ENG 3UEffective TED TalksName:

What makes one TED talk stand out from the others?

Think about the following criteria while you examine the TED talk you have chosen:

What Makes this an Idea Worth Spreading?

Types of Speakers

●Educator

  1. The inventor
  2. The life scientist
  3. The natural scientist
  4. The social scientist

●Entertainer

  1. The comedian
  2. The magician
  3. The writer
  4. The performing artist
  5. The visual artist

●Change Agents

  1. The activist
  2. The authority
  3. The business guru
  4. The explorer
  5. The personal guru
  6. The social entrepreneur

Action-Outcome Response

●A question is asked to which the speaker offers an action-outcome response “To (action) so that (outcome).

●Often these actions are small and very achievable

Inspiration

●Speaker picks a single unifying message

●This requires extreme focus. Everything the speaker says must relate to the seed of inspiration

Make a Connection

●After their basic needs are met people are interested in the following

○Everyone has the need for love and belonging

○Desire and Self Interest

○Accelerating Personal Development

○Making a Difference

Speaks for the Audience

●Really good TED talks are created for the audience, not the speaker.

○The speaker has a need to share an idea about which they are passionate

○The idea is worthwhile even if it only touches one person in the audience

○The talk is not self-promoting, but rather an offering to the audience.

Structure, Organization and Evidence

Premise Driven Talks

●Contains a central idea and logical argument

●Include a variety of evidence

○Ethos (speaker credibility)

○Pathos (Emotion)

○Logos (Logic)

●Uses either inductive or deductive reasoning

○Inductive Reasoning “proves a general principle by highlighting a group of specific events, trends, or observations.”

○Deductive Reasoning “builds up to a specific principle through a chain of increasingly narrow statements.”

●Blend Premise and Proof

○Premise “is the rational insight, explanation, or proposition gleaned from the proof point”.

○Proof then Premise

Deductive Structure

●Use when the idea may defy conventional wisdom

○Start with a generally accepted idea

○Link subsequent ideas with chains of logic

○Speaker reaches a conclusion at the end (often surprising)

Narrative Driven Talks

●Stories help to engage the audience. A speaker could use one story during the TED talk or a series of stories.

○One Lesson

○Defining Moment

○Overcoming Weakness

●Stories can be told in the three-act hero structure (see extra handout if interested)

●Combine observations from experiences into your idea worth spreading

The Introduction

Possible Strategies

●Hook your audience by stating benefits of listening

●Develop an emotional bond with audience

●Make them laugh

●Make your theme clear and either set up or reveal your idea worth spreading

●Start with a story (especially when your speech is emotional and entertaining)

●Start Provocative Statement

●Start with a Question

The Conclusion

Possible Strategies

●Use language to show the talk is ending

●Summarize ideas

●Call to Action that is both urgent and easy to do

●Thank the Audience

Verbal Communication

Emotion

●Take audience through broadest possible emotional range

○anger

○disgust

○fear

○happiness

○love

○sadness

●Invite them to imagine

●Be vulnerable but don’t lose control

Language

●Use Rhetorical Devices

○Assonance and Consonance

○Anaphora, epistrophe, symploce

○Anadiplosis

○Hendiatris

○All the other devices we have discussed in class

●When listing stick to the “rule of three.” Only list three objects, ideas, or concepts.

●Ask Questions

○Polling (checking your audience)

○Seeking Confirmation (with a “right?”)

○Provoking Thought

○Creating Suspense (“What do I notice?”)

●Interpret Statistics with analogies or metaphors

●Use personal pronouns

Humour

●Make fun of the “superior”’

●Use surprise

○unexpected twist

○sheer absurdity

○bad advice

○exaggeration

○irony

○physical comedy

○overstatement

○understatement

●Self-Depreciating Humour

●Stay in Character while audience laughs

●Most viewed TED talks get between one and three laughs a minute

●Use your voice, body, and face to make people laugh

Verbal Delivery

●Speak like a “passionate conversationalist”

●Eliminate Filler Words (um, ah)

●Use the pause

●Vary Speed, Volume and Pitch

SlowFast

Authoritative / Passionate
Calming / Suspenseful

Nonverbal Communication and Audio-Visual Design

Nonverbal

●Arms drop casually when not gesturing

●Gesture naturally and frequently when speaking

●Facial expressions should match mood of speech

●Three seconds of eye contact with people in a random pattern

●Move around stage (especially during transitions)

●Only move if there is a purpose

Slides

●Don’t use them (could be a barrier between you and audience)

●Draw a simple picture

●If you use slides make them simple, image rich and text light

○Godin Method -image rich slides. Fill each slides with single photos

○Taskahashi Method- simple slides containing few words of very large text

○Lessig Method- Simple slides in rapid progression that combine the above two.

●Use contrast in colour and font to emphasize points

Video

●Keep them short

●Stand to the side

●Narrate when there is no audio

Props

●Hide props when not in use

●Use them sparingly

●Make sure they are visible

●Use a lectern to project authority

How can your talk create change?