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“Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.”4 If you’ve been invited to give a TED talk, this book is your bible.
you can’t inspire anyone else with your ideas, it won’t matter how great those ideas are. Ideas are only as good as the actions that follow the communication of those ideas.
The most engaging presentations are: EMOTIONAL—They touch my heart. NOVEL—They teach me something new. MEMORABLE—They present content in ways I’ll never forget.
EMOTIONAL Great communicators reach your head and touch your heart.
You’ll learn about new research that shows how stories actually “sync” your mind to those of your audience, allowing you to create far deeper and more-meaningful connections than you’ve ever experienced.
speakers who spent 200 hours rehearsing a presentation and learn how they practiced.
novelty is the single most effective way to capture a person’s attention.
deliver “wow” moments their audiences are still talking about years later.
You may have novel ideas, but if your audience cannot recall what you said, those ideas don’t matter.
means startups won’t get funded, products won’t get sold, projects won’t get backing, and careers won’t soar.
TED-worthy presentation could mean the difference between enjoying acclaim and toiling in hopeless obscurity. You’re still alive.
Passion is the thing that will help you create the highest expression of your talent.
Dig deep to identify your unique and meaningful connection to your presentation topic. Passion leads to mastery and your presentation is nothing without it, but keep in mind that what fires you up might not be the obvious.
Why it works: Science shows that passion is contagious, literally. You cannot inspire others unless you are inspired yourself. You stand a much greater chance of persuading and inspiring your listeners if you express an enthusiastic, passionate, and meaningful connection to your topic.
People cannot inspire others unless and until they are inspired themselves.
In the early stage of building a story, I don’t care about the product as much as I care about why the speaker is fired up about the product or service.
“building a third place between work and home, a place where employees would be treated with respect and offer exceptional customer service.”
WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART SING? Ask yourself, “What makes my heart sing?” Your passion is not a passing interest or even a hobby. A passion is something that is intensely meaningful and core to your identity. Once you identify what your passion is, can you say it influences your daily activities? Can you incorporate it into what you do professionally? Your true passion should be the subject of your communications and will serve to truly inspire your audience.
career, happiness, and the ability to inspire people are connected.
ACCEPT HAPPINESS AS A CHOICE. What is one challenge you have been faced with recently? After identifying your challenge, list three reasons why this challenge is an opportunity. You see, happiness is a choice, an attitude that is contagious, and your state of mind will positively affect the way your listeners perceive you.
“A positive, intense feeling that you experience for something that is profoundly meaningful for you as an individual.”
Professors Melissa Cardon, Cheryl Mitteness (Northeastern University), and Richard Sudek (Chapman University) performed a remarkable experiment and published their results in the September 2012 issue of the Journal of Business Venturing.
Is passion the only criteria on which Apple and Google investors based their funding decision? Of course not. Did the perceived passion of the founders (Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page) play a role in the investors’ ultimate funding decision? It certainly did.
The strength of the opportunity and the strength of the entrepreneur were the most prized criteria, ranking numbers one and two.
“Our findings provide evidence that perceived passion does make a difference when angels evaluate the funding potential of new ventures … perceived passion involves enthusiasm and excitement, and is distinct from how prepared or committed an entrepreneur may be to their venture … perceived passion does appear to matter to equity investors.”
“If you’re starting a company in an area that you think will make you rich, but you don’t enjoy that product, industry, or anything about it—that’s a mistake.”
the brain actually grows and changes throughout your life. The intense repetition of a task creates new, stronger neural pathways. As a person becomes an expert in a particular area—music, sports, public speaking—the areas of the brain associated with those skills actually grow.
Friedman’s study showed that passion does indeed rub off on others. People who did not communicate emotionally (little eye contact, sitting stiffly, no hand gestures) were not nearly as capable of influencing and persuading others as high charismatics.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm.”
“It is our experience that the very best executives are the ones who are the most passionate about what they do.” —Ron Baron, billionaire investor
Secret #1: Unleash the Master Within I can teach you how to tell a story. I can teach you how to design a gorgeous PowerPoint slide. I can even teach you how to use your voice and body more effectively. Effective stories, slides, and body language are important components of a persuasive presentation, yet they mean little if the speaker isn’t passionate about his or her topic.
Master the Art of Storytelling “Stories are just data with a soul.” —BRENÉ BROWN, TEDx HOUSTON 2010
Master the Art of Storytelling Tell stories to reach people’s hearts and minds
He believed that persuasion occurs when three components are represented: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is credibility. We tend to agree with people whom we respect for their achievements, title, experience, etc. Logos is the means of persuasion through logic, data, and statistics. Pathos is the act of appealing to emotions.
Ethos made up only 10 percent of Stevenson’s content, and Logos only 25 percent. Pathos made up a full 65 percent of Stevenson’s talk.
STORIES ARE JUST DATA WITH A SOUL
THREE SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE TYPES OF STORIES Inspiring communicators and the best TED presenters stick to one of three types of stories. The first are personal stories that relate directly to the theme of the conversation or presentation; second are stories about other people who have learned a lesson the audience can relate to; third are stories involving the success or failure of products or brands.
The most popular TED presentations start with a personal story.
“The truthful, inside story of almost any man’s life—if told modestly and without offending egotism—is most entertaining. It is almost sure-fire speech material.”
Every brand, every product, has a story. Find it and tell it.
“In embracing the diversity of human beings, we will find a surer way to true happiness.”
GIVE ME ONE CHARACTER I CAN ROOT FOR
INTRODUCE HEROES AND VILLAINS. Whether it’s a movie or a novel, every great story has a hero and a villain. A strong business presentation has the same cast of characters.
Have a Conversation Practice relentlessly and internalize your content so that you can deliver the presentation as comfortably as having a conversation with a close friend.
“Be totally authentic,”
Authenticity doesn’t happen naturally. That’s right: authenticity doesn’t happen naturally. How can that be? After all, if you are authentic then wouldn’t it make sense just to speak from your heart, with no practice at all? Not necessarily. An authentic presentation requires hours of work—digging deeper into your soul than you ever have, choosing the right words that best represent the way you feel about your topic, delivering those words for maximum impact, and making sure that your nonverbal communication—your gestures, facial expressions, and body language—are consistent with your message.
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Early Feedback Palmer read her talk out loud, and the first people who heard it were bored.
PRACTICE IN FRONT OF PEOPLE, RECORD IT, AND WATCH IT BACK.
Rehearse, Rehearse, and Rehearse On her blog Palmer posted a photograph of about two dozen people at a potluck-style dinner in someone’s living room, watching her perform the TED talk.
