Talk Like TED

Key takeaways

• Great talks are emotional, novel and memorable, and each quality can be learned
• Speak about what you are genuinely passionate about, because audiences feel the difference
• Stories switch on the listener's brain in ways that data alone never does
• Rehearse so thoroughly that your talk sounds like a relaxed conversation
• Keep it to about 18 minutes and give the audience one moment they will never forget

Inside this bit

1. Why some talks change minds

   Why does one 18-minute talk get watched by tens of millions of people while a polished corporate presentation is forgotten by lunch? Carmine Gallo, a communication coach, studied hundreds of the most popular TED talks and interviewed speakers and scientists to find out.

2. Passion and stories come first

   Gallo's first rule is to speak about what you genuinely care about. Audiences read energy long before they process content, and passion is difficult to fake.

3. Rehearse until it sounds unrehearsed

   The speakers who look most natural on stage are usually the ones who practised most. Gallo describes speakers running their talk 200 times, in front of mirrors, friends, and cameras, until the words and gestures became second nature.

4. Teach something new and surprise them

   The human brain is drawn to novelty and quickly bores of the familiar. Gallo argues that every talk should give the audience at least one thing they did not know, or a fresh way of seeing something they thought they understood.

5. Eighteen minutes and all the senses

   TED limits talks to 18 minutes, and Gallo thinks the constraint is a feature, not a limitation. Listening is hard work; the brain burns real energy paying attention, and after roughly 20 minutes people begin to tire and drift.

6. Put it to work

   Take the next presentation on your calendar and write down, in one sentence, why you personally care about the topic; if you cannot, find an angle where you can. Replace your opening with a short story about a specific person, ideally one you know.