Talk like TED

The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds

Talk like TED by Carmine Gallo

In Talk like TED – The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds, the author provides a comprehensive account of his analysis of numerous TEDx talks. In the process, he arrives at nine success keys for a gripping, haunting presentation.

Apply the results in this book to any awareness presentation that a Business Continuity officer, risk management officer, security consultant, etc. wants to give to his organization’s employees. Many of the tips address commonly known principles such as “Kill your darlings” and “In der Beschränkung zeigt sich den Meister.” But there is much more. There are 9 principles is as many chapters:

Part 1: Emotions

In Talk like TED‘s first chapter, the author emphasizes the passion you need to exude about the subject. In doing so, you can theoretically ask yourself three questions: why do you do it, what is your passion, but then comes the key question: what makes your heart skip a beat? So in practice, that third question matters. What makes your heart beat a little faster. Many presentations don’t get around to that and get bogged down in monotonous mumbling.

The second chapter shows that stories are super important, much more important than statistics, which are better not to use than to use, and if you need them, best to show them in an original way. The two best stories are those of a misery-stricken person crawling out of a pit, but the more successful story is someone who takes an unjustified dip in misery by an evil person and then crawls out of it from the misery and finds his happiness. Connect the story to the idea of the passion you want to sell !

A third hint is worth a third chapter: have a conversation. You must have practiced to the point where it comes across as natural, with no “euhms” and no frequent stop words. You must be so much in the subject that you almost tell it to a friend. Basically, “fake it till you make it” applies here. Fake it until you become real.

Those were the first three chapters of the emotional part.

Part 2: Innovative

Part two of Talk like TED emphasizes the need for the innovative: learning new things particularly fascinate human brains. Thereby, for e.g. finding sponsors, the emotional is also important: you must still bring the new thing passionately, originally and authentically, or it bogs down in nothingness.

The fifth chapter is about “Provide people with moments that make their mouths drop open.” Here an example are Bill Gates’ mosquitoes, or the real human brain that Dr. Jill stood on stage with.

And also under innovative is the section “Have fun.” Indeed, humor has an illuminating effect. But there is an important pitfall with that: don’t tell jokes, especially existing ones, and don’t try to be a comedian. Again, authenticity is important. People don’t expect a comedian, so don’t play one. The important thing is not a roar of laughter but a smile on people’s faces. So the best trick to being funny is to try not to be. What then? What helps is to tell some anecdotes from real life that you link to the topic and that you yourself think back on with a smile. Being really good at being funny requires a lot of work: a top comedian can spend two years polishing a joke before it is perfect.

Part 3: Make it memorable

And then we come to the third part of Talk like TED: “Memorable.”

To be memorable, you must not tell a story too long at the time and not too short. Eighteen minutes turns out to be an ideal time, long enough for the narrator to make his main point, and short enough so that the audience can grasp it all, and remember it fondly at home and do something with it or read about it.

The eighth chapter gives as a trick for memorability to share multiple sensory experiences. The techniques useful in this are seeing (the most important ! long live Powerpoint), hearing (with audio material) and feeling (for example, smells, or making an object go around,…). Also important is to use the rule of three: three sensory experiences, a maximum of three new ideas, etc.).

But what is absolutely important to be memorable is “Sail your own course”: be yourself. You don’t have to be the new Bill Gates, or a second Oprah. You have to be your own self with your own passionate story. Persevere until you are where you want to be. And practice, practice, practice. In front of the mirror, with a friend, over dinner, … until you get it right

The reason I am reviewing this book, which ostensibly has nothing to do with risk management or BCM, is because it is universal to managers, as a common type of speaker. Nothing is more impersonal than perhaps 80% of management speeches, which are often monotonous and m