Want to write a great talk? Seek pushback not praise.

As a TEDx producer, I’m always on the hunt for big ideas—talks that make me sit up and say, “I’ve never heard that before. I want to know more.”

And lately, I’ve noticed a trend: people are turning to ChatGPT to help them brainstorm those big ideas. I get it—AI is surprisingly good at a lot of things. But here’s the problem: it’s terrible at this stage of the process.

Why? Because ChatGPT is built on a customer-service model. No matter what you feed it, it’s going to respond with some version of: “Great idea! Let’s explore that!” That might feel encouraging, but early in the idea stage, praise is not what you need.

What you really need is pushback.

You need someone who will say, “Hmm… I’ve heard that before. What else have you got?” Or, “That’s interesting, but what if you leaned into this instead?”

That’s how you get to a talk only you can give. Not through a string of polite “yeses,” but through the friction that forces you to dig deeper, refine, and uncover what’s truly original.

So, by all means, use AI to polish your talk later—but if you want a big idea worth spreading, don’t start with a chatbot. Start with pushback.

That’s where the magic happens.