How to Rock a TED Talk

PPT by Cathey Armillas

Do you know what is TED?

Have you ever watched any TED talk?

Do you enjoy it?

And do you wanna know more about it?

If all the answers areYES, you may wanna read this:)

At this 2016 Toastmaster International Convention in Washington, D.C., we were so lucky to learn a lot more about TED talks from Cathey Armillas, a TED talk organizer.

She not only gave us some facts about TED talks but also demonstrated the differences between a TED talk and a professional speech, which hopefully gives us a glimpse of the TED techniques that may be useful in our own presentations.

Some facts about TED

1, What does TED stand for?

Technology,Entertainment,Design

2, What's TED's slogan?

IDEASworth spreading!

3, What year was the firstTEDevent?

1984 (I wasn't even born yet!)

Professional speech vs.TEDtalk?

After studying 1,001 TED talks, Cathey has summerized 7 differences between a professional speech and a TED talk. They are as follows:

1, Time

Normally a professional speech is at least45 minswhile TED talk is less than18 mins, and some are even only 3 mins. I heard that normally when the time is up, the microphone for TED speaker will be mute. And the TED speaker can't speak any more at all. Even he/she does, the audience won't be able to hear anything!

2, Content

A professional speech ususally makes 3 or more points while TED talk only shares one idea, and this particular idea is shared to spread and call on actions.

3, Style

Compared to professional speech, TED talk is more conversational while the former is more like a performance. That's why TED talk is only aTALK, not a speech.

4, Delivery

Since professional speech is more like a performance, it's normally highly gestural while TED talk ususally involves a lot of natural movement. And if you look closely, you will find a red spot on the TED talk stage, and the speaker usually stays within this red spot.

5, Outcome

A professional speech may have multi-purpose, such as to entertain, to persuade and to inspire, while TED talk more focuses on idea implementation, which means that the idea does not only worth spreading, but also worth people giving it a try and act upon it!

6, Ownership

The speaker is the owner of a professional speech while TED talk belongs to TED or its creative commons, not the speaker.

7, Method

Some give a professional speech while others deliver a TED talk.

TEDtalk essential elements

Cathey also figured out 10 essential elements about TED talks.

For example:

1, Catch phrases

Catch phrases can be something rhymed,

or something that can be easily remembered. These are just some examples from TED talk and from our world speech champion in toastmaster.

2, Supporting evidence

Normally we like to use scientific data to support our ideas, such as:

3, Powerful visuals

Isn't it more appealing if we use a lot of relevant pictures/quotes/videos in our presentations?

Have you learnt something yet?

Pls leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks for reading:)