cuz then say, Hey, it's an, it's an international global crisis. Let's just, you know, lay low. And for me, that is when I decided no, I am going to keep going and I'm gonna find whatever it is that I'm gonna do.
And I allowed myself to embrace the fact that I really wanted to work with women entrepreneurs because. They already understand the importance of mindset work. They already understand the importance of investing in the. Because they are their, the business, you know, mm-hmm . And when I stepped out and I said, you know what, I'm coming out and saying, I'm going to help women entrepreneurs with confidence.
Cuz a [00:05:00] lot of it was the infamous imposter syndrome. I haven't been in business for that long. I haven't made a certain amount of money that we put these caps on ourselves, right. To say that I can mentor somebody else. And I started noticing that there were lots of women who knew less than I did who hadn't walked as far as I had.
and I could help them. Mm. So it was a lot of acknowledging my own gifts. And again, this is what I've been focusing on is helping women acknowledge their own gifts. Cuz people can tell you're amazing all day long. If you don't believe it, it doesn't matter. right. You know, it's true. And yeah, so that's a lot of how I got started and then the marketing piece came about because people started telling me, how are you everywhere?
What are you doing? So I started looking at my own strategy. What am I doing? And then people started telling me, oh, so you help with marketing and I'd be like, Ooh, I don't have a degree. I don't know. I mean, I guess, and finally I accepted the title. Yes. I help people with marketing and with visibility, but always with that foundation [00:06:00] of, you have to believe in yourself, you have to.
Do that competence work too.
Veronica: Yeah. No, that makes complete sense. Well, that's why you're the perfect guest for Saturday soundbites, cuz that's all the things that we love to talk about and you've got a fantastic path that not everyone has who want a lot of people want to, but they haven't had a chance to walk down.
And that's the ability to leverage speaking engagement, specifically TEDx talks and that whole organization. And a lot of times people don't understand what it is. They find these videos on YouTube or they may see them on social media. They're really interested in something, but they don't understand what TEDx really is.
And you've got a unique background in that because you helped in, in, in some of the backend parts of it that I think were gonna be really helpful for our listeners to learn about. So share, share with us how it really
Marta: works. Yeah. So initially you start hearing more TEDx, I think. Many people know about it, even if they're not entrepreneurs because they stumble upon it on YouTube.
There are several things talks that are, have become very, very famous by authors and things like that. Like BNE brown is a huge [00:07:00] example. Like that's how the world came to know about her. And then she went on to have Netflix series and things like that. So. I knew about it, but then being in the entrepreneurship space online, you start seeing that that's kind of the route, especially for like coaches is you become a speaker.
That's the next step. That's something that people really love. But I, I started working with somebody that really helped with finding these. And that's when I got a better glimpse of how do you search? What are what's the criteria and all of that. And I applied to several by following that model. But I was adamant about applying to ones that were local because something to keep in mind is that it's not a paid opportunity.
Mm-hmm so some people are so debt set on landing a TEDx for the visibility, the credibility, and the exposure that they're willing to pay for travel, pay for a hotel and all of that. But none of that is covered. You have to be. To bank that, you know, and with [00:08:00] me in the beginning of my business, there was no way I would be able to fly to Los Angeles or fly to another state.
So I was like, no, I'm gonna do local. I'm gonna apply to locals and see what happens. And this was very early on when I didn't really understand what TEDx was. And I got called back for, for an audition. This was before the pandemic in a city here in Colorado. It's three hours away from Denver, where I live in grand junction.
And at the time, I'm pretty sure that had this happened. You know, after the pandemic, they would've taken auditions via zoom, but they wanted me to drive all the way over there to auditions. So it wasn't even the event itself and it killed me, but I had to decline and I had to say, there was no way if you can't, you know, I had, my babies were like almost three.
They were still two years old. So it was really, really hard. It was devastating. And that's when I was like, you know what? It's gonna happen and when it's supposed to happen, I'll keep my eye out. So what I did was I Subscribe to the newsletters, to other local ones that were closer to me. So there's one like an hour and a half away and others that are in Denver [00:09:00] to get notifications from when the applications were opened up, cuz that's something else.
Usually each cuz it's a franchise. That's something else that'ss important to understand is that there are specific guidelines that Ted. Itself has, but then the curators get to modify it to whatever it is that they want to. So they are the ones that select the speakers. They're the ones that do the training and establish how many times you're gonna meet and what the format is going to be like.
