REVIEW: Ted Talks

TED has quickly surged to the forefront in the last decade when it comes to public speaking events. Think about it. How many social media posts have you seen written something like this:

The toilet paper roll goes top-out. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Once something has entered meme-level status, you know it has become well-known.

As someone who has public speaking as a significant facet of my job, I was interested to dive into this book by Chris Anderson, the head of the TED non-profit organization. I wanted to know the lessons that have been learned in training people from all walks of life on how to speak publicly.

THE CONTENT

The book is broken up into various sections so that readers can digest the information based on wherever they may be in their own speaking journey. If the reader is getting an overview on preparing and presenting their first talk, they will find a wide swath of information including discussing topics such as how to dress, the use of props, and more. On the other hand, readers with years of public speaking experience could find value in identifying a specific area where they want to improve, without needing to read every page of the book to do so. Thus, it is a valuable resource for the public speaker.

The book is written using language that is easily understood by just about anyone. The content is neither so basic that it would prove exhausting to the experienced speaker, nor so nuanced that a novice presenter could not pick it up and employ the tactics. Furthermore, references are given to all sorts of TED talk videos so that the reader can view examples for themselves and learn from world-class communicators.

SO WHY DID IT NOT GIVE IT FIVE STARS?

Anderson uses his book, not only to give lessons on public speaking, but also to promote, and even give some historical context to the TED organization. I would even say he does so unapologetically. Therefore, based on his intention, I feel as though he hit the bullseye.

This book is a great primer on how to give a TED talk. I, however, would have liked to see more about the talk and less about TED.

At times I almost felt as though it were a commercial for TED. And, to be clear, TED is an organization that I already like and do not need to be pitched on. Perhaps I’m being unfair with this criticism and judging what is not there as opposed to what is. Perhaps I’m punishing a work based on how my expectations were different than the author’s intention.

Any of that counter-criticism would be entirely fair.

However, this is my review and I get to respond as I wish ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

CONCLUSION

TED Talks is overall an excellent resource on the shelf for someone to grow in their approach to public speaking. However, be prepared for this work to be focused more on the TED than the talk.