TED Talks

TED Talks is an instruction manual to become a great public speaker and deliver talks that are unforgettable, based on over 15 years worth of experience of the head of TED, the most popular speaking platform in the world.

Every audience, every talk is different. Even if you use the same slides and deliver the same speech 100 times, it’s never quite exactly the same. The people will always be different, so of course you have to adapt to changing audiences.

Some things, however, help with any public speech. Two of these things, according to Chris, are:

Making eye contact. Showing that you’re vulnerable by sharing something personal.

Both of these things are aimed at making your talk more personal. The reason it needs to be, is that we tend not to trust strangers to protect our own worldview. But if you open up and show others your human side, you’ll disarm the audience, gain their trust and they’ll be more receptive to your ideas.

People can often tell truth from lies and confidence from nervousness just by looking at your eyes, so taking their gaze head on earns you their trust. And if you let down your guard by turning red or sharing a personal story, so will those listening to you.

Only then do you have a real shot at delivering a life-changing speech.

Over the years, Chris has watched, organized and prepared hundreds of TED talks, some of which tackle very complicated topics. Those, that are successful in getting their ideas across to listeners, follow a simple five-step process, says Chris. Let’s look at what this would look like if you tried to explain willpower. Find your audience’s starting point. You need some common ground, something to make your talk relevant to everyone in the room. To do this with a topic like willpower, you could start with: “Man, I’m glad I’m the first speaker of the day, because since all human willpower is limited, you couldn’t pay attention to me if I was the last one, even if you wanted to.” Make them curious. Give them an interesting fact or mental image, for example by saying that their willpower works like a soda dispenser: the more decisions you make, the less you have left. Go over your concepts one at a time. Don’t tell them all at once about how food, exercise and motivation affect willpower. Take it one idea after another. Use metaphors. An empty willpower tank is like a discharged battery. By tying new ideas to well-established ones, you help people understand your points. Give lots of examples. This’ll make your speech vivid and memorable. For example if you tell them the story of…