Talk Like Ted!

You need to be clear of what your main message is, and this will allow you to present with passion and come across as genuine. When we care deeply about something it energises our delivery and makes us appear more natural. Audiences engage with this and warm to us.

The best talks are often the simplest. Rather than trying to get across five different ideas it’s better to just focus on one.

Often people worry that their talk doesn’t have enough information for the audience to digest. In actual fact, the real danger is that we overload an audience. An idea is much easier to implant in the mind of an audience if it’s not being crowded out by other ideas.

The best ideas and TED Talks offer a solution to something that an audience needs, and have a clear goal they’re working towards or problem they’re trying to solve.

Exercise: Finding the Value of Your Talk

Ask yourself these questions:

• “Why does the audience need to hear what you have to say?”
• “What ‘knowledge gap’ does this fill in for people?”
• “Does the audience already know this or do you need to illustrate this?”
• “Does your talk make clear what the problem is, and how YOU can offer the solution?”

Common Mistake: Assuming the audience automatically understands why your idea matters to them.

Carmine Gallo describes in his book, ‘Talk Like TED’, a great way to structure your talk, the Message Map. Much like in comedy, it’s based on the golden ‘rule of three’.

The Map is compartmentalised into three sections: The Headline, Three Key Points and then Three Supporting Points.

YOUR HEADLINE
Key Point No. 1	Key Point No. 2	Key Point No. 3
3 Supporting Points	3 Supporting Points	3 Supporting Points

The example below is of Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech from 2005:

(Created by Gallo Communications Group, www.carminegallo.com)

DO WHAT YOU LOVE
CONNECT THE DOTS	LOVE AND LOSS	DEATH
Supporting Points:	Supporting Points:	Supporting Points:
Reed College	Apple Garage	Cancer Diagnosis
Calligraphy	Fired	Time is Limited
Macintosh	Return	Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

The top box is that key idea that you want your audience to know by the end of your talk.

The second level contains three supporting points, the ideal number of bits of information for the human brain to process in the short-term memory.

The final layer is made up of key prompt words to deliver the story behind each of your supporting points.

To watch Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address, click here. See if you can spot the above details within it.

TED Talks are given on a wide range of very detailed subjects. But what unites them all is their ability to put across their messaging in very clear, simple ways. Remember that your audience might not be experts in your specialist area.

This means talking in a language which the audience already understands and using concepts that they already understand.

We often say that someone makes their mind up about a person within the first thirty seconds of meeting them – and the same can be true of a talk.

The best TED Talks have an imaginative and attention-grabbing opening.

Example: Economist Larry Smith opens with the line,

“I want to discuss with you this afternoon, why you’re going to fail to have a great career.”

Example: Games designer Jane McGonigal starts with,

“You will live seven and a half minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.”

So, we need to think about the best way to capture the audience’s attention straight off the bat.

• Can we wow the audience in the first 30 seconds? Or even less?
• Doing or saying something bold even in the first ten words can make a big impact. Can we do something with our opening line, before we’ve even introduced ourselves?
• Can we ask the audience a direct question or engage them with a problem immediately?

Remember the idea that we’re trying to plant in their minds or the problem we’re trying to solve for them.

Share Examples and Anecdotes

Employ metaphors and aids to explain complicated concepts in ways that people will be able to get their head around.

Example:

In his TED Talk ‘How to Start a Movement’, Entrepreneur, Derek Sivers uses a popular viral video to illustrate his central idea.

Narrative Hooks

Stories and narrative hooks can be a good way of keeping people engaged in what you’re talking about.

Example:

Psychologist Shawn Anchor uses a childhood story in his TED Talk ‘The Happy Secret to Better Work’. He dives straight into the story to capture people’s attention:

 “When I was seven years old and my sister was just five years old, we were playing on top of a bunk bed…”

Example:

Career Analyst Dan Pink grabs people’s interest by using their sense of curiosity is his TED Talk ‘The Puzzle of Motivation’.

“I need to make a confession at the outset here. A little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret, something that I’m not particularly proud of. Something that, in many ways, I wish no one would ever know, but here I feel kind of obliged to reveal.”

Humour

This can be a good skill to use in your talk. When people laugh, they let their guard down and are more inclined to take on new information.

Example:

Lie Detector Pamela Mayer uses a joke to immediately make the audience laugh but also focus on the topic she’s going to talk about, in her talk ‘How to spot a liar’.