And so it, they're not all the same because it's different people organizing them, although they are under specific guidelines of what it's supposed to look like. After that I subscribed to all of these. I had friends that I saw were, were, you know, landing it. but then I kind of dropped it for a while.
And then it was in October of last year that I got an email saying, volunteers need it for next Ted TEDx event. And it was a TEDx event at the campus of the university that I got my master's in, in downtown Denver. [00:10:00] And it was on a Friday. It would be all day long. The kids would be in school. And it said, if you volunteer, we'll give you a specific training on.
To optimize your chances of getting selected for a Ted talk. And I was like, huh, that's interesting. I would love to hear from the curators themselves, what they're looking for. Sure. Yeah. Puts me a step closer to getting and plus I wanted to see the event. So I think that mindset right there is what helped me.
And that's what many people don't understand. And then in conversations with the curators, they really confirmed this many people have never been to a Tedex event and they're applying to it. So they have no idea what it's like past what they see on YouTube. And when you think being a business owner, it's not day one that most things happen.
It's you building those connections as you being more interested than interesting, right? Whether it be with a person or with an organization. So right then and there, I, I became more involved. I met with them. I realized, oh, I had seen one of the [00:11:00] curators cuz it's a couple, I had seen her speak at an event.
So it was like, oh, everything's kind of coming full circle. It's local. So I know lots of these people, so it was very interesting. And then after that they did the training via zoom, and they said, if you're really serious about applying email us, and we will do an individual zoom with you to kind of talk about it.
And it, it all started because you volunteered. So it wasn't this random person that messaged them on LinkedIn, cuz that's something else that many people encourage. It's like friend the curators. Start messaging them. And it's like, they don't even know who you are. Right, right. That's all weird. Like, where are you gonna say, Hey, I know you work for TEDx.
You know, I know you have your TEDx let's chat. Like it's weird. you know, so with that in mind, I was like, I'm totally gonna reach out to them. And then something else that happened was they were about to do another event. Later in the year. So this was in October, the event that I volunteered for. And then in December, they were going to do another event [00:12:00] that was specifically for women.
And they were one of the first ones that actually created or got the license to doing a women's only event with speakers that are only women. And they said, because you volunteered before, if you're interested in sponsoring the event, we can give you a lesser. And I was about to publish my book. So I was like, oh my gosh, this is great.
Cuz it's a women's only event. My book is the empowered woman. Yeah. I totally want to, again, go to an event, meet with other speakers and it was so fun because I even get chills. When I was sitting there in the audience, looking at all these women coming up, I was like, This is going to be me one day. I'm going to be like, talk about visualization and preparing yourself for it.
You know, it's going to be me on stage on that red circle. And so my, unfortunately my book wasn't ready because, you know, last minute paper shortage, whatever have you. But I got to connect with people and say, my book's coming out, you know, here, you know, write down your email. So when kids stay connected, take on this flyer and I had a [00:13:00] huge.
Like phone board of my cover that called a lot of attention. And many people came up to me. It was funny. They were like, are you speaking next? Cuz it was like the break for lunch. And I like, right, right. I received the prophecy, but not yet. maybe the next maybe in the next event. And then and then that was that I, I Sponsored it, I connected with lots of people.
I went afterwards and I friended some of the, I looked on social media for some of the speakers. Mm-hmm said, you know, you did a great job. I would love to connect with you. Maybe interview you from my podcast, like doing the networking thing that many people don't realize it's so important. And you know, and then I emailed the organizers and I said, Hey, I have.
My pitch should I submit it or, and then talk to you guys or before they were like, no, no, no. Talk to us before, send us what you have. So I emailed them what I had. I sat on zoom with a couple and I was like, oh my gosh, like super nervous, you know? And they gave me all these tips and but it was nothing guaranteed, you know?
And then I remember I was sitting at the airport, we were spending Christmas in Brazil with my. [00:14:00] And I get the email saying you've been selected and it's gonna be in March of next year. And I was like, oh my gosh, like, I'd been wanting this for several years. But from the moment I really chose to become more involved, it really was like two months until I got.
Cause it was October to December, you know, and it, it didn't take me that much. It didn't take me a bunch of courses and all the people that tell you, you know, you're gonna get it and you have to travel to another city and pay a lot of money. Like it was literally becoming interested. It was all local.
The event happened while my kids were in school. So again, I didn't have to worry about anything and I'm still involved with them. That's something else that they said, you know, you're, you're pretty Active on social media. We would love to have you involved now that you're a part of the family and they said you need to speak in the women.
