TED and TEDX Talks

Do you have something that you’d like to talk about that will change people’s lives?

The annual TED conference offers brilliant examples of successful business presentations, and pointers gleaned from the TED talks can help business leaders improve their own presentations.

Use social tools to build buzz ahead of time, stage interactive text-message polls or get your audience talking by moderating a back-channel Twitter discussion. "These methods allow you to connect with your audience before, during, and after you deliver your message"

Whenever someone requests (or demands) that you send the PowerPoint deck ahead of time — so it can be reviewed the day before the presentation — a kitten dies.

Most of the speakers are not particularly experienced. More than 50% are occasional speakers or have almost no experience at all. This is a fantastic number – ignite might be effective at giving visibility to people who don’t often get it or aren’t usually attracted to the stage.

We use PPT like a magician uses a lovely assistant — to misdirect the attention of the audience.

No one likes meetings and for good reason. In most meetings, most of the time, most people think most of what goes on is a waste of time.

So what if you took out all of the stupid, wasteful stuff and left only the useful parts?

The Ignite talks mix humor with serious subjects stoked by the tension of wondering whether the speaker will stay on track with their slides or implode on stage. (Remember there is the time limit. And did I mention alcohol?)

The following guide explains how to prepare, deliver, and answer questions about a stellar presentation.

Who decided meetings should be 30 or 60 minutes? What data is this based on? None. 30 and 60 minute meetings leave no time to get between meetings, and assumes, on average, people need an hour to sort things out. Certainly not all meetings can be run in 22 minutes, but many can, so we’d all be better off if the default time were small, not large.