11 Public Speaking Tips From the
Best TED Talks Speakers
Use these techniques from top TED speakers to take your
presentations to the next level.
There's no
question about it: TED Talks have raised the bar sky-high for what's considered a memorable and
compelling business presentation.
That being
said, there are a handful of TED Talks speakers so talented that they almost make the rest seem dull
and uninspired.
What makes them so special and popular? It's not just their
subject matter, although that obviously plays a role.
Here's the
secret: what the truly great TED speakers do differently from the rest can be
found in the first few minutes of their
presentation.
And that makes sense if you think about it.
It's during the opening remarks that the audience sits up and pays attention...
or reaches for their iPhones.
With that in mind, here are five of the most popular TED Talks
speakers (as measured by page views), with the techniques they use to
enthrall their audiences.
1. Sir Ken Robinson
TIP No. 1. Use self-deprecating humor to lower barriers.
Unlike many other TED Talks speakers, Robinson doesn't have a
dynamic physical presence. Furthermore, because he's an academic, he must
overcome the perception that he's likely to deliver a boring lecture.
He therefore opens by poking a little fun at himself and at
educators in general. By puncturing his own balloon, he makes everyone feel
more comfortable and more likely to listen to what he has to say.
TIP No. 2. Tie your experience to the shared experience.
In the midst of his humor, Robinson relates his personal
experience at the conference to that of the attendees. This
further humanizes him and brings him into the community of the audience.
Robinson establishes such a strong rapport with the audience
that he doesn't need visuals or graphics to make his points. This is
a testament to how well he manages to capture and then hold the audience's
attention.
2. Amy Cuddy
TIP No. 3. Get the audience to take an immediate action.
The point of all public speaking is to convince the audience to
make a decision, which means convincing them to move (conceptually) from
wherever they are now to wherever you'd like them to be.
Cuddy starts by getting the audience to move physically, thereby
creating the momentum for the conceptual move she intends them to make. This is
a more creative take on the "show of hands" opening that
less-talented speakers use.
TIP No. 4. Create a sense of suspense.
In her first few sentences, Cuddy also promises the
audience they'll be learning something important later in the presentation.
This causes the audience to pay attention lest they miss the promised nugget of
wisdom.
The suspenseful promise lends additional meaning to the
movement, while the movement helps "lock in" the importance of the
promise.
3. Tony Robbins
TIP No. 5. Express passion for your subject matter.
The passion Robbins feels for his material shines through
his rumpled appearance. He's energetic and focused, obviously committed to
providing as much value as possible in such a short amount of time.
TIP No. 6. Set appropriate expectations.
More subtly, though, Robbins spends much of the first two
minutes deconstructing the preconceptions the audience might have about
him, while simultaneously focusing their attention on what they can potentially
learn from him.
Unlike Robinson, who gently creates rapport to lower the
barriers between himself and the audience, Robbins simply blasts through the
barriers to get to his point. Either technique works; use the one that
best fits your personality.
4. Brene Brown
TIP No. 7. Begin with a relevant anecdote.
As Brown mentions in her opening, she's a storyteller, and thus
she begins (and continues throughout) by telling stories. Stories have power
because human beings are genetically programmed to arrange thoughts into
narratives.
What's important here, though, is that her opening anecdote
is immediately relevant to introducing both herself and
her message. This is the exact opposite of the old (bad) advice that
you should start your presentation with a joke.
TIP No. 8. Use body language to signal a segue.
At about 1:30, Brown segues neatly from her introductory
anecdote into the main content of her Talk. She changes her expression
and stance to communicate to the audience that "now it's time to get a bit
more serious."
These visual cues help the audience make sense of the material,
much like punctuation in a sentence. Without them, even a speaker with
great ideas can come off like a droner or a motor-mouth.
5. Dan Gilbert
Tip No. 9: Start with a startling fact or statistic.
Gilbert introduces his TED Talk with an
unexpected fact that's immediately relevant to his overall message,
and uses contrast (20 minutes versus two million years)
to frame that fact, thereby making it seem more vital.
Startling facts grab the attention of both sides of the
brain. The neurons in your left brain signal "Yay, here's a fact to
remember!" while the neurons in your right brain signal "wow,
that's really weird!"
TIP No. 10. Use visually arresting graphics.
Gilbert immediately reinforces the startling fact with
a graphic of two skulls that reinforces and strengthens both the
informational content (for the left brain) and the emotional content
(for the right brain).
By simultaneously hitting both sides of the brain, Gilbert
completely captures the imagination and interest of the audience, even though
he's only 30 seconds into the presentation.
TIP No. 11. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
This is true of all great TED Talks speakers but
particularly true of Gilbert, who is a master at reducing complex ideas into
easily understood chunks of content.
Indeed, if you watch any great TED Talk, you'll notice at once
that speakers neither "drill down" into details nor take the
proverbial "50,000-foot view." Instead, they simplify without ever
becoming simplistic.
BY GEOFFREY JAMES
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/11-public-speaking-tips-from-the-best-ted-talks-speakers.html
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