Alex Borstein’s “Step Out of Line”: A TED talk masterclass in 40 seconds

Just a few nights ago my wife and I were in a hotel on a business trip, watching the 2019 Emmy Awards show to pass the time.

Amidst the par-for-the-course self-congratulatory tone and silly interludes was one brief, honest, visceral moment: Alex Borstein accepting the award of Supporting Actress for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Lindsey and I cheered when she won. It’s one of our favorite shows of late, and Alex’s role as the cantankerous Susie Myers is downright side-splitting.

Borstein began her acceptance speech with a few lewd and crude jokes, which took the audience by surprise and were genuinely funny. That lasted about 20 seconds before she dramatically shifted her tone from one sentence to the next, and delivered the following monologue:

“I want to dedicate this to the strength of a woman. To Amy Sherman-Palladino. To every woman on the Maisel cast and crew. To my mother. To my grandmother. They are immigrants. They are Holocaust survivors. My grandmother turned to a guard – she was in line to be shot into a pit – and she said, “What happens if I step out of line?” And he said, “I don’t have the heart to shoot you but somebody will.” And she stepped out of line, and for that I am here, and for that my children are here. So step out of line, ladies. Step out of line!”

Whoa.

Lindsey and I sat in silence, slack-jawed and awestruck; the audience went berserk.

What just happened?

I instantly took to Twitter and my suspicious were confirmed: the speech was already blowing up across the Internet.

In this article I’m going to break down precisely what she did, why it worked, and how you can implement the same strategies to be more persuasive in meetings, on stage, in a TEDx talk, or even at the dinner table with your kids.

Moving People to Action

As a coach for aspiring TEDx speakers I help my clients develop and hone their big idea, pare down their stories to the shortest, most concise versions, and deliver the talk of their lives on the TEDx stage.

Clients come to me for help because they know the value in a great TEDx talk: instant expert status, universal credibility, and a launching pad for your next career move.

That is, if you nail it.

It usually takes 4-5 hour-long sessions with a client over the course of 6-8 weeks prior to their talk in order to really hone and master the message, not to mention the delivery. But every single core concept I teach is in Alex Borstein’s Emmy acceptance speech, and she did it in just 106 words over the course of 40 seconds.

Let’s break it down.

Clear and Defined Audience

Alex knew precisely who she was speaking to, who her target audience was. She was explicitly speaking to women.

By clearly articulating who the message was for, she gained attention from the right people.

Idea Worth Spreading

At the heart of every TED and TEDx talk is a thesis. This is true of all persuasive speeches, but what makes TED talks unique is their emphasis on “worth spreading.”

I regularly tell my clients, your talk has to not only be great, but be SO great that the person watching it feels compelled to instantly send it to their friends, loved ones, colleagues, or whoever.

Your speech is much more likely to spread if it requires we instead of just me.

Story with a Hook

People are persuaded by emotion, not by facts. Humans are and have always been story-machines. We make sense of the world by categorizing it, spotting themes, and creating narratives (even when they aren’t there).

Every famous TEDx talk has a memorable story at its core. Susan Cain told the childhood story of being an introvert at a rowdy summer camp in “The power of introverts.” Simon Sinek’s legendary TEDx talk best known as “Start with Why” told the story of how he got burnt out in his passionless corporate job and discovered a new way of looking at work.

My TEDx talk “How to Magically Connect with Anyone” was about the time I created magic for a blind man. My client Christie Lindor, a management consultant, told the story of being forced to leave a good, well-paying job that looked perfect on the outside due to a toxic company culture in “Why great people leave good jobs.”

Alex Borstein told the gripping, tense story of her grandmother choosing to take fate into her own hands and avoid execution at the hands of the Nazis.

An emotional story in a persuasive talk is the hook on which you hang the main point, thesis, or idea worth spreading.

Call to Action

Persuasive speeches must inspire us to do something or make a change as a result of the talk, otherwise it’s merely informative or entertaining. There’s nothing wrong with informative or entertaining speeches, but that’s not the purpose of TED-like presentations, whether on a TEDx stage, in the boardroom at work, or even speaking to your kids in the living room.

Alex’s call-to-action (CTA) was not as specific as most TEDx speeches (because she wasn’t actually giving one), but it was powerful nonetheless: “Step out of line.”

If I were coaching Ms. Borstein to turn this Emmy’s speech into a proper TEDx talk, I would have her expand the inspirational “step out of line” CTA to include specific ways women can implement the idea, in personal and professional situations.

Concise

And finally, TEDx talks must be concise. All TED talks are required to be 18 minutes or less, but that’s the maximum allowed. Generally speaking, the shorter the better.

If you can eliminate a story, point, reference, line, or even word, you’ve probably made the speech better.

We have limited attention spans and really only remember the first thing you say and the last thing you say. The rest is just about how you made us feel (see: Story with a hook).

Here is where Alex truly excelled. She did in 40 seconds what most TEDx speakers can’t do in 15 minutes. Mark Twain once said, “I didn’t have time to write you a short note, so I wrote you a long one instead.” Brevity is powerful. The shorter your speech is, the more likely people are to remember the core message.

Bringing it all together

And there you have it. Alex Borstein delivered a super-concise, high-impact idea wrapped in a story to a clear and defined audience. It was a masterpiece and will undoubtedly be remembered for years to come.

Aspiring TEDx speakers and those who’ve already been invited to speak at a TEDx conference will find more information about working with me here: TEDx Coaching with Brian Miller.

While you’re there be sure to download your FREE resource “5 Common TEDx Mistakes (and what to do instead).”