How to Deliver a Great TED Talk
Summary Notes from the book by Akash KariaAmazon Books 2012 ISBN:1484021851
Six Elements of a Great Presentation
• Simple
• Unexpected
• Concrete
• Credible
• Stories
Simple
• How to find your core message
• How to create your Power Phrase
• Rhetorical techniques to make your Power Phrase memorable
• The simple ABC-C structure for presentations
• The opening mistakes to avoid
• Five Opening Gambits to create an attention-grabbing opening
Simple Continued
• How to make your structure clear using a Roadmap
• Ten anchors to make your presentation memorable
• How to craft a compelling conclusion
How to find your core message
• TED speakers are people who are passionate about their messages.
• If you have a message that you genuinely believe in, delivering your speech will be easy because the passion will fuel the excitement.
• I your audience was to forget everything else that you said, what is the one single thing that you would want them to remember?
Identifying and writing down your core message
• Two key benefits
• Helps you decide what to keep and what to throw out
• Helps the audience remember and understand your message.
Creating a repeatable Power Phrase
• Use one or a combination of the following rhetorical techniques
• Contrast
• Chiasmus
• Rhyme
• Alliteration
Contrast
• Use contrast to make your phrase catchy
• Using opposites such as light and darkness is effective
Chiasmus
• This is a rhetorical device in which the order of the words in the second of two paired phrases is the reverse order in the first phrase.
• Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country.”
Rhyme
• Rhyme is easy to remember
• People perceive rhyming statements to be truer than non-rhyming statements
Alliteration
• Repetition of an initial consonant sound
• “If you can dream it, you can do it.” –Walt Disney
ABC-C Formula
• A=Attention grabbing• You have 30 seconds to gab your audience’s
attention
B=Body
main arguments and points
C=Conclusion
clear, positive final impression
C= Clear Call to Action
What do you want your audience to do differently?
What is the “next-step?”
Speech Structures
• Problem Solution
• Chronological
• Step-by-Step
• Features/Benefits
Problem/SolutionStructure
• Open with an attention grabbing description of a problem
• Build up the pain and have the audience wanting a solution
• Present your solution to alleviate the pain and offer advantages of the solution
• In the conclusion, restate the problem and the consequences of not solving it.
• Remind the audience the advantages of your solution and add a call to action
Chronological Structure
• Organize and explain events in order
Step-by-Step Structure
• Walk your audience through the different steps of an event
Features/Benefits Structure
• Most presenters focus on the features of a product.
• Steve Jobs of Apple was a master of selling the benefits of those features.
• Audiences remember the benefits
Five Brilliant Ways to Start your Presentation
• Start with a Story
• Use Questions to Create Knowledge Gaps
• Quotable Quotes
• Interesting/Startling Statement
• Call-Back
Start with a Story
• The best speakers are master storytellers.
• A well-told story will be remembered
• Stories captivate people
• Stories make connections between the listeners and the speaker
Use Questions to Create Knowledge Gaps
• Questions creates a knowledge gap between what the listeners know and what they don’t know
• Questions create curiosity and people are hard-wired with desire to fill the knowledge gap
Quotable Quotes
• A short quote that illustrates your main point will create support for your speech.
• Keep it short
• Make sure it is relevant
• Check the source
• Quote a well known authority
• Choose a quote that has not been over-used
Interesting/Startling Statement
• You don’t have to be shocking
• Intriguing statements create mystery
• Interesting, startling, or intriguing statements back up your core message
Call-Back
• Refer back to something that happened before or during the event
• It personalizes the speech and lets the audience members know that the speech is customized for them
Include a Big Promise
• The big promise can win people’s time, attention, and money.
Include a Pain Statement
• Gain pleasure- People take action if they gain some benefit
• Avoid pain or loss- People are more motivated to avoid pain than they are to gain benefit of an equal amount.
Include a Roadmap
• Include a short roadmap as part of your opening to let the audience know how your presentation is structured.
Building the Body of your Presentation
• Tie your point to an anchor to make it stick
• 8 anchors to hook your points• Anecdotes• Acronyms• Analogies/Similes or Metaphors• Activities• Academic research• Statistics• Case Studies• Product Demonstrations• Customer Testimonials• Quotes
Anecdotes
• Tell a story- they are memorable
Acronyms
• If you have a list of points, an acronym can help the audience remember them.
• Example: BRASS to a soldier is the techniques to shoot a gun- breathe, relax, aim, slack, and squeeze
Activities
• If you are giving a workshop, seminar or presentation, you might split up the audience and give them an activity to find a creative solution to a problem.
• It gets your audience physically mooving and doing something.
