First, make sure you have something to say. Then, follow these three basic rules and nail your presentation, every time.
I recently attended a TEDGlobal conference. It was (as the veterans say) my ‘first’ TED and, while I was nervous about my own talk, I was thrilled to hear everyone else’s. Apart from some genuinely provocative ideas which have stuck with me ever since, this was an opportunity to watch some wonderful presentations and reflect on what makes a great talk.
Here are my top observations:
1. Stories always work.
Human beings remember things that matter. So lots of charts, slides, and numbers may be important, but they’re hard to retain. Memorable speeches build a connection between the speaker and the audience and stories – especially personal ones – are what make that connection last. Researcher Mina Bissell’s narrative about what led her to think differently about the structure of cancer took an abstract idea and made it real.
2. Images are meaningless – with one exception.
I saw a lot of slides and most of them I can’t even remember. But the few that I do I’ll remember forever.
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