What All Great Public Speaking Have in Common
As head of TED, Chris Anderson has listened to many talks throughout his life and has identified what makes public speaking truly impressive. In his video, Anderson shares what it is and four tips you can apply to improve your presentations and public speaking.
Anderson explains that your main goal as a presenter is to shape your idea in the minds of the audience, but not only that: it must be communicated in a way that changes how someone thinks about the world and potentially affects their actions, from this moment. and in the future. Of course, this is not an easy task, so he shares four tips:
- Talk about just one important idea: ideas are complex. It is imperative that you devote your time and focus on correctly explaining the most important idea with examples, vivid detail and context. As you speak, make sure everything is connected in some way with your one idea.
- Make people curious: Anderson recommends using provocative questions to arouse curiosity and give people a reason to show interest in your idea.
- Speak your audience’s language: Avoid any industry jargon that will lose your audience. Instead, use metaphors and details that your audience is more familiar with. One way to make your conversation accessible is to practice it in front of your friends and ask them for their opinion on what confuses them.
- Ask yourself, “Who benefits from this idea?” After all, the purpose of an “idea worth sharing” is an opportunity to help or inspire someone. If you find that your idea is just an ego boost for yourself, then it may work as such and the audience may not like it.
To see great examples of these tips in action, check out some of our favorite life-changing speeches.