“Okay, now I don’t want to alarm anybody in this room, but it’s just come to my attention that the person to your right is a liar.”

Most TED Talks are only 18 minutes long!

This might not seem like a huge amount of time, but it’s considered the perfect length for a talk -long enough to delve into the subject you’re discussing but short enough to hold people’s full attention.

In fact, 18 minutes is no time at all when we’re presenting.

Just by making our introductions and a few opening remarks we can easily go through the five-minute mark. That’s almost a third of our presentation time gone without doing any of what we’re supposed to.

Remember, the goal of our talk is to plant our idea in the minds of an audience.

So, we need to be punchy. Don’t waste a minute of time when you’re speaking.

Think about what’s the strongest and most concise way we can get something across to an audience.

• Don’t use five sentences when one will one do.
• Use simple language and avoid long-winded passages of text.
• Keep a good flow.

In 1982 David Ogilvy, considered the father of modern advertising, and the original ‘Mad Man’, sent out what turned out to be a timeless and well-forwarded memo to his employees entitled “How to Write”, and can be found in ‘The Unpublished David Ogilvy- A selection of his writings from the files of his partners’.

His advice stands up today:

‘The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write well. Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:

• Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.
• Write the way you talk. Naturally.
• Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
• Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
• Never write more than two pages on any subject.
• Check your quotations.
• Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning -and then edit it.
• If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
• Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
• If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.’

In the best TED Talks the speaker is completely relaxed and smiling at their audience. The fourth wall -the imaginary wall between the speaker and audience- has been completely removed. This is accomplished by creating a genuine connection with the audience.

So, treat your talk like a warm conversation:

• Keep our body language open.
• Make positive eye contact with people.
• Use strong physical gestures and commanding movements across the stage
• Think about tone of voice: we can use power, pitch and pauses to create a connection with the audience.
• Can we also use silence? Notice how Amanda Palmer uses silence in the opening of her TED Talk on ‘The Art of Asking’.

The end of our talk is the part that an audience will remember the most.

So, finish with a strong ‘call to action’.

Ask yourself, “What do I want my audience to walk out of the room thinking?”

Your concluding remarks should hammer that home.

Ken Robinson –‘Do Schools Kill Creativity?’

Call To Action: Reimagine education.

While Sir Ken’s style is subtle and humorous, he leaves a bold message: we need to rethink how we educate kids by placing value on creativity as much as literacy.

Takeaway: Don’t wait for the system—be the change in how we foster creativity in others.

Greta Thunberg –‘The Disarming Case to Act Right Now on Climate’

Call To Action: Act as if your house is on fire, because it is.

Greta doesn’t mince her words. Her ending is a plea, a wake-up call, and a demand for urgent action.

Takeaway: Instead of looking for hope, look for action. The time to act is now.

Go through your presentation as many times as possible to get fully comfortable with it. You can do this on your own, but also try it out on other people, particularly those who don’t know anything about the subject you’re presenting on.

• How does it sound to the layperson?
• Do they grasp the main idea?
• Do they see the value in what you’re putting forward?

The clearer and more powerful you can make these messages the more effective talk you’ll have.

Here’s a link to TED’s website outlining best practice for creating a TEDx Talk. Including the ideal length for preparing and what you should include in your talk.

The TED Talk Checklist

Before You Begin:

• Identify your ONE core idea -Can you state it in one sentence?
• Determine what problem your idea solves for the audience.
• Choose 3 supporting points that strengthen your central idea.

Opening (First 60 Seconds):

• Plan an attention-grabbing opener (shocking statement, compelling question, surprising fact).
• Establish why the audience should care about your topic immediately.
• Present the problem or status quo your talk will address.
• Hint at your proposed solution or perspective.
• Consider a personal connection to the material.

Main Content (Middle 15 Minutes):

• Arrange supporting points in logical order.
• Include evidence for each point (research, data, real-world example).
• Plan one memorable story or anecdote that crystallises your message.
• Prepare visual aids that enhance rather than distract (simple is better).
• Make your key points relatable to the audience’s experience.

Closing (Final 90 Seconds):

• Circle back to your opening to create a narrative frame.
• Restate your core idea in a fresh, memorable way.
• Include a clear, actionable takeaway or call to action.
• End with a powerful statement that resonates emotionally.
• Leave the audience with a provocative question or thought to consider.