Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds

by Carmine Gallo

You might be immersed in the details when the audience might need to see the big picture first.

PRACTICE IN FRONT OF PEOPLE, RECORD IT, AND WATCH IT BACK.

(Passion, Practice, Presence)

The four elements of verbal delivery are: rate, volume, pitch, and pauses. RATE: Speed at which you speak VOLUME: Loudness or softness PITCH: High or low inflections PAUSES: Short pauses to punch key words

discussions is that the presenters fail to make their content visual, interesting, and entertaining.

“If you don’t believe what you’re saying, your movements will be awkward and not natural.

“the look” begins with what people wear and how they carry themselves.

Using gestures actually frees up their mental capacities, and complex thinkers use complex gestures.

Every gesture helps to paint the pictures he’s creating verbally.

Use gestures. Don’t be afraid to use your hands in the first place. The simplest fix for a stiff presentation is to pull your hands out of your pockets and use them. Don’t keep your hands bound when you present. They want to be free. ◾ Use gestures sparingly. Now that I’ve told you to use gestures, be careful not to go overboard. Your gestures should be natural. If you try to imitate someone else, you’ll look like a Saturday Night Live caricature of a bad politician. Avoid canned gestures. Don’t think about what gestures to use. Your story will guide them. ◾ Use gestures at key moments. Save your most expansive gestures for key moments in the presentation. Reinforce your key messages with purposeful gestures . . . as long as it feels genuine to your personality and style. ◾ Keep your gestures within the power sphere. Picture your power sphere as a circle that runs from the top of your eyes, out to the tips of your outstretched hands, down to your belly button, and back up to your eyes again. Try to keep your gestures (and eye gaze) in this zone. Hands that hang below your navel lack energy and “confidence.” Using complex gestures above the waist will give the audience a sense of confidence about you as a leader, help you communicate your thoughts more effortlessly, and enhance your overall presence.

incongruence between your nonverbal communication and your words can significantly detract from the effectiveness

eager nonverbal style includes three elements: very animated, broad, open movements; hand movements openly projected outward; and forward-leaning body positions.

Move with purpose.

Walk, move, and work the room.

take your hands out of your pockets!

“power posing” increases testosterone and lowers cortisol levels in the brain, which will make you feel more confident

don’t fake it till you make it. Fake it till you become it.”

Your delivery and gestures, mastered through hours and hours of practice, will enhance your overall message, but without passion and practice, your presence will be severely diminished.

Reveal information that’s completely new to your audience, packaged differently, or offers a fresh and novel way to solve an old problem.

deliver entirely new data as much as he had to present it in a refreshing way.

You’ll become a more interesting person if you’re interested in learning and sharing ideas from fields that are much different from your own.

delivering the same tired information in the same boring way as everyone else will fail to get you noticed.

help the brain perceive information differently.

Pay attention to the stories of your life. If they teach you something new and valuable, there’s a good chance other people will want to hear about it.

If you can’t explain your big idea in 140 characters or less, keep working on your message.

“Executives and experts tend to get lost in the weeds and aren’t always able to see things with a beginner’s mind and from the audience’s perspective.”

Reveal information that’s completely new to your audience, is packaged differently, or offers a fresh and novel way to solve an old problem.

jaw-dropping moment in a presentation is when the presenter delivers a shocking, impressive, or surprising moment that is so moving and memorable, it grabs the listener’s attention and is remembered long after the presentation is over.

“the hook.” It’s the wow moment, the showstopper, a rhetorical device that grabs your attention

you should create the story before you open the tool.

Emotionally charged events persist longer in our memories and are recalled with greater accuracy than neutral memories.”

how vividly a person experiences an event influences how easily he or she can recall the event or the information later.

“It’s memorable precisely because it’s emotionally arousing, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant,

clearest messages require specific, tangible explanations. You can’t “wow” your audience if they don’t understand you.

Sometimes, all it takes is a surprising, creative twist on the message.

“emotionally charged event”—or what some refer to as the wow moment—the “holy smokes moment.

Props and Demos

Unexpected and Shocking Statistics

Make numbers meaningful, memorable, and jaw-dropping by placing them in a context that the audience can relate

Pictures, Images, and Videos

Memorable Headlines

Personal Stories

a showstopper in every presentation. It’s usually a story, a video, a demonstration, a surprise guest, or simply a personal anecdote.

Combine humor and novelty and you’ve got presentation gold.

Don’t take yourself (or your topic) too seriously. The brain loves humor. Give your audience something to smile about.

to the effective use of humor is how it’s deployed. Don’t try to be funny. But do pay closer attention to how you use humor, how others respond to your humor, and the messages you send.

ways to add just the right amount of humor

Anecdotes, Observations, and Personal Stories

Analogies and Metaphors

Quotes