You’re probably familiar with TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) and TEDx talks from their unusual topics, interesting angles and great speeches. They’ve revolutionised the way business is perceived all over the world with their inspirational ideas.
So, what can your small business learn from them?
Cover Different Topics
The beauty of TED and TEDx talks is their flexibility when it comes to covering subjects. Had the founders wanted to create a series of business-based talks to inspire others, they would run out of content pretty quickly, as people would begin to simply repeat one another.
Luckily, the founders decided to create a forum for all entrepreneur-types to enthuse about their own areas. This means you can go to TED to see ‘4 Ways We Can Avoid a Catastrophic Drought’, ‘What Animals Are Thinking and Feeling?’ and ‘The Enchanting Music of Sign Language’. Not titles you would expect from an entrepreneurial talk.
If the content on your blog is focused on just one area of business (ie yours) then it might be time to think about expanding. This will bring more people to your site and with consistent and reliable updates, you will become their source for business news. This makes for interesting themes, interesting speakers and interesting audiences.
Share Your Story
TED talks work best when the person giving them is invested in what they are saying. This investment in the topic is relayed to the audience with the speaker’s own story or inclusion. We are more about to relate to a situation when we have the ability to sympathise directly with someone.
Make a point to communicate the story behind your business to your audience. A personable company is a successful one; people no longer buy a new coat, they invest in the brand that created it. A little can go a long way when you want to communicate truthfully with your customers, and with a transparent business that shares everything, you’re more likely to be the first port of call.
Be Funny
TED talks that give the audience a laugh (‘The Magic Washing Machine’) are some of the most memorable, not to mention shareable. Any content that makes the reader react with an emotion (even anger) is the most likely to spark a memory with the reader – ah, they posted that funny tweet.
Giving your online presence a personality will raise your profile without a doubt. Some of the best brands have customers purely because the content they share is funny, and they have portrayed their brand so well online.
Video Content is the Future
One of the most revolutionary things about TED talks is the fact they are posted as content. Essentially this is a type of conference people may attend to further themselves in their business sector. However, the fact that it has been shared online and produced as content has given people a visual incentive to watch.
Unfortunately written content is on the decline in the age of ephemeral technology, which is why your company needs to embrace video as a form of content. Audiences want their businesses to be as transparent and shareable as possible, and what better way for you to be this than to show videos ‘behind the scenes’? Being able to see a company office and employees is more likely to make an individual feel closer to the brand.
This is why TED talks have shot to fame in recent years. Writing a blog post is all well and good (well we think so!) but to go the extra mile you need to see a person instead of a brand – someone that you can empathise with.
What’s your favourite TED talk? Leave us a comment in the section below!