It’s Never Too Late to Rewrite

When I walked up on stage for a quick rehearsal around 10am on the morning of my TEDxBocaRaton talk (which would take place around 5pm before a live audience of 500+ people and 3 video cameras), my nerves were jittery. 

As Kiran pointed out before I left for Miami, “There’s a whole lot of hype about a TED talk.” That very morning in the green room, one of the organizers, Erik Mintz, had said, “No pressure, but this video will live on forever. It will be your legacy.” Gulp.

So yeah, I was anxious!

Then on stage in front of my fellow speakers and the incredible Cindy Metzler, the other organizer of the event, my opening joke fell flat. No one laughed. (I don’t want to tell you the joke because I want you to wait for the TED talk video!)

Now, to be clear, I had rehearsed my talk a great deal, for many many hours over the past two months. But most of those hours had been in my head. My husband Kiran gave me outstanding feedback on an early draft, which ended up becoming an entire new major point in my talk. I also worked with a very talented speaking coach, Reci Shmellick, who helped me simplify my talk, suggested impactful phrases to emphasize, and taught me how to gesture, walk and hold the space. I’d even done a rehearsal for my family, but it had been chaotic – 9-year-old twins are not the best audience for a ten-minute speech with no photos or videos!

So, once I finished up the first few minutes of my talk that morning as requested, I immediately sought out the other speakers. One of them, a lovely podcast host named Carole Blueweiss, carefully explained to me the part that she didn’t understand. “I don’t get it – was the guy in your seat or not?”

After telling her how much I appreciated her feedback, I spent a few moments thinking about how I could make the joke land. Then I approached Melissa Daimler, a senior executive at Udemy who was giving a speech about corporate culture. She was a tremendous ally to me on my TEDx journey, and agreed to go into the courtyard so that we both could practice. She workshopped the joke with me for quite a while until we both felt it worked.

When I stepped onto stage that afternoon around 5pm, cameras rolling, audience waiting, hair and makeup done, ready to have my moment on the red dot, I delivered the opening joke with slight trepidation and…

It landed. The whole room burst into laughter.

Writing Tip of the Week: Seek out Feedback

My point is this: Don’t be afraid to pivot. Be open to feedback. And always be willing to do a rewrite, even at the 11th hour. 

Have you ever done a last-minute pivot or rewrite? Hit Reply and tell me about it!

Quote of the Week

Don't fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.

  ~Bruce Lee