RAP VIDEO: How To Land A TED Talk

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In 2014 I delivered a TED Talk at TEDx Rush University. Our tribe member Jason asked how I landed that. Here's our first ever Reply Rap! Lyrics below.

Have a question you want me to Reply Rap? Leave your question in the comments section below!

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Song Lyrics:

I'm mouthin off bout a TED Talk/ 
Bout to show ya how to set it off/ 
blow they heads off/ 
shoutin out the route so that/ 
you can give the next talk/ 
doubtin now if you can be the sound?/ 
man let's talk/ 
first off/ 
have a thought worth sharing/ 
something that'll make the crowd wanna start caring/ 
something that'll make the crowd wanna stop staring/ 
and contemplate the content/ 
a new way of daring/ 
when I went about it/ 
I knew I had to scout it/ 
make a tiny house/ 
leavin little room to doubt it/ 
so the way I found it/ 
was buildin up immunity/ 
by doin on a small scale first with my community/ 
built the fluency through a newsletter/ 
feedback/ 
provin my influence through letters/ 
see that?/ 
these cats/ 
my Idea Lemon tribe/ 
had me buzzin on a high/ 
I was feelin so alive/ 
So I/ 
Googled/ 
for a local TEDx/ 
Apply to be a speaker?/ 
I said "hell yes"/ 
Put yourself in my shoes, sit in admiration/ 
or take a step forward and fill out the application/ 
impatient/ 
nah I wasn't waitin/ 
did that shit quick not a sec of hesitation/ 
patience now/ 
I waited for a call back/ 
call me Saturday night/ 
cuz I know I'm ALL THAT/ 
no I'm not a mall rat/ 
but I'm known to maul raps/ 
flash forward couple weeks/ 
puttin on a ball cap/ 
cuz I've made it into the field/ 
for an interview/ 
him and you get 'em in the mood with my inner views/ 
and induce them/ 
when I go ahead and introduce/ 
pitch so money it was like they payin intro dues/ 
and im inchin through these interludes of convo/ 
in the news mention who he interfuse/ 
y'all know/ 
in the web, internet/ 
tested out the concept/ 
so that in effect/ 
I had proven I'm a bomb guest/ 
remember that email I sent?/ 
They could sense/ 
I'd ascend them in dollars and cents/ 
the Sensai had fleshed out his message/ 
impressive/ 
Selection Committee could see their investin/ 
not only in me/ 
but in my tribe/ 
who already received my shit well online/ 
next thing I know on stage at the facility/ 
packed house screamin/ 
expertise in vulnerability

--hook (2x)-- 

(STILL) 
representin for my TEDx all across the world
(STILL) 
make a performance outta show notes girl
(STILL) 
takin my time to perfect the speech
and I still get you outta your seats
It's the T.E.D.

Written by Rajiv Nathan

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Are You Made for MORE?

Over the weekend, our friend and Idea Lemon tribester Liz Flores (we’ve mentioned her here and there in previous posts) gave a TED Talk at the TEDxNormal conference.

Liz’s talk was about this theme of being made for more.

She’s an artist at heart, but it wasn’t until a couple years ago when she realized that was the case. For years she had buried her inner creativity because it wasn’t necessarily what she was supposed to explore as an adult.

But she listened to herself, and realized she was made for more.

So she found her inner artist again, and when she did, things snowballed.

What started with picking up a pencil and sketchbook and just doodling turned into designing on larger canvases, which turned into publicly posting one of her pieces on instagram for the first time ever,

     @lizitto

which turned into creating more, which turned into gaining a following, which turned into selling her work, which turned into meeting artists she looks up to, which turned into getting her own studio, which turned into doing a public display on Michigan Avenue in Chicago,
 

              @lizitto

which turned into pursuing art full time, which turned into Saturday’s TED Talk.

Oh and somewhere along the way she also found herself on the same sofa as Arianna Huffington, inside Huffington’s penthouse (seriously).

Do you see what’s happening here?

Liz had (and continues to have) a series of small, incremental wins that ladder up to major victories. She had a public art display on Michigan Avenue--the most trafficked street in the 3rd largest city in the USA--but that came from building up a series of small wins.

And those small wins don’t happen unless she is honest with herself first and realizes she’s made for MORE.

Where do YOU want to give MORE? At your job? Your relationships? The hobby you once wrote off? Leave a comment below

Take care and be awesome today,

Rajiv