Tag Archives: public speech coach

How to Create a TED Talk (Part 2 in a series)

TEDx Talk

In my last newsletter, I described my process of applying for and being selected to do a TED Talk. This time, I’ll take you through my process so far on how to create a TED Talk. This is just my process. However, I did pick up a book that is excellent and that I highly recommend: TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking. Whatever type of presenting you’re planning to do, this is a great book to help you prepare.

Anyway, I worked on it during the 2 week holiday season and got a lot done, so I feel encouraged. I also feel challenged and anxious. Tick tock.

Click to see Part 1 of the series.…

My topic intrigues me, but it’s not within my realm of professional expertise. So I’ve had to do some serious research. This includes reading books, published research, and interviewing people who’ve been in the thick of it. I’ve also been watching other TED speakers who’ve done a 10-minute talk, which is how much time I’ll have.

As I’ve been researching, I’ve created a content journal. This is something I recommend to all my clients. It’s a document where I jot down everything that pops into my mind or that I come across that I think may have a place in the talk. It’s currently 14 pages long, but I think that’s about it. The talk itself will ultimately be a scant 3 pages.

I’ve composed a draft. The draft needs to have an engaging rhythm and be organized in a way that is consistent with TED Talks. There have been lots of revisions and there will be many more. I opened with a personal experience and an admission. I want to connect with the audience immediately.

When you think of how to create a TED Talk, you must explain the problem(s). This is what I’m trying to do without over-explaining. They’re separated into three distinct areas. The challenge here is to make the talk engaging with a variety of devices and techniques because otherwise it risks being too dry. This means inserting the right stories, examples, and humor. AND, I’m beginning to suspect I might have to eliminate one of the three problem areas because time is very tight.

After that, I discuss what this means for this audience, the “why.” Why it’s important… for me, but especially for them.

Finally, the close. I am having a lot of trouble with this. I’m trying to come up with a great call to action, or CTA. It’s probably because the logic and trajectory of my talk is far from settled. And it’s too long.

I haven’t kept track of my time expenditure, but I’d estimate it’s been at least 30 hours so far. By the time I’m done, I predict I will have spent more than 100 hours on writing, revising, and rehearsing it.

That’s my current experience with how to create a TED Talk . It’s what it takes. I hope. Stay tuned…

Trump Knows Presentation IS Everything

President Trump accomplished a major reset of his presidency with his speech before a joint session of Congress. And he did it in an age-old way: his presentation skills. He knows either by accident or design, presentation is everything.

The first thing I look for during presidential addresses is whether the president “showed” leadership. In other words, was the president’s presentation consistent with his words? Was what he said supported by how he said it? In the speech before a joint session of Congress, my assessment is he failed more than he succeeded, but he succeeded just enough to change people’s minds.

For example, since by now we all know he rarely sticks to a script, doing so this time was a win.

First, the president dressed for the occasion. His clothing fit well and the colors were elegant. Good style, dress, and adornment make the both the wearer and the observer feel confident.

The speech itself was more poetic. It used a number of rhetorical devices that in the hands of a Reagan or Obama, would have sent that thing soaring, yet he did not deliver it in a way that did it justice. There was little passion evident in his delivery. He bridles at using the teleprompter. Still, this was better delivered than former teleprompter speeches.

His speaking voice, which is not a high quality male speaking voice to begin with, was flat or singsong in its intonation through most of the speech. It came alive only during the Harley-Davidson story because he clearly enjoyed telling it and he even exhibited some humor.

Regarding humor, it would behoove him to use more, particularly of the self-directed variety. This would make him more likeable and relatable.

The president exhibited more generosity and grace than in the past, reflecting the grandeur and majesty of a formal address delivered to a joint session of Congress.

Here is a cardinal rule of communication that many smart people eschew: If the way you look and sound contradicts what you say, people will believe the way you look and sound instead of what you say.

Both Ronald Reagan, affectionately remembered as “the great communicator,” and Barack Obama, who moved arenas of people with soaring rhetoric, understood this rule very well. They knew they were in a unique position to heal the country’s divisions. Even the president’s biggest fans expect him to give voice to the anxieties of all Americans, to lift us all up so we can begin to unite.

The ability to deliver a powerful speech is the essence of leadership.

President Trump got much closer with this one, single speech.

What if You Could Love Public Speaking?

More and more, I’m in love with public speaking! I’m ardent about it. I’m a missionary, a true believer.

I know not everyone feels the way I do, but I am also a firm believer in possibility, that you can come to love it. It’s something I see every day with clients, which is so gratifying.

Here is why so many people shy away from it: They feel they have the expertise and the deep knowledge. They have worked hard for years to hone their message. As a result, they feel audiences and listeners should be “smart” enough to see past any presentational deficits. They tend to regard delivery technique as fluff, surface, soft. But mastery in speaking and presentation is anything but.

To put it bluntly, public speaking or presenting is an essential, professional skill. It is the delivery vehicle for all your content and your message. And once a professional attains even a modicum of leadership responsibility, it is no longer optional. You know I speak the truth because when you observe people who are great at it, you admire them. We all do.

Here’s a quick story that illustrates why you might want to learn to love public speaking and presenting…

Like all of us, you attend industry conferences. During these often multi-day events, there are concurrent breakout sessions. Attendees look at the program guide and select which breakout they think they’ll get the most out of. And they just hope and pray the presenter won’t bore them to death. Too often, however, they do. They stand behind the lectern, reading from slides that are too packed and disorganized for anyone to see clearly. Their heads are down. They don’t tell stories to make their data come alive. They don’t connect.

Honestly, when I go to a breakout where I’m unfamiliar with the speaker, I sit in a location where I can make a quick escape. My feeling is my time is so precious that if the speaker didn’t care enough to engage me, I’ll find someone who will. It breaks my heart when this happens, when I see people deserting the room because it’s very demoralizing for the speaker and I know things could’ve been different.

Occasionally, too rarely, however, the speaker blows you away. They are funny, engaging, they command the platform and their slides are bold, graphic, and clever. They tell stories. They reveal a little about themselves. They connect. You like it so much in fact that you patiently stand in line to meet that speaker, exchange business cards, be in that person’s sphere, maybe even buy something.

It continues afterward. At the conference, you observe others approaching that speaker. That person, whom you had never heard of before, has become a type of star, a celebrity.

But it doesn’t end there. After the conference ends and everyone returns to their offices all over the country and, more commonly these days, the world, they are talking about that speaker, linking in with him or her, referring the person to other, more prestigious public speaking venues where – let me be very clear – that speaker has an opportunity to connect with an entirely new group of potential clients and referral base. What an efficient way to connect and build a personal brand!

Do you think that speaker is ardent about public speaking? You betcha. Did he or she always love it? Probably not, but the benefits and rewards have become too clear to ignore.

Now, as I always say, it’s work. It takes time, practice, dedication. It’s just a matter of getting the support and coaching you need. That could be Toastmasters, a small group program offered by a qualified coach, or private coaching.

It’s no fun to be forced to do something for work that is painful. We all have a list of must-dos that we dislike or even hate. Public speaking should not be one of them. Better to become so good, and reap the unparalleled benefits, that you, too, fall in love with public speaking.