Ted Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking
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High-Level Thoughts
A good book on all parts of public speaking: foundations, tools, on stage, and performance. The chapters are ~10 pages long and easy to get through. Well-worth the read.
Summary Notes
The rise of technology has connected us far more than ever before. This opportunity provides us the chance to practice public speaking and share our own rich knowledge. Each presentation is unique.
Foundation
Foundations are covered in four chapters: 1/ Presentation Literacy 2/ Idea Building, 3/ Common Traps, and 4/ The Throughline.
Presentation Literacy: Public speaking is a scary thing to pursue. It’s a difficult task to share your ideas concisely. Yet, we also practice it all the time with friends and family. The nervousness and the unfamiliarity of inviting others is like meeting someone new. You don’t know what they’re gonna say or react, but what you do have is the opportunity to stay true to yourself and articulate who you are.
Idea Building: The stories we present are a way to immerse the audience in the experience. Presenting ideas in simple vocabulary allows us to share more with others since there is a smaller barrier. No matter the idea, we all need reminders of past ideas and lessons for us to continue instilling them in our lives. Paint the picture for the viewers to transform it into their world.
Common Traps: No one wants to hear a sales pitch or a ramble about your preparedness. Don’t even look at the results of inspiring. Instead, focus on what you control. Your thoughts, emotions, and actions are all at your disposal to create a dream bigger than yourself. Imagine what your audience may experience because it’s about them, not about you.
The Throughline: Every idea stems from an idea that your audience can relate to. Talk about what you know and love with all your heart. A common pitfall is where talks are geared towards an issue mindset rather than exploring ideas and inviting others to share their opinions. Leave space for the audience to think and SAY LESS.
The big idea here is to learn from your audience about the idea you’re presenting. Who are they? What do they care about? What is it that you want your audience to have a better understanding of?
Talk Tools
Talk tools are covered in four chapters and cover the content of your talk. The sections include: 1/ Connection, 2/ narration, 3/ explanation, and 4/ persuasion.
Connection: A little bit of vulnerability goes a long way to your audience. You’re opening up to them as a human being of the shared struggle we all face. Before you present these more intimate moments, work through the experience first. This makes it not detract from your main message. Talk as you would with a group of friends. Guide them through the experience.
Narration: A good story has multiple characters and immerses the audience in the moment. Paint them as you would like a canvas filled with color. The stories are there to educate similarly to spiritual parables of lessons. When you walk through these stories, make sure you’re telling the truth. There is less to worry about and less risk on your shoulders.
Explanation: Include metaphors and similes for the audience to relate. Taking them on a journey requires certain details, words, and phrases to be explained gradually. Make everything as simple as it can be, and no simpler.
Persuasion: Persuading someone is the act of replacing someone’s worldview with something better. At its heart is the power of reason, capable of long-term impact. The reason is best accompanied by stories that keep you on the edge of your seat.
Preparation Process
The preparation process is all about the practice and add-ons. The chapters include: 1/ Visuals, 2/ Scripting, 3/ Run-Throughs, and 4/ Open and Close.
Visuals: Visuals like PowerPoint slides are tools to bring more detail to the scene. Maintain a single focus to keep the pacing moving forward. Consider using black backgrounds when no slide or picture is included to highlight the main message. Trust your instincts with the visuals you include, LESS IS MORE.
Scripting: Rehearse a ton. If it sounds, robotic, you’re in this place called the uncanny valley. Uncanny Valley is where you sound like you’ve rehearsed it and it’s not as natural AKA you sound robotic. A point where you master it is when you are able to do something else while reciting it. You’ll be comfortable and have the tonality included throughout.
Run-Throughs: To pass uncanny valley is to practice with a small audience that knows nothing about how you speak. This allows you to have “neutral ears” where they have no biases on your speech. Afterward, ask very specific questions to gain supportive feedback to optimize your improvement. Practice, practice, practice.
Open and Close: The beginning and ending are the parts that your audience remembers the most. They are the send-offs for them as we all move to the next part of our journey. Hook them into the journey and keep them wanting more. Send them off as you would your friends! Paint the experience for them and don’t be boring.
On Stage
On Stage is split into FIVE chapters, a twist. The chapters cover showing up on stage. They include: 1/ Wardrobe, 2/ Mental Prep 3/ Setup, 4/ Voice and Presence, and 5/ Format Invention.
Wardrobe: The aim is to project relaxed confidence with what you’re wearing. Make an early commitment to an outfit you’ll feel great in. Avoid apparel and features that may lead to difficulty such as dangling earrings and a beard stubble. Iron your clothes beforehand and come prepared. Spend enough time on your clothes and no more so you can focus on your ideas!
Mental Prep: Drink water throughout and avoid an empty stomach when you enter the stage. Fear is going to start approaching you and face it head-on as a motivator. Let your body help you! Be yourself and have the courage to sit with the nerves. You’re human after all! Once you’ve settled on stage, find “friends” in the audience who have an inviting smile and give you the energy back. Make eye contact with them. If things go awry with equipment, have a backup plan to pivot.
Setup: There are tons of ways for you to hide notes throughout the stage. Get familiar with what works best for you whether it’s notecards, a full set of notes on the podium, or something else. Walk the stage beforehand and find your place of comfort and confidence. It’s going to be uncomfortable. That vulnerability of opening your full self to the stage is essential to being authentic.
Voice and Presence: The tone of voice gives you a whole new set of tools to get inside your listeners’ heads. Experiment with the different keys you can play with your voice like a piano. Say it as you would yourself and don’t try to imitate others. You are the only you. There are two ways to lose an audience, one is going too slow (more common) and the other is going too fast. Look to vary your rate of speech based on which points you want to highlight.
Format Invention: It’s all about the idea you’re presenting. Think of the words you use to break down this idea not as only words to talk, but as words to stir thought-provoking insights. Think outside of the box when you can, this will bring more creativity. Know your constraints and limitations. Work around them.
Reflection
Reflection is the final chapter talks about the change in public speaking with technology. This section is split into three chapters: 1/ Talk Renaissance, 2/ Why This Matters, and 3/ The Philosopher’s Secret.
Talk Renaissance: The rise of technology and AI presents an interconnectedness of opportunity to learn from others all across the globe. More variety increases our level of creativity. The challenge now is can you share your work process in layman’s terms? Can you explain why it matters? Why are you passionate about it? Understanding your own why is the first step in sharing it with others.
Why this Matters: Sharing ideas and talks with others brings new perspectives to the forefront. We can connect with others much more deeply than ever before. Only talking leads for boring TV. Expressing ideas through storytelling on the other hand entices you to keep learning.
Your Turn: All the tools provided in this book are now to set you up for success in your own journey. “The secret of happiness is: find something more important than you are, and dedicate your life to it,” Dan Dennett. As you continue speaking, you’ll discover something worth saying. The future is not yet written and together we’re all creating it.
