Ep. 067 — Lessons from TEDx — One Speaker's Path to Impactful Leadership Talks

Release date: June 8 , 2026

Hosted by Roddy Galbraith

A Maxwell Leadership Podcast Network production

Weekly highlights from The Speaker’s Edge — a Maxwell Leadership Podcast Network production hosted by Roddy Galbraith. Learn how to communicate with clarity, confidence, and impact — in business, on stage, and in life.

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This Week’s Big Idea

What does it really take to earn a spot on the TEDx red dot — and deliver a talk worth watching? This week Roddy sits down with speaker, entrepreneur, and Live2Lead organiser Kelly Merbler, who recently delivered her first TEDx Talk after a nine-year journey to get there. From early rejections to an unexpected invitation, Kelly shares the real story behind the preparation, the nerves, and the mindset that finally got her there — including the one belief she keeps on her desk every single day.

Key Takeaways

•  The door opens when the time is right. Kelly was rejected twice before being invited back years later — and she believes the earlier timing would have been too soon. "I hadn't lived it enough yet." Lived experience you haven't yet accumulated can't be faked.

• Preparation is what gives you confidence. When you know what you're going to say, you feel confident. When you're thinking about what comes next, it shows — you can't be present with the audience if you're still thinking about yourself.

• You want the "magic of the first time, every time." The goal of preparation isn't to sound rehearsed — it's to know your content so thoroughly that you can be fully present, as if you're saying it for the first time.

• Trial cases aren't won in the arguing — they're won in the preparation. Long before you step on stage, the work has already been done. Speaking is the same.

• TEDx isn't looking for polished motivational speakers — it's looking for experts with an idea worth sharing. Many viral TEDx talks come from people who had never spoken before. Authenticity matters more than polish.

• Growth happens when we decide something matters more than staying where we are. The goal has to matter enough that you're willing to do whatever it takes — because otherwise, you'll stay exactly where you are.

• Trust is built over time, not in a single talk. Kelly's nine-year journey from dreaming about the red dot to standing on it mirrors what Roddy has been teaching throughout this series: the work compounds, the door opens, and no shortcut replaces the real thing.

Quote of the Week

"Growth happens when we decide something matters more than staying where we are." — Kelly Merbler

Resources & Practice

Whether you're dreaming of a TEDx stage or just your next keynote, Kelly's journey has a lesson for every speaker:

- What is the "red dot moment" in your speaking journey — the moment you've claimed but haven't yet reached?
- Are you dismissing a goal because you don't feel ready, or are you doing the work to get ready?
- When did you last prepare so thoroughly that you could be fully present with your audience, instead of thinking about what came next?
- Is there a speaking goal you've been on the fence about — a TED Talk, a bigger stage, a new market?

Kelly's TEDx talk is on YouTube — search "Kelly Merbler TEDx" to watch.
Coffee with Kelly To Go podcast: available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Live2Lead South Florida: October 16th at The Club at Quail Ridge, Boynton Beach, FL.

Guest: Kelly Merbler — Speaker, entrepreneur, Live2Lead organizer, Maxwell Leadership Certified Team member

Get the companion guide here > MaxwellLeadership.com/TheSpeakersEdge

Learn about the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team: maxwellleadership.com/speak

Full Transcript (Ep. 067 — Lessons from TEDx — One Speaker's Path to Impactful Leadership Talks)

Released: June 8, 2026

This transcript was auto-generated. It may contain minor errors. *Copy text adds attribution automatically

Roddy Galbraith:
"Hey, guys, welcome back to the Speaker's Edge Podcast — the podcast dedicated to helping you learn from some of the world's very best speakers and communicators so you can learn to master your message and inspire your audience every single time you speak. I'm your host for this podcast, Roddy Galbraith. Thrilled you've chosen to join us today. We've got a great guest — I always bring great people when we have special guests. And another great guest today: Kelly Merbler is going to join us. But before we get to that, if you haven't downloaded the companion guide, go to MaxwellLeadership.com/TheSpeakersEdge. Download the companion guide, and if you enjoy the show, we'd love it if you rate and review as well. All right, let's dive straight in with our special guest. Thanks so much for joining us today, Kelly. It's great to have you with us.