One, because the one that I spoke on was not the women, it was FedEx cherry Creek. And they're having a women's one later in this year. So I have [00:15:00] some plants.
Veronica: Yeah, that's great. And what I love about the, the steps that you shared with us is that they were all connected to one another. Right. And when we talk about strong visibility strategy, we always talk about the networking.
The you know, the connecting with folks afterwards, the being of service I love, you know, being more interested and interesting, and that's so true. So when we think about when we're marketing our brand and our business, if you do a Ted TEDx talk, what are you doing with it? Afterwards. I mean, I always tell people it's great to get a television interview on your local NBC morning show.
That's great, good morning Albuquerque or whatever it is you're on, but it, what do you do with it next? That's where the value is. So talk to us a little bit about phase two you're you're on the TEDx. You get the license or you get permission to use it. Then what. .
Marta: Yeah, well, and that's very interesting cuz that's one of the things that they say too, cuz what I loved about this specific group, again, I don't have an experience with other ones.
What was interesting is that two of the people that spoke in the [00:16:00] same cohort that I did, that was their second time and they expressed how they loved the, the way they organized it. Cause they didn't have to memorize their talk. It was a different process. And then at the end something else that I really loved about the whole thing is that they did several different mingling events so that you would connect cause it's a nerve-wracking process.
And this is another thing that people don't understand. If you're a speaker, TEDx is not the same as you speaking for a conference because you're engaging with your audience, people laugh and you kind of, you know, go off script a little bit. You have your slides. TEDx is something for YouTube. It's not for that audience right there.
So. It's almost like you're performing like a musical mm-hmm or, you know, a theater piece mm-hmm because it's somewhat memorized. You're supposed to get certain things in that you can't leave out because it's going to be on YouTube again, it marginalized forever. So it's very different and it's a lot more nerve-wracking than you just coming up to speak your signature talk for example.
Mm-hmm [00:17:00] but that aside, so what I loved about this specific group is that they had mingling events. Like a dinner before the event and then a brunch after the event for us to be like, oh, we did it. We're amazing. You know, and then they said, this is not the end. You need to do something with your talk. And many people don't know what to do.
And they said we would love to support you in that capacity if you're not familiar with what to do, but in general terms, it's. Basically putting it up on your website, right? Mm-hmm making sure that people know, putting it on your bio, putting it on your media kit, especially if you're a speaker, that's a huge thing for you to showcase.
Something else that they recommended us to do right now. Go to all your bio on social media. And change it. TEDx speaker mm-hmm on your signature of your email. yeah, but the link of your, of, of your's S in your, in your email, it has to be blasted everywhere. In fact, when I recorded the audio audible for my book, cause I published my book before the Ted talk, so I hadn't added the TEDx on there.
I added TEDx on the audible, like when there's my bio at the end and something else. [00:18:00] Creating quotes and graphics, especially if you're a business owner, this is something that you should already be doing is they take images of you. That's something else that, oh my gosh, it's worth it all. Even if, if it's not a paid opportunity, you have professional shots of you on stage looking amazing.
you know and then you can use that to create graphics mm-hmm and quotes of yourself on stage. And I'm still using several of my pictures for my content. Even if I'm not talking about TEDx, you can see the TEDx stage and that already elevates your experience a lot. And something else that I say, cuz I think the book really helped everything helped.
Itself. Right. And that was something else that the organizers themselves said to me, they were like, you know, it's sad that you didn't do it before, but this was such better timing for you and your business because you have your book. In fact, I took books to the event to sell at the event, you know, so people got to hear me speak and then they could buy my book right there.
So that elevates the experience even more. And so. The message of my [00:19:00] book and the message of my Ted talk. They're all the same. So something else to keep in mind is it has to have something to do with your business because then you get to U rep repurpose it so many more times. Or then if somebody comes to you and they're like asking a question on something, you say, oh, go watch my Ted talk.
Mm-hmm , you know, talk about. Flaunting. And it's a 10 minute thing. It's not go watch my an hour master class. Right. You watch that talk, see that you're amazing. And then go, you know, wanna work with you or inquire about something else. So, yeah, it it's, it's the gift that keeps on giving mm-hmm and it's something that you're supposed to be doing.
With all your media hits. Yeah. Yeah,
Veronica: absolutely. And do you feel like with some of the folks that you've engaged with who have done more than one TEDx talks, TEDx talk that they are shopping around, just you made such a point of having it be local for you. Do you feel like people are shopping around and just submitting to all the, all of the ones that they have?
