Talk Like TED Summary
Book Review:
- Lively and appealing… the book draws on current brain
- science to explain what wins over, and fires up, an audience
- The book is sure to be a hit with anyone who
- wants to be more a successful communicator
Introduction: Ideas Are the Currency of the Twenty-first Century
Talk Like TED is for anyone who wants to speak with more confidence and authority.
It’s for anyone who delivers presentations, sells products
and services, or leads people who need to be inspired.
PART I: Emotional
The key part of the TED format is that we have humans connecting to humans in a direct and almost vulnerable way
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1. Unleash the Master Within
Science shows that passion is contagious, literally.
You cannot inspire others unless you are inspired yourself.
You stand a much greater chance of persuading and inspiring
your listeners if you express an enthusiastic, passionate,
and meaningful connection to your topic.
WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART SING? Ask yourself,
“What makes my heart sing?” Your passion is not a passing
interest or even a hobby. A passion is something that is
intensely meaningful and core to your identity.
Amazingly, if your motivation is to share your passion
with your audience, it’s likely that you’ll feel less nervous
about speaking in public or delivering that
all-important presentation in front of your boss
If the highly charismatic person was happy,
the low charismatic would report being happier, too.
“individuals who are rated high on charisma tend
to express more positive emotions in their written
and spoken communications.”15 Positive emotions include
passion, enthusiasm, excitement, and optimism.
It’s been said that success doesn’t lead to
happiness; happiness creates success.
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2. Master the Art of Storytelling
“Stories are just data with a soul.”
Bryan Stevenson, the speaker who earned the longest
standing ovation in TED history, spent 65 percent of his presentation telling stories.
Brain scans reveal that stories stimulate and engage
the human brain, helping the speaker connect with the
audience and making it much more likely that the audience
will agree with the speaker’s point of view.
Persuasion occurs when three components
are represented: ethos, logos, and pathos.
Ethos is credibility. We tend to agree with people whom
we respect for their achievements, title, experience, etc.
Logos is the means of persuasion through logic, data, and statistics.
Pathos is the act of appealing to emotions
10% Ethos, 25% Logos, 65% Pathos
“We all love stories.
We’re born for them.
Stories affirm who we are
THREE SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE TYPES OF STORIES
When I give a keynote presentation I tell personal stories,
stories about other individuals whom I know personally,
have interviewed, or have read about, and stories of brands
that have successfully leveraged the business strategy I’m discussing.
Avoid overused buzzwords and clichés. Marketers love
to use words such as leading, solutions, and ecosystem
He called the first story shape “Man in a Hole.”
“Somebody gets into trouble; gets out of it again.
People love that story. They never get sick of it!”23
The second story shape was called “Boy Gets Girl.”
Ideas are the currency of the twenty-first century and
stories facilitate the exchange of that currency.
Stories illustrate, illuminate, and inspire.
3. Have a Conversation
Practice relentlessly and internalize your content so that
you can deliver the presentation as comfortably as having
a conversation with a close friend
An authentic presentation requires hours of work—digging deeper
into your soul than you ever have,
choosing the right words that best represent
the way you feel about your topic, delivering those
words for maximum impact, and
making sure that your nonverbal
communication—your gestures, facial expressions, and body
language—are consistent with your message.
TALK, WALK, AND LOOK LIKE A LEADER
The way you carry yourself actually changes the way you
feel when you’re delivering a presentation.
GESTURES MAKE A STRONG ARGUMENT EVEN STRONGER
Sirolli’s gestures are so animated,
it’s impossible to adequately
describe them in text. Visit TED.com and search
“Ernesto Sirolli” to see him for yourself.
Every gesture helps to paint the pictures he’s creating verbally.
He doesn’t even use slides.
He doesn’t need to. His gestures and animation decorate his
words for him. His presence is commanding and dynamic.
Walk, move, and work the room.
PART II: Novel
4. Teach Me Something New
Reveal information that’s completely new to your audience,
packaged differently, or offers a fresh and novel way to solve an old problem
The human brain loves novelty.
An unfamiliar, unusual, or Unexpected element
in a presentation intrigues the audience,
jolts them out of their preconceived notions, and quickly
gives them a new way of looking at the world.
Learning is addictive because it’s joyful.
5. Deliver Jaw-Dropping Moments
Jaw-dropping moments create what neuroscientists call an
emotionally charged event, a heightened state of emotion that
makes it more likely your audience will remember your message
One popular technology blogger wrote the headline, “
GATES UNLEASHES SWARM OF MOSQUITOES ON CROWD.”
Well, it wasn’t exactly a “swarm” of mosquitoes (the small jar contained only a few).
Your presentation content will make a better impact if it
can be stamped onto the minds of your listeners.
6. Lighten Up
Don’t take yourself (or your topic) too seriously.
The brain loves humor.
Give your audience something to smile about.
Humor lowers defenses,
making your audience more receptive to your message.
It also makes you seem more likable, and people are more
willing to do business with or support someone they like.
Laughter also plays an important role in strengthening group cohesion
Most TED presenters who elicit laughs from the audience tend
to relate anecdotal information about themselves or people they know, observations about
Many popular TED presenters provoke laughter by using analogies
An easy way to get a laugh without being a comedian or
telling a joke is to quote somebody else who said something funny.
Video, however, is a very effective way of bringing humor into
a presentation: it takes the pressure off you to be funny.
PART III: Memorable
7. Stick to the 18-Minute Rule
Eighteen minutes is the ideal length of time for a presentation.
If you must create one that’s longer, build in soft breaks
(stories, videos, demonstrations) every 10 minutes.
“cognitive backlog,” too much information,
prevents the successful transmission of ideas.
Long, convoluted, and meandering presentations are
dull; a surefire way to lose your audience.
8. Paint a Mental Picture with Multisensory Experiences
Deliver presentations with components that touch more
than one of the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell
The brain does not pay attention to boring things.
It’s nearly impossible to be bored
if you’re exposed to mesmerizing images, captivating videos,
intriguing props, beautiful words, and more than one voice bringing the story to life.
It takes courage to make your story so simple that a seventh-grader can understand it.
It takes courage to build a slide with one word on it, as Bono did.
It takes courage to show photographs instead of filling your slides with bullets points and text.
9. Stay in Your Lane
Be authentic, open, and transparent.
Most people can spot a phony. If you try to be something
or someone you’re not, you’ll fail to gain the trust of your audience.
When you deliver a presentation, your goal should
not be to “deliver a presentation.” It should be to inspire your audience,
to move them, and to encourage them to dream bigger.
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