Kelly Merbler:
Oh, cheers. And coffee to everyone out there. It's a good day. Roddy, good morning. Cheers.

Roddy Galbraith:
Happy coffee day. Yeah. How are you?

Kelly Merbler:
That's fantastic.

Roddy Galbraith:
You look great.

Kelly Merbler:
Thank you. It's been a great whirlwind — May was a fabulous month, and just a really good whirlwind of speaking opportunities right now. You've got to live them up when they're happening, right?

Roddy Galbraith:
You are busy, busy, busy. It's difficult to get an appointment with you. And whereabouts are you? Just down the road from me, aren't you? For people listening — whereabouts are you?

Kelly Merbler:
In a little town called Wellington, Florida — west of West Palm Beach.

Roddy Galbraith:
About 40 to 60 minutes from our office. Yeah. Well, it's so good to see you. I'm thrilled that people get to learn from you because it's been a while. I think when we were doing the 16 Laws series — maybe a year or two back — was the last time, apart from you coming in on a couple of different projects. But it's great to have the opportunity to speak to you again today. For people that don't know who you are, just give us one minute — who is Kelly?

Kelly Merbler:
Oh, my gosh. So I'm many things. I'm a mom — I have two sons, 20 and 18 now, Evan and Cole. I just celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary with my husband Brian. And I'm a proud owner of a new golden retriever named Oliver that we rescued. Dog mom as well. And I'm building a business as a speaker — so entrepreneur. I'm a lot.

Roddy Galbraith:
Let's go back to the golden retriever. They are the best dogs. Such great company.

Kelly Merbler:
He is. And he's just wonderful — eight months right now.

Roddy Galbraith:
Bundle of fun. Oh, that's amazing. They're great dogs. Hairy, but wonderful companions. Very loving, for sure. We banned ours from the pool because we have an English cream golden retriever called Teddy Bear. He'd always go in the pool and the filter would be thick with dog hair. Disgusting. So we banned him. Now no one uses it anyway.

All right, tell us about your business. For how many years have you been building it here?

Kelly Merbler:
Just crossed eight years of building my business — where I don't have a corporation behind me. I'm building it brick by brick, speech by speech, session by session — whatever I can do on a daily basis to move the needle forward and build what I'm really trying to make as a legacy, not only for myself but for my family.

Roddy Galbraith:
You're doing a great job. You've done the Maxwell Live2Lead event for how many years now?

Kelly Merbler:
Four years on my own, and I collaborated for three before that. So seven years total.

Roddy Galbraith:
I came and spoke at your event about a year ago — it was an amazing event, packed with wonderful people. Very exclusive, very VIP feel.

Kelly Merbler:
Well, if people are going to give you their time, I want to give them a great experience. Make sure they're fed well, have great content, and great people to surround themselves with. It's a very intentional event for me.

Roddy Galbraith:
It worked really well — right from the minute you walk through the doors into the hall with the greeters. Sharing great information is one thing, but creating an experience people never forget is something else. And you really did that very well.

Kelly Merbler:
Thank you. I really give a lot of credit to the volunteers behind it — they're probably the most talked-about part of the conference, how they make people feel as soon as they walk in.

Roddy Galbraith:
I'm looking forward to coming back this year. When is it?

Kelly Merbler:
October 16th. We're back at The Club at Quail Ridge — Boynton Beach, South Florida area. Same place. So I'm going to pamper you again.

Roddy Galbraith:
And you do a great mix of live speakers — all great last time — and highlights from John's events. If you're local you'd definitely want to get a ticket, but it's worth flying in for. It's a great experience.