And what are your thoughts
Marta: on that? Yeah, I think that there's many programs that encourage. Because again, it's just [00:20:00] such a different mindset and attitude to start with it's I want to just say I'm a TEDx speaker, so they know nothing about the org, the organizers, they know nothing about. What it is that they're looking for, which decreases your chances right there of being selected.
If you don't know those people. So that's why being engaged and knowing the them personally, you can already know if it's a fit for you, cause would you wanna be involved in something that's not really your jam anyways? Like how does that benefit you? And that's something that grew on me as I matured as an entrepreneur to be like, no, I wanna be associated with people that are of the same.
Cause think about. Now I am very involved with them. They even said we would love for you to suggest speakers because I work with people that are speakers as entrepreneurs. Mm-hmm mm-hmm so they trust me to bring them. They were like, we love getting applications, but it's so much better. To get introductions that right there says it.
Yeah. They wanna know that person. They don't want to just get somebody that they don't know. Obviously that's a great way to connect [00:21:00] with somebody. They wouldn't have connected otherwise, but they said it themselves. They prefer that personal connection. So thinking about something out of town, great that you landed, but are you still gonna be connected with those people afterwards?
If you're. Around, you know, to do event or something else that I really like to do with everything that I do. And that, and I did this when I first got my first TV segment was staying engaged with, with the anchor, with the person who's like, can I interview you for my podcast? Let's go out and have some coffee.
Like, what can I offer you in return for this opportunity that, that you gave to me? So that's something that I still use. I'm I'm going to interview the, the marketing person for, for the TEDx. I told them, and many of them have said. I love the way that you did this. And I want to be on that stage. Cuz many people are involved in a TEDx, but they have not been on the stage.
That's a dream of that as well, you know? Yeah.
Veronica: Yeah. Yeah, it all, it all goes hand in hand and I love the dovetail approach because I think that's what any good strategy involves. It's building [00:22:00] upon the different layers. And anytime it's personal and you spoke to it so many times, anytime it's personal, it's just gonna be that much more impactful for you when you really get that connection that you want.
So I think those are really great tips, Marta. I know you've got some other projects in the works. Tell us about some of the other things you've got going on that people might be interested.
Marta: Okay. Well, something that just came about is that yesterday I learned that the, there are open applications for the FedEx women here in Denver, and it's gonna be November.
So if anyone wants to connect with me to help, you know, have, have me help with the pitch and to connect with the organizers, like I said, Please reach out. Something else that I'm in the going to be doing later this month in June is a workshop on repurposing content. So really learning how to create content for social media.
That's going to make you stand out. What else? I did a summit for authors a couple of weeks ago. That was really fun. So that's something that I'm really, really wanting to get to is help authors with marketing their books. Because after becoming an [00:23:00] author myself, I realized people don't know. How to promote their books after the initial launch.
Yes. The waste, you need to keep milking that thing cause you invested money and time and tears and sweat on it. And also aspiring authors to make sure that they get started on the right foot. Like I said having the topic of their book, be in alignment with their business to generate revenue for the business.
And then if you're wanting to get on Ted, if you are already an author that elevates your Your credibility as well. Cuz that's the path that I took on mm-hmm so there's some of the things that I got. Yeah.
Veronica: There's a lot going on. And how do you prefer people connect with you? Do you prefer Facebook or Instagram?
What's your preferred way of connection?
Marta: I use Facebook the most. I am pretty present on Instagram as well. Cuz I love making reels. That's something else that I've got going on. And I did a workshop on reel as well. So if anyone needs some help with the reels, let me know. But yeah Facebook's great.
Or if you just, you know, send me an email contact@marches.com, visit my website, find me somewhere, connect with me and I'll be there. [00:24:00]
Veronica: That's awesome. Great. All right, Martha, thank you so much for all those Ted talk tips. Those were amazing. Appreciate your time.
Marta: Thank you. This was great.
Veronica: All right, guys, you're gonna wanna connect with Marta.
If a TEDx talk is in your future, it's on your vision board. It's something you think is gonna help grow your brand and grow your business. You're gonna wanna see the assets and resources that she has, cuz I guarantee you, you are going to learn from Marta. She's fantastic. So with that, we're gonna wrap up.
This episode of Saturday soundbites, I'm Veronica Sofer. You can find me@veronicavsofer.com. And if you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes. If you are watching on Facebook or YouTube, drop us some comments and Mar and I will circle back and connect with that.
I'm sending you lots of positive energy and light.