From the spark of an idea to the talk of your life.
Your Storycraft Map guides your journey from idea to talk structure to outline — infusing your life's work with best practice, research, and deep expertise.
Your Storycraft Map is your essential first step towards a great application for any platform or developing your script.
Your Storycraft Map is the blueprint of your talk — the idea, the arc, and the outline, drawn from your life’s work and grounded in what makes great talks impactful.
We surface the throughline hidden in your life’s work — the one idea that is worth culmination on the stage and people will pay attention to.
We shape it into a story arc with the emotional shape that holds an audience all the way through.
We translate it into a talk-ready scaffold — beat by beat, act by act — readying you to write your script.
Everything that comes with your Storycraft Map.
Two coaching sessions, an interactive web map, and a beautifully typeset PDF — everything you need to go from idea to application to stage.
An interactive map you can explore.
Live on your private Art of Speaking Journey dashboard. Expand any section, read the rationale behind every classification, visualize your talk from multiple angles, and watch it evolve as your talk takes shape.
A comprehensive + beautiful PDF report
A polished, typeset document, including a one-page At a Glance and the full Map recommendation, including documentation guidance and classification definitions. Ideal for deeper reading, notes, and collaborative review.
A look inside a Storycraft Map.
Every map is built around your idea. Below is a brief, illustrative taste of a few signature sections.
This is just a glimpse. Each section below is condensed for preview — depending on your tier, your actual map and PDF report-out carry the full reasoning, outline content, coaching questions, and source talks behind every call.
Dr. Brain Science
For a general, diverse TEDx audience · 10–13 minutes
A cohort of cognitively resilient elderly people reveals that the aging brain can generate new neurons and preserve vitality into the nineties — challenging decades of research and opening new frontiers of aging brain research.
For thirty years, the field aimed its research at the wrong target, and over 100 people over the age of 80 have been quietly showing us what we missed. Their aging resilient brains grow new neurons in their nineties and that are in greater abundance than people in their twenties. The groundbreaking research unveils the potential for new frontiers in brain research that may, within a decade, unlock brain aging resilience for the rest of us.
In 2010, a neuroscientist sat down at a microscope to look at someone she loved. For thirty years, the field pointed in one direction: destroy the plaques. Meanwhile, a small group of researchers was asking the opposite question — not what destroys the brain, but what protects it. What makes this speaker singular is her vantage point: she meets these people in life, tests their memory, knows their families — and then navigates their neurons under a microscope. No other researcher holds that complete view, life and death, behavior and biology, in the same pair of hands.
Recommended Classification
← Scroll to explore the arc
Recommended Story Arc
The beat-by-beat narrative blueprint. (Showing 3 of 7 acts.)
Three tiers. One map, built around you.
Every tier begins with a 1:1 discovery session and your own Storycraft Map. The deeper you go, the more of your talk we build together.
Starter Storycraft Map
A deep-dive 1:1 discovery session uncovers the spark at the core of your work — then turns it into something concrete. You leave with your key message distilled, a compelling pitch, recommendations on how to design your talk, and a clear picture of where your idea fits in the landscape of great TED Talks.
- 1:1 Discovery Interview with your Storycraft Guide / a veteran TEDx speaker coach (recorded + transcribed)
- Your Idea Snapshot & Key Message
- Your Curator’s Pitch — how to describe your talk in 3 minutes
- Talk Classification Framework — the ‘DNA’ of your talk (archetype, expert type, wonders, master plots, emotional arc, rationale, and guidance)
- Your Most Similar TED Talks — 3 talks closest to yours, and why
- Access to your Art of Speaking Journey dashboard
- 30 Minute Follow-up session to walk through your Storycraft Map
- Access to the Art of Speaking Learn platform + “What is a TEDx Talk, Idea & Story Arc” course
Anyone taking their first step toward a TEDx application, talk, presentation, or keynote pitch — or who wants to finally understand what their talk could really be about distilled from their life's work.
Signature Storycraft Map
Everything in the Starter Storycraft Map — plus your full and detailed Story Arc: the beat-by-beat narrative blueprint for how your talk unfolds, from opening hook to closing moment. This is the architecture that determines whether an audience follows you all the way through, resonates, and remembers your message.
- Everything in Tier 1
- Your Recommended Story Arc — arc summary, emotional shape, and the story “shape” that informs your structure
- Beat-by-beat structure with outline content and coaching questions for each act
- A deeper Idea & Story Arc Session covering your arc and next steps
- A second version of your Storycraft Map, enriched the Idea & Story Arc Session insights and discussion
Anyone ready to start writing their talk and needs a powerful and accelerating starting point, or those who are preparing to apply for TEDx or other platforms and wants to put together the best application possible.
Complete Storycraft Map
The most comprehensive starting point we offer. You leave not just knowing your idea and your arc — you have a detailed content scaffold for your entire talk, plus in-depth profiles of the two TED Talks most structurally similar to yours. Study how they work. Then build yours.
- Everything in Tiers 1 & 2
- Your Full Talk Outline — a detailed content breakdown for every act / beat, including advice on how to transition between each act
- Two Full Talk Profile Analyses — our agency's deep breakdowns of the TED Talks most like yours, showing exactly how and why they work
- Coaching on how to use the Map, profiles, and content to both jump start the script development process or improve your own talk
- An extended follow-up session covering everything together, including the Idea & Story Arc workshop.
Speakers preparing a strong TEDx application with a fully developed outline — or anyone who wants the most rigorous, research-backed starting point.
Already working with us on a proposal? The Storycraft Map can be added on to your engagement. Ask your coach.
Questions, answered.
Not at all. The map is a starting point, not an edit. Many speakers come to us with nothing more than a body of work and a hunch — the map is how we find the talk inside it.
Every tier gives you your idea, key message, pitch, and classification. Tier 2 adds your full story arc; Tier 3 adds a complete beat-by-beat outline plus deep analyses of the two talks most like yours.
No. The framework was honed on TEDx-caliber talks, but it serves keynotes, founder stories, and any moment where one idea has to land with an audience.
A 1:1 Discovery Interview with a veteran TEDx speaker coach (recorded and transcribed), a follow-up coaching session to walk through your map, an interactive map on your private Journey dashboard, and a typeset PDF report-out.
Yes. Start with the Starter map and step up as your talk takes shape — we'll credit your earlier work toward the next tier.