My first draft wasn't too small. It was too full.

That happened with both of my TEDx talks. I'd sit down thinking I had one idea to explain, and somewhere in the writing I'd realize I actually had twelve. Every sentence pulled another thread. This connects to that, which reminds me of this other thing, which actually explains the whole point better than what I'd already written.

A TEDx talk gives you eighteen minutes (I recommend 9-12). And that constraint does something writing without a deadline never does. It forces you to stop collecting ideas and start choosing one.

I've spent years on improv stages, and improv teaches you to let go of ideas fast. You walk in with something you think is funny or smart, your scene partner says something else, and now your idea doesn't fit anymore. You drop it. Not always easy to do, but necessary for a good scene.

Writing my TEDx talk was harder, because that trick didn't work. Every idea I had was a yes, and. They all fit. They all built on the last one and made sense with where the talk was going. Nothing was obviously wrong or out of place. So letting go wasn't about spotting what didn't belong anymore. It was figuring out what wasn't needed, even though it was good.

I see this with almost every speaker I coach for TEDx Buckhead Ave. They come in with a talk that's really five talks stacked on top of each other, and every one of those ideas is good. That's what makes it hard. My job isn't to help them think of more. It's to help them figure out which good idea actually needs to be there.

This isn't just a TEDx problem. It shows up every time we communicate. We add another supporting thought, another example, another angle, hoping it'll make the point land harder. Usually it does the opposite. The point gets buried under everything we added to protect it.

🔑 Small Shift: Your audience doesn't need your map. They need the next step.

When you know a subject well, you stop seeing single ideas. You see a whole network of them, all connected, all relevant, all technically true. The trap is thinking your job is to hand someone the whole map so they can see what you see.

They can't. They don't have the years of context you're standing on. They need one clear step forward, not the full territory.

Try this:

• Before you speak or write, ask yourself what the person actually needs to walk away with, not everything you know
• Cut the connection that's interesting to you but not useful to them
• If you're tempted to say "it's more complicated than that," ask whether they need the complication right now or just the next step

💡 Insight: "The more you know a subject, the harder it gets to remember what it's like not to know it. That's the real communication problem."

📝 From the Work

This shows up everywhere I coach, not just on TEDx stages.

A leader walks into a meeting ready to explain the full reasoning behind a decision, every input, every tradeoff they weighed. The room doesn't need the reasoning. They need the decision and what it means for them.

A founder pitching investors wants to show the depth of what they've built, so they explain the architecture instead of the outcome. The investor isn't evaluating how much you know. They're evaluating whether they understand what you're building.

Someone in an interview gets asked a simple question and answers with everything they've ever learned about the topic, because they're afraid one clean answer won't prove they're qualified. It does the opposite. It makes them harder to hire, not easier.

What you can take from this:

1. Explaining more is not the same as helping someone understand more
2. The instinct to add detail usually comes from your own discomfort, not their need
3. Clarity is a form of respect. It says I know this well enough to make it simple for you

❓Question for you

Where are you explaining instead of helping someone understand?

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Featured TEDx Talk: Who are you without your stories? (And why they’re slipping away)

My most recent TEDx Talk.

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