Kelly Merbler:
We have a lot of great people that come in from out of the area. And this year I'm super excited — we have Jess Ekstrom coming as one of our keynote speakers. She's wonderful.

Roddy Galbraith:
She's a wonderful human being. I love her story and the good work she's doing in the world. She's one of the good ones — a great speaker and a good person. And you had Chris Robinson last time as well. He did an amazing job.

Kelly Merbler:
Absolutely. And I can't say it yet because I haven't officially gotten the blessing, but I did get an email last night — stay tuned. We've got a big name coming to Live2Lead this year. You'll know soon.

Roddy Galbraith:
That's amazing. Well done. So you've really built a great business — with local businesses but also around America. Now, you did a TED Talk recently, and a lot of people who listen to the show are interested in doing TED Talks. I thought it'd be fun to pick your brain about your experience. Tell us a little bit about your TEDx Talk. Where did the idea come from?

Kelly Merbler:
It was probably nine years ago. I went to the first TEDx Boca Raton here in South Florida — they had just launched it. My girlfriend and I went. Her dream was to speak on that stage the following year. I was there as an audience member. During intermission, they asked for two volunteers to come up and introduce themselves. I'm not shy, so I ran up on stage. The organiser handed me the mic and said: "You have 30 seconds to tell us what your idea would be if you were to get on a TED Talk." And I just went into a kind of subconscious mindset and talked about how I envisioned being on that red dot one day. I claimed it in that moment.

At the end of the TEDx that day, when the room was empty, I went up on stage, stood on the red dot, and had my friend take a picture. That was for me to keep — a vision, saying: you're going to do this one day. I don't know when, but you will. And that was almost nine years ago.

Roddy Galbraith:
Wow. I think you posted that picture on Instagram or LinkedIn. So this has been a nine-year goal. When did you start taking it seriously — when did you think "I've got a message, I'm going to work towards this now"?

Kelly Merbler:
Honestly, I tucked it away for a while. I applied a couple of times after that initial high, and I got rejected. Twice, I remember. And I said, I must not be good enough — I'm not ready. So I just stopped going after it for a while.

And then early this year, I made a decision. I'd been building my business and speaking and getting on better stages from time to time. I made a decision that this was my year to really challenge myself. I thought: if that's one thing that's going to make me better, I need to be serious about it. Because I know what it's going to take to get there. And unless I'm willing to do the work, I'm never going to do it. So I claimed it this year and said, if it comes my way, I'm doing it.

Roddy Galbraith:
A lot of people will be thinking: how do you go about applying for a TEDx Talk? You applied twice and got rejected — what happened?

Kelly Merbler:
I heard from them. It just said I was not chosen.

Roddy Galbraith:
What did they ask for to make that decision?

Kelly Merbler:
They have a theme for any event. People can apply for TEDx talks all around the world — it doesn't have to be in your backyard. You know the theme, and you submit your application with your idea of what you'd talk about that connects with that theme. That's what I did. I submitted ideas I thought connected with the theme — one of them was "purpose." Looking back now, I know I didn't submit the right idea, and I didn't have a relationship with the organisers.

Roddy Galbraith:
And this time was different. I remember you saying it seemed like it happened all of a sudden.

Kelly Merbler:
It was in March that the call came in. The organisers had decided to run it again this year — they weren't sure they would — and the call came in saying: we'd like you to be part of our programme this year. You submitted in the past and we'd love to invite you in.

Roddy Galbraith:
Wow, that's great. And you did a terrific job. For anyone that hasn't seen it, how do they find it?

Kelly Merbler:
The easiest way: go to YouTube, search "Kelly Merbler TEDx" and it'll come right up.

Roddy Galbraith:
I love it. The black background looks really elegant. You did a terrific job — very professional, great timing, you weren't rushing, you knew what you were going to say, but it didn't feel like you were reciting a prepared message. Very insightful. Tell us about the preparation journey.

