TED Talks

TED TALKS

THE OFFICIAL TED GUIDE TO PUBLIC SPEAKING

CommitTED to public speaking

Smooth talker: Anderson in a screen capture of his video talk on public speaking at ted.com.

If you've got something worth saying ... learn how to say it effectively/ says Chris Anderson, curator of the famed TED Talks that put speakers on stage in front of hundreds of people.

Art of Eloquence

Sharing Significant Ideas

Chris Anderson shares observations from his ringside seat at some of the world's best talks in a new book.

Stories by Terence Toh

TheStar/Star2/Sunday. 10 July 2016

IF you really think about it, the fear of public speaking doesn’t make sense. Most of us have no problems at all with talking - give us a friend or two and we can cheerfully yak for hours about any topic under the sun.

Yet the simple act of speaking, some­thing we’ve been doing since birth, suddenly becomes difficult when you have to do it in front of an audience. Palms suddenly get sweaty. Tongues feel like lead. Minds go blank as we are overwhelmed by a sea of faces, suddenly conscious that every eye and ear in the place is solely fixed on us.

According to Chris Anderson, cura­tor of global nonprofit TED, the fear of public speaking is natural. However, there are steps one can take to dimin­ish it.

“The actions you can take are to pre­pare properly for the talk. Really fig­ure out what you want to say, and take time to rehearse it. People often forget that you can give your talk as many times as you want in your bedroom, and no one is going to bite you!” Anderson says, speaking via a Skype video call.

“Test what you’re going to say with a few friends and ask them honestly, what am I missing here? Does it work? Is it clear? And when you’re in the actual space, find your ‘friends’ in the first few rows. These can be your actu­al friends or a few friendly faces, and speak conversationally to them.”

Anderson has a lot of experience with the art of elocution. His organisa­tion, TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design), has the tagline “Ideas worth spreading” and devotes itself to doing just that through short, powerful talks that cover all aspects of life from science to business to popular culture.

Public speaking for the Internet age

Since beginning in 1984, TED Talks have been conducted all over the world in over 100 languages, delivered by luminary speakers such as comput­er mogul BUI Gates, film director J.J. Abrams, British Prime Minister David Cameron, singer Annie Lennox and genius theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, just to name a few.

These talks, many of which are online at TED’s website (ted.com), have racked up millions of views and have inspired many through their powerful content delivered in a dynamic and unfor­gettable way. The TED stage has become known as a place for thinkers and doers from all fields to share their ideas and their work, capturing imagi­nations, sparking conversation and encouraging discovery.

Now, Anderson has written a book, Ted Talks: The Official TED Guide To Public Speaking, a concise and compre­hensive guide to creating an unforget­table public presentation. The book explains how the miracle of powerful public speaking is

achieved, and aims to empower the reader to deliver their ideas in the best, most electrifying ways….

“I’ve been in a really fortunate posi­tion over the last 15 years. I’ve had a ringside seat watching hundreds of the World’s best speakers in action in my role as TED curator. I’ve learnt a lot from them, and I think it’s time I shared their knowledge,” Anderson says.

Published by Headline, Anderson’s book covers every aspect of public speaking, beginning with initial prepa­rations, covering research and talk tools, before ending with what to do on stage. Its content is based on “pres­entation literacy” - a skill Anderson believes should be thought in schools from an early age.

“It’s public speaking adapted for the Internet age. Nowadays, maybe your - talk isn’t to an audience. It could be just to a camera, for a video on YouTube. There are lots of ways to make an impression by speaking now,” Anderson points out.

“Speakers are no longer trapped with the people they’re speaking with. If you get it right, your words and ideas could spread out way beyond that one room.

Anderson’s book explains the impor­tance of developing a strong founda­tion for your talk (known as the “thor­ough line”), and explains how to hook your audience through connection,

narration, explanation, persuasion and revelation. It even offers tips on what best to wear, as well as how to handle different presentation tools, whether it be slides, note cards, or teleprompters.

The book makes a lot of references to previous TED Talks, and comes with a handy list of them in the book’s appendix for the viewer to check out.

“Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience’s world view. Done right, a talk is more powerful than anything in written form. Writing gives us the words. Speaking brings with it a whole new toolbox,” Anderson writes in the book’s foreword.

“When we peer into a speaker’s eyes, listen to the tone of her voice, sense her vulnerability, her intelli­gence, her passion, we are tapping into unconscious skills that have been fine- tuned over hundreds of thousands of years. Skills that can galvanise, empower, inspire.”

Awkward beginnings

Speaking to Anderson via the com­puter screen, the man seems serious, almost sombre in his speech and demeanour. Yet it soon becomes evi­dent he possesses a wry sense of humour, which appears in the form of witty observations all through his interview answers.

Married with three children, he js now based at TED’s New York head­quarters. His early life, however, start­ed at the other end of the world, as he was bom in a remote village in Pakistan, to American parents who were medical missionaries.

The man who would one day become the head of TED grew up in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, and studied at an international school in the Himalayan mountains, before mov­ing to Monkton Combe School, a board­ing school in Britain.

Growing up in a religious family gave Anderson some of his first experiences with public speaking.

“I would have to stand up to give a short testimony or message in church.

