INSIDE THE ART, CRAFT AND BUSINESS OF WRITING for Film, TV, Books, Stage, Print or Digital Media (with Particular Attention to Comedy)
Like pitching a story to an agent, producer or executive, creating a compelling TED talk involves synthesizing a lot of material into a very small space. TED founder and head curator Chris Anderson has helped a lot of people make a lot of presentations and he wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review about how to give a killer presentation. You can read the full article here in the Harvard Business Review, but here are his main tips:
And here, according to the head TED, are some common mistakes that TED advises its speakers to avoid.
1. Take a really long time to explain what your talk is about.
2. Speak slowly and dramatically. Why talk when you can orate?
3. Make sure you subtly let everyone know how important you are.
4. Refer to your book repeatedly. Even better, quote yourself from it.
5. Cram your slides with numerous text bullet points and multiple fonts.
6. Use lots of unexplained technical jargon to make yourself sound smart.
7. Speak at great length about the history of your organization and its glorious achievements.
8. Don’t bother rehearsing to check how long your talk is running.
9. Sound as if you’re reciting your talk from memory.
10. Never, ever make eye contact with anyone in the audience.