Kelly Merbler:
Truth be told, it was the hardest thing I've ever done. And you spent hours with me preparing the message, making sure I sounded polished and the flow was right. I give so much credit to that — but it really was the hardest thing I've ever done. I love speaking — I'm not afraid of it. But it is the process, the preparation, the space you have to control on a TED Talk on that red dot. You have to prepare yourself for anything.

As a keynote speaker, give me 45 minutes to an hour and I'm good. Give me 13 minutes and I have to fit the idea, the concept, the story, and the application into 13 minutes. That's hard. And you have to stay on an eight-foot red circle — you can't get into the audience, can't ask them questions, you've got to stay in your zone. It's hard.

What really helped me, looking back, is the prep. The practice. Doing it in the weirdest locations — saying it over and over again, but not just repeating it. Bringing it to life through your feeling, through your emotion, through your experience, and creating that moment within that time. That is hard.

Roddy Galbraith:
John says you want the magic of the first time, every time. You work hard to make sure you've done it many, many times so you know what you're going to say — very precisely, often. You want the reliability of the preparation, but it needs to sound like the first time you've ever said it. I thought you did that really well.

We had an event at the weekend where Aaron Gartland — a lawyer — was speaking. He shared some advice he'd been given: people think being a lawyer is about arguing, but trial cases are not won in the arguing — they're won in the preparation, long before you get there. And speaking is the same. You don't want the audience to know you've done all that preparation. You want it to feel special for them, but you've got that reliability underneath.

Kelly Merbler:
That's what gives you the confidence. I can say so positively now that the preparation gives you the confidence. When you know what you're going to do, you feel confident. When you're thinking "what am I going to say? What's next?" — it shows. It does.

Roddy Galbraith:
You can't process any new information if you're just thinking about what comes next. You're not thinking about the audience, not thinking about timing, not present in the moment. Speaking is a conversation — you're speaking and they're answering in their head. The better you know your material, the better able you are to be present. And you did a really great job. Well done, Kelly Merbler.

Kelly Merbler:
Thank you. I'll always be the pickiest about my own work — it's who I am. But I'm really proud of how the end result turned out, because I know how much work it took to get those 13 minutes out of me. You may have seen 13 minutes, but it was years of preparation for that moment. I'm really proud because I feel like that's what I was meant to talk about. The topic aligned with me, it's something that's been in my heart for years. It's why I left my corporate job. And I'm really proud that I did it.

Roddy Galbraith:
Tell us, because the reason we've become friends is through John Maxwell, isn't it? So tell us a little about how you met John, because I think that's an interesting story.

Kelly Merbler:
I was invited to a Live2Lead back in 2014, and I went not knowing what Live2Lead was. John was one of the headline speakers. It was the first time I'd heard him speak and I thought: I really need a mentor. Nobody's really helping me get to the next level. The message was from the right person at the right time.

I went home and said, I want to ask him if he'll mentor me. So I sent a letter. Three days later, I got a call — I missed it because my voicemail was full. But thank God he responded to my email, and then called again. The next day I had my first conversation with John. He said: "I'd love to have lunch with you — get with my assistant and we'll plan it." That was 2014.

Roddy Galbraith:
Yeah. And you also joined his team — the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team. When did you join?

Kelly Merbler:
2016. Two years after that lunch. And in between, I was able to experience the transformation trip to Paraguay with you and so many others. Coming back from that, I thought: what is the Maxwell team? I need to know more.

Roddy Galbraith:
For those on your first episode: the Maxwell Leadership Team is incredible — over 60,000 coaches around the world, I think the largest coaching organisation in the world. From a speaking perspective, John is the best person to model. The Maxwell Method of Speaking is the best system, and the best place to learn it is through the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team.