As a kid, about 13 or 14,1 was quite awkward, introverted some of the time. So I would get nervous, like everyone else, before doing this kind of stuff,” Anderson recalls.

After graduating from Oxford University, Anderson worked as a jour­nalist for several years, before moving into entrepreneurship. In 1994, he formed Imagine Media, the publisher of the Business 2.0 magazine and creator of popular gaming website IGN.

He would later create The Sapling Foundation, a private nonprofit organi­sation whose goal was finding new ways to tackle tough global issues through media, technology, entrepre­neurship and, most of all, ideas. In 2001, it acquired the TED Conference, originally created by architect and graphic designer Richard Saul Wurman to explore the areas of technology and design.

As new TED curator, Anderson made a few changes: first of all, he expanded the conference to cover a wider array of topics, including global issues. He also added a fellows pro­gramme and started the TED Prize, which invests US$lmil (RM4mil at today’s rates) in a powerful idea every year.

In 2006, TED experimented with putting some of its talks online. And the rest, as they say, is history. Viewership of its videos has now grown to approxi­mately one billion per year.

Today, TED’s influence reaches all around the world through TEDx, a pro­gramme that allows people to conduct TED-style events in their own communi­ties. The Kuala Lumpur chapter, An attempt to encourage people

For Anderson, the mark of a great talk is not the amount of reaction it gets but what it leaves with the audience. As an example, Anderson cites a talk given by Scientist and author Steven Pinker in 2007.

“You wouldn’t think of what he gave as a great talk. He was just making an argument while standing at a lectern with a computer. But the argument he was making was that violence is in decline. It’s an argument that was counter intuitive based on all the news you usually saw,” Anderson says.

“But he spoke carefully and power­fully. And six to seven years later, I still carry his ideas with me. And it makes me happier about the world, and more sceptical about the news you read. Talks like his transform your world view, and leave people with something they can use in future.”

In the same way, Anderson says he hopes the readers of TED Talks will be able to use the knowledge within the book to help them. Not just for planning TED talks but in any aspect of their lives that requires them to talk in front of an audience.

“So many people are terrified of pub­lic speaking. They stay silent, which means the world is deprived of a lot of ideas, a lot of voices we should be hear­ing from,” Anderson says.

“This is an attempt to encourage peo­ple. If you’ve got something worth say­ing, it’s possible to learn how to say it effectively.”

Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

Monica Lewinsky: The Price of Shame

Zak Ebrahim: I am the son of a how I chose peace.

David Gallo: Life in the Deep Oceans

Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability

TEDxK: Yasmin Ahmad

Red Hong Yi: So I Threw Away My Paintbrushes

A Stream of Knowledge

We look at seven fascinating TED Talks on topics such as cyberbullying, deep ocean life and creating art.

As today, there are over 2,000 TED Talk videos available for viewing on the TED Talks’ website, delivered on all kinds of fasci­nating, complex and eclectic topics. Most of them are not longer than 18 minutes - according to TED Talks curator Chris Anderson, this is long enough to be serious but also short enough to hold people’s atten­tion.

Here are seven fascinating videos that bril­liantly showcase the wealth, style and diver­sity of insight available through TED Talks.

(You can search for the names of the speak­ers at ted.com or key in the urls provided.

The two TEDxKL talks are not available at ted.com but can be viewed on YouTube; some TEDxKL talks can also be viewed at tedxkl.com

Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

- Witty author and educator Sir Ken Robinson makes a moving case for creating an education system that nurtures rather than undermines creativity. As of Friday, this is the most-viewed TED Talk of all time.

(At ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_ schools_kill_creativity.)

Monica Lewinsky: The Price Of Shame - Social activist Monica Lewinsky (most known for her affair with former US President Bill Clinton) takes a hard look at the culture of online humiliation, and shares her experi ences. A brave talk, which earned rave reviews, and an apology from Lewinsky’s longtime critic, author Erica Jong. (At ted.com/talks/monica_lewinsky_the_ price_of_shame.)

Zak Ebrahim: I am the son of a terrorist. This is how I chose peace. - When Zak Ebrahim was seven years old, his father helped to plan the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing in New York City. Instead of choos­ing his father’s legacy of dogma and hate, Ebrahim chose another path.

(At ted.com/talks/zak_ebrahim_i_am_the_ son_ofa__terrorist_here_s_how_i_chose_ peace.)

David Gallo: Life In The Deep Oceans -

Through vibrant video clips captured by sub­marines, oceanographer David Gallo takes us to the valleys and volcanic ridges of the oceans’ depths, where life is bizarre, resilient and shockingly abundant.

(Atted.com/talks/david_gallo_on_life_in_

the_deep_oceans.)

Brene Brown: The Power Of Vulnerability - Researcher Brene Brown studies human connection: our ability to empathise, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to under­stand humanity.

(Atted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability)

Yasmin Ahmad at TEDxKL - The late (1958-2009) great Malaysian film director and scriptwriter speaks about choosing her actors and creating beautiful things. A fiin, candid talk peppered with Yasmin’s trademark wit and humour. (At tinyurl.com/gmrmvk9.)

Red Hong Yi: So I Threw Away My Paintbrushes at TEDxKL- Acclaimed local artist Red Hongyi shares how she discovered her unusual art style, and discovered things about herself in the process. (At tinyurl.com/hqpodoz.)