PRESENTATION SKILLS and TED Talks

Based on your positive feedback, I know many of you have already listened to last week’s ? podcast on COMPELLING PRESENTATIONS with Andrew Musselman and you’re looking forward to next week’s episode on PRESENTING WITH CONFIDENCE.  In case you haven’t listened to it yet, here’s the link again.

In last week’s ?episode, Andrew Musselman recommended several books and TED Talks:

Recommended TED Talks:

• Amy Cuddy
• Bryan Stevenson
• Brené Brown

Given Andrew Musselman’s recommendations and given our physical isolation these days, I thought we’d focus this week on TED:

• a TED Primer
• Top Ten TED Talks of all time
• How we can Talk Like TED 

TED PRIMER

How familiar are you with TED?  Here’s your primer! 

What is TED?

• TED is a non-profit media organization with the mission of spreading ideas around the globe.
• The TED tagline is “ideas worth spreading.”

Brief History of TED

image: Unsplash @miguel_photo

• 1984 – Founders Richard Saul Wurman and Harry Marks hosted the first TED conference
• 1990 – TED2 conference held in Monterey, California 
• 2001 – Chris Anderson’s nonprofit Sapling Foundation acquired TED and he became the TED curator. 
• 2006 – Conference attendance was by-invitation and cost $4,400 per person. That same year, the first six TED Talks were posted online for free and views exceeded one million.
• 2012 – TED celebrated its one billionth video view. 
• 2018 – Conference fee was $10,000 per person.
• 2019 – TED’s ownership was transferred to the TED Foundation (a tax exempt non-profit) to make it easier for TED donors.
• 2020 – Conference postponed from April to July 2020 due to COVID-19

TED Platforms

TED Criticism

image: Unsplash @alexandermills

• TED criticisms include that it is elitist, rich, biased, it bans certain topics, and it is pseudoscience. 
• TED denies all of these criticisms here.

TED Topics

• “T.E.D.” stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design.  But the topics covered in TED now go well beyond these areas.
• You can search any term you’re interested in learning about on the TED.com website.
• What are the most popular, most viewed TED Talks? 

TOP 10 TED Talks OF ALL TIME

Instead of wasting your time on social media, video games or Netflix, how about watching a TED Talk? 

image: Unsplash @philipgold

Here are the top 10 TED Talks of all time, along with their official Ted.com descriptions.  Each of these 10 TED Talks has been viewed between 25-65 million times!  Well worth your time⏱… they’re only 18 minutes each!

?THE PUZZLE OF MOTIVATION
Dan Pink

Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don’t: Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories — and maybe, a way forward.

9️⃣LOOKS AREN’T EVERYTHING.  BELIEVE ME.  I’M A MODEL
Cameron Russell 

Cameron Russell admits she won “a genetic lottery”: she’s tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don’t judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at barely 16 years old.

8️⃣THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU REPLY TO SPAM EMAIL
James Veitch 

Suspicious emails: unclaimed insurance bonds, diamond-encrusted safe deposit boxes, close friends marooned in a foreign country. They pop up in our inboxes, and standard procedure is to delete on sight. But what happens when you reply? Follow along as writer and comedian James Veitch narrates a hilarious, weeks-long exchange with a spammer who offered to cut him in on a hot deal.

7️⃣MY STROKE OF INSIGHT
Jill Bolte Taylor 

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions — motion, speech, self-awareness — shut down one by one. An astonishing story.

6️⃣HOW TO SPEAK SO THAT PEOPLE WANT TO LISTEN
Julian Treasure 

Have you ever felt like you’re talking, but nobody is listening? Here’s Julian Treasure to help. In this useful talk, the sound expert demonstrates the how-to’s of powerful speaking — from some handy vocal exercises to tips on how to speak with empathy. A talk that might help the world sound more beautiful.

5️⃣10 THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT ORGASM
Mary Roach 

“Bonk” author Mary Roach delves into obscure scientific research, some of it centuries old, to make 10 surprising claims about sexual climax, ranging from the bizarre to the hilarious. (This talk is aimed at adults. Viewer discretion advised.)

4️⃣THE POWER OF VULNERABILITY
Brené Brown

Brené Brown studies human connection — our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. A talk to share.

3️⃣HOW GREAT LEADERS INSPIRE ACTION
Simon Sinek 

Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership — starting with a golden circle and the question: “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Wright brothers …

2️⃣YOUR BODY LANGUAGE MAY SHAPE WHO YOU ARE
Amy Cuddy 

Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy argues that “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can boost feelings of confidence, and might have an impact on our chances for success.

1️⃣DO SCHOOLS KILL CREATIVITY?
Sir Ken Robinson 

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

HOW CAN YOU “TALK LIKE TED”?

Based on Andrew Musselman’s recommendation, I recently read and listened to the book, “TALK LIKE TED” by Carmine Gallo.

What a worthwhile read!   Author Carmine Gallo conducted a meta-analysis of the top TED Talks and interviewed many of the speakers to deduce “the 9 public speaking secrets of the world’s top minds.”

Gallo provides examples and instructions for each of the 9 secrets. I won’t give the secrets away, but I will tell you that the best TED Talks are:

1. EMOTIONAL – they touch my heart
2. NOVEL – they teach me something new
3. MEMORABLE – we’ll never forget them

I have a question for you. 

A question that struck me as I was reading Talk Like Ted:

You can ponder that question as you read the Talk Like Ted book, watch the top 10 TedTalks, and listen to the COMPELLING PRESENTATIONS podcast.  Lots to keep us busy, right?  ?

I hope you’re surviving, and perhaps even THRIVING, in this physically distant world.   Speaking of physical distance, last week I received an email from a Talk About Talk listener in Brisbane, Australia (!!!) asking me to use the term PHYSICAL distancing instead of social distancing.

As you may know, I am a big advocate of this. However, I haven’t been 100% consistent. For example, in our Talk About Talk Facebook group, our theme was “Thriving at a Social Distance.” So I just changed it to “TALKING at a Physical Distance”:

Better, right?  I hope you’ll join us in the Facebook group, where we’re talking about:

• how to say SOCIAL,
• what to SAY to people who aren’t following the physical distancing rules, and
• our new COVID-19 VOCABULARY!  

Until next week when we focus on PRESENTING WITH CONFIDENCE, I hope you stay safe and stay social (at a physical distance)!

 Talk soon,

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