7 TED Talks About Personal Branding

What is TED?

Before we start talking about personal branding and all of that stuff, let's first explain what TED is.

And I know you weren't really thinking of the teddy bear from the movie "Ted".

But just in case: it's not that Ted we're talking about here.

I am sure you have seen a stage like this before, with that logo behind. The person here is Rafael dos Santos, CEO at High Profile Club, talking about "What it takes to be a migrant entrepreneur".

TED is an organisation that provides conferences devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less).

Everything they do is driven by this main goal: How can we best spread great ideas?

What is personal branding and why is it important?

Now that we know which TED we are talking about, let's get down to business.

"Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room". - Jeff Bezos.

According to Wikipedia, personal branding is the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It is an ongoing process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual, group, or organization.

Basically, personal branding is defined by:

✅ How you promote yourself.

✅ How you want the world to see you.

✅ It is the telling of your story.

✅ How it reflects your conduct, behaviour, spoken and unspoken words, and attitudes.

Check out our guide here for some key features about the importance of personal branding for entrepreneurs.

Personal branding has become more important than ever. You are the most important selling point of your service/product. People trust people! They are looking for someone they can proudly recommend and advocate to within their network.

According to the BBC, the number of self-employed workers has increased in the UK since 2001, and they now account for around 15% of the working population.

That means that the size of the gig economy in Britain is getting bigger. If you aren’t effectively managing your online reputation, then you run the risk of losing out on business.

This is why in TED, several talks have been made related to this topic, to influence people and help them understand how important it is.

The following points are 7 TED Talks worth watching about personal branding.

1️⃣ Caryn Foster Durham

In this talk, Caryn explains what personal branding should and should not be. Personal branding is not what you post on Facebook or how you respond on Twitter. Caryn suggests that you should prepare to fail when you launch your brand - because how you react to that failure determines how successful your personal brand will be in the long run.

Many businesses we know nowadays have failed and managed to survive because of how they have reacted to certain failures or setbacks.

She also explains that you are going to be told along the way to follow your dreams. However, you shouldn’t follow your dreams, as due to some circumstances in life, as they might vanish. Instead, find something you feel passionate about. When you are genuinely passionate and interested in your work, parameters will not exist, and you will forge forwards when you have overcome those failures. Your personal brand will be stronger.

Finally, she points out considering the self-awareness that you’ve gained along the way. The true value of your personal brand is when you value yourself, others have valued you, and you're able to take criticism not as a drawback, but as a point for reflection to make yourself better.

In short,

👼🏽 Launch your personal brand

👼🏽 Fail spectacularly

👼🏽 Feel so much passion for what you are doing that you don't care that you failed

👼🏽 Have enough self-awareness to know the value that you bring to others

2️⃣ Rob Brown