83: What TEDx Curators Like Melbourne’s Jon Yeo Are Actually Listening For - And Why Great Speakers Still Get Rejected

August 5, 2025

83: What TEDx Curators Like Melbourne’s Jon Yeo Are Actually Listening For – And Why Great Speakers Still Get Rejected

Being a great speaker won’t land you a TEDx talk. In fact, it might be the very thing holding you back. In this mind-stretching episode, TEDx Melbourne Curator Jon Yeo reveals what really gets you on the red dot – and what gets you instantly cut.

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Being a great speaker won’t land you a TEDx talk. In fact, it might be the very thing holding you back.

In this mind-stretching episode, TEDx Melbourne Curator Jon Yeo reveals what really gets you on the red dot – and what gets you instantly cut. Forget fancy slides or polished delivery, TEDx curators are listening for something deeper, sharper, and far harder to fake.

Jon has coached thousands of speakers, built statistical models from YouTube TED data, and pulled ideas from gun runners, neuroscientists, and quiet introverts alike. If your idea can’t survive his test, it’s not TEDx-ready.

Inside, you’ll learn how to:

  • Why being “good on stage” might cost you the talk (01:16)
  • The 3 elements that make an idea impossible to ignore (05:18)
  • What 800,000 brain cells on a computer chip means for your message (51:32)
  • How to pass the 4.5-minute attention test (or get skipped) (17:33)
  • What second-order consequences are—and why they’re your ticket in (21:03)
  • How to craft clarity that cuts through nerves, noise, and doubt (13:44)

This episode will challenge everything you think you know about influence, ideas, and what makes a message land.

Because if your talk could live in a blog post, it’s not TEDx material. But if you’re ready to uncover the soul of your idea and share it with the world, then this is your blueprint.

QUOTES

“If you can’t articulate that idea in a single compelling sentence, it’s not clear in your head. The challenge with that is, if it’s not clear in your head, it can’t be clear in the audience’s head.” – Jon Yeo

“Four and a half minutes is as long as someone will be patient with you before they click ‘next,’ which means you need to be able to bring your segments to really tight, really crisp, really compelling.” – Jon Yeo

“If you can do it on an email or on a website blog, then you’re not ready for a TED stage.” – Jacqueline Brooker

“There’s infinite creativity in getting from A to B, but we’ve all got to agree where the safety boundaries are, you’ve got to stick to them.” – Jon Yeo

RESOURCES

WHERE TO FIND JON YEO

Jon works with Leaders and Changemakers to understand strategic influence. While leading TEDx Melbourne, he saw the YouTube data for, “what causes someone to pause, rewind or abandon a TED Talk?”. He combined this data to better understand how to design for empathy, engagement and simplify complexity. Jon has been the Licensee for TEDx Melbourne since 2009 and is a past National President for Professional Speakers Australia. If Jon has any “spare” time, he works with Youth, Youth at Risk and Diversity and Inclusion

programs of major international organisations

WHERE TO FIND JACQUELINE BROOKER

To connect and learn more about creating a Speaker Driven Business connect with Jacqueline on LinkedIn. You can also follow Jacqueline on Instagram or join the private Facebook group

Join the Speak More Collective.