And the transformation trips are another whole dimension. I've been with John to Guatemala in 2013, Paraguay in 2016, Costa Rica in 2018, the Dominican Republic in 2021 and 2022, Panama twice, and Argentina. It's an amazing experience — doing real good in the world, coming back feeling great. When you're on those trips, you're speaking multiple times a day. It's like a speaking boot camp. That's another reason people should consider joining the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team.

Kelly Merbler:
I know it's one of the most impactful experiences I've ever had in my whole life. Literally life-changing. I'm so grateful I was able to experience it.

Roddy Galbraith:
Susan and I were talking about this last night actually. Emily, my daughter, came to Panama with me a couple of years ago, which was wonderful. Really magical for her to see what we do, what we're a part of. And there's an upcoming event in Orlando in August — the 30th US event, 15 years of the Maxwell Leadership Team, and 50 years of John in leadership for non-church organisations. It's going to be epic. If you've been on the fence, now is a great time to join. When you put 2,000 life-giving people together in a room, something extraordinary happens.

Kelly Merbler:
I call it the cocoon — I never want to leave after I get there. I'm like, why can't the world be this way on the outside every day?

Roddy Galbraith:
Right. Most people in personal growth are probably the most upbeat, optimistic person in their group. When you take people like that and put them all together, it's an unusual — really unusual — energy, and you just want more of it.

All right, to finish off, Kelly — you've built a great business in this industry, you're living your dream. What would your advice be for someone interested in doing what you're doing? And what's your best tip for someone who wants to do a great TEDx Talk?

Kelly Merbler:
So I keep this on my desk and I look at it every day. It's also what inspired me to say yes to the TEDx Talk: "Growth happens when we decide something matters more than staying where we are."

I say that because it's true. We want to do these things in our life — be a speaker, whatever the goal is. But it has to matter so much that we're willing to do whatever it takes. Because if we're not, we're going to stay where we are. That really applies to why I said yes to the TEDx Talk. I told myself: Kelly, stop talking yourself out of this. You can do this. It's about doing the work, and you've got the right people around you to prepare you. And it matters so much to me because I want to tell a message and help more people who are struggling in leadership.

Roddy Galbraith:
It's so easy to spend another year, five years, ten years on autopilot — oh, I'll get around to that. Suddenly you realise you've missed the opportunity. You've got to get on with it. I love it.

Kelly Merbler:
And you don't have to be a perfect speaker. I think that's important too. A lot of people don't pursue TEDx because they think they have to be a polished speaker. You don't. There are so many people who have gone massively viral having never spoken before, but they had a good story, a good message, and they prepared it and delivered it. They're not perfect. They're authentic.

Roddy Galbraith:
That's actually what TEDx looks for. Many TEDx organisations say on their websites: don't apply if you're a motivational speaker. This isn't a platform for that. We want experts in the community sharing an idea worth sharing — something to say, a message, research, a real insight. I've worked with many people on TED Talks and most of them aren't speakers. You stood out, Kelly — you're a great speaker with a great message. But no, you don't need to be polished. You need to be authentic and prepared.

Also, I haven't been invited on Coffee with Kelly. How has that happened?

Kelly Merbler:
We are going to make this happen, Roddy. It's coming.

Roddy Galbraith:
I want to be on Coffee with Kelly.

Kelly Merbler:
You will. We'll get that sorted.

Roddy Galbraith:
Fantastic. Thanks so much for making yourself available, Kelly. I know you've got a hectic schedule. There's a lot of great stuff in here — very inspiring and motivating for people. So thanks so much for sharing so openly.

Kelly Merbler:
Thank you for having me, Roddy. I really appreciate it. And thanks for all you've done to help me be a better speaker.

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Roddy Galbraith:
Okay, so that's it for this week. Thanks for joining us on The Speaker's Edge Podcast. Remember, if you haven't downloaded the companion resources, simply go to MaxwellLeadership.com/TheSpeakersEdge. Download the resources, and if you've enjoyed the show, don't forget to rate and review as well. I'll see you next week. Until then, take care. Lots of love. Bye-bye. God bless."