• It reinforces your poit.
Analogies, Similes or Metaphors
• They anchor a subject with what the audience is already familiar with and creates a connection to the new information you are sharing.
Statistics
• Makes your points memorable
• Provides evidence that your points are true
Academic Research
• Anchors your points
• Adds credibility
Case Studies
• Case studies highlight major points and provide insights on why a strategy worked and what could have been done better.
Product Demonstrations
• Win your audience’s trust and makes your points memorable.
Customer testimonials
• Video testimonials are best or use photos of clients
• Include names
• Be specific
Quotes
• Borrow credibility from a third-party source
• Anchors your message
• Makes it memorable
Crafting a Compelling Conclusion
• Signaling you are closing
• Summarizing your main points
• Linking it to the conference
• Providing hope for a better future
• Providing a clear call to action
• Selling the benefits
Signaling your closing
• The audience knows the speech is wrapping up and the main points will be summarized and there may be some call to action.
• The audience pays attention
Summarizing your main points
• Reinforces your points
• Take 2-3 minutes
Linking it to the conference
• It leaves a lasting impression
Call to Action
• Be realistic of what you can expect from your audience
• Include only one call to action
Selling the benefits
• Summarize the benefits your audience will get if they act on what they have learned from your speech.
Part Two Unexpected
• Using shocking statistics and facts to grab the audiences attention
• Offer the audience something new or unconventional
• Create a WOW moment
Using statistics and facts
• Shocking statistics captures your audience
• Add credibility
• Memorable
• Relate it to the audience
• Compare and contrast
• Make it visual
Offer the audience something new
• Talk about something new
• Look at an old topic from a new perspective
• Argue against conventional wisdom
• Dig out stories fro academic research
• Interview interesting people for a good story
• Use personal stories
Create a WOW moment
• Create a WOW moment
• Demonstrate a remarkable product or use a prop to make your idea more concrete
• Do something that will get your audience buzzing
Part Three: Concrete
• Use specific, concrete language
• Bringing your characters to life by providing specific details
• Turning your stories into mental movies
• Use analogies, metaphors and examples to turn abstract ideas into images
Use specific, Concrete Language
• Use specific , concrete language
• Bring characters to life by using details about their appearance
• Give sensory information
• Show, don’t tell
Turning your stories into mental movies
•Visual- what could you see?
•Auditory- what could you hear?
•Kinesthetic- what could you feel?
•Smell- what could you smell?
•Pack in as many senses as possible
•Keep your descriptions short
Use analogies, metaphors and examples
• What can this idea be compared to?
Part Four: Credible
Build your credibility during your introduction
Add internal credibility to your messages
Build your credibility
• Build your credibility during your introduction.• Share credentials
• Add internal credibility to your messages.
Share your struggles before your successes
Part FivE: Emotional
• Addressing the elephant in the room
• Uniting people towards a common goal
• Uniting people by focusing on a common enemy
• Highlighting the problem and building their pain
• Building the we-connection
Use compelling Visuals
• Use a Powerpoint only if you have lots of visuals to display
• If you and your Powerpoint are saying the same thing, one of you is not needed
• Use large stunning pictures
• Use large fonts
• Only one idea per slide
Arousing their Curiosity
• Don’t take their curiosity for granted
• Tease before you reveal an important point of information
• Tease about what is coming in the next segment before any breaks in your presentation
How to add Humor
• Create an expectation, then suddenly break it
• Poke fun at yourself using self-deprecating humor
• Playfully over-exaggerate to get a laugh
Use Rhetorical Questions
• Ask your audience to imagine
• Ask your audience to reflect
• Reflect on your audience’s thoughts
• Ask your audience to compare
Part Six: Story
• Importance of Storytelling
• 5C’s of great stories
• Delivery techniques for dynamic storytelling
Stories are Powerful
• Engage your audience emotionally
• Create mental movies in your audience’s mind
• Make abstract ideas visual
The 5 C’s of Great Stories
• Characters
• Conflict
• Cure
• Change in Character
• Carryout message
Delivery Techniques for Dynamic Storytelling
• Pause before you begin
• Smile
• Make Eye Contact
• Get rid of filler words
• Gesture naturally
• Use posture to bring your characters to life
Delivery Techniques continued
• Keep facial expressions congruent with your story
• Show, don’t tell
• Bigger audience means a bigger you
• Match the audience’s energy level
• Make full use of the stage
• Use vocal variety
8 Ways to prepare
• Rehearse your talk
• Get some exercise to release endorphins
• Walk around the room you will be speaking in
• Get familiar with the stage
• Test the equipment
• Rehearse your opening
• Listen to music
• Visualize success