Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World s Top Minds By: Carmine Gallo Observations and Conclusions Bestselling author, Carmine Gallo uses presentations given at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Conference as a vehicle to teach public speakers how to communicate ideas effectively and persuasively. His new book, Talk Like Ted, analyzes the presentations of some of the many influential speakers that have spoken at TED conferences. From these presentations, Gallo identifies and explains what he calls the nine secrets of successful public speaking. Gallo states his thesis as Talk Like Ted is for anyone who wants to speak with more confidence and authority. It s for anyone who delivers presentations, sells products and services, or leads people who need to be inspired. If you have ideas worth sharing, the techniques in this book will help you craft and deliver those ideas far more persuasively than you ve ever imagined (Gallo 2). In the introduction to this book, Gallo reviews the origins of TED and relates the definition of a TED talk as described by TED founder Richard Saul Wormac. TED talks are defined as Richard Saul Wormac s observation and recognition of a powerful convergence among three fields: technology, entertainment and design. Wormac created the TED conference in 1984 as an event that was meant to last four days (Gallo 3). However, the conference attracted some of the most intellectual minds in the world. These world class speakers would come and make 18-20 minute presentations on any of the three topics listed
above. The popularity of the conference led to an explosive expansion that now sees TED conferences held in more than 150 countries. In 2006, Wormac created an online presence by posting six videos intended to allow the consumers to see how the TED conferences worked. He wanted to provide examples of effective presentations as a resource to those interested in public speaking. (TED). The content of the website rapidly expanded as more people became interested in the principles of TED talks. Eventually, Wormac decided to post all of the TED talks online. In the fall of 2012, after six years of constant video streaming the TED website reached the unbelievable milestone of having one billion views. (TED). The first part of the book focuses on the emotional aspect of TED talks. Unleash the Master Within is the first chapter. Gallo explains that passion leads to mastery on a subject (Gallo 17). He uses TED speaker and Victoria's Secret Model, Cameron Russell, to discuss how her passion for studying self-image issues led to a mastery of the subject. Russell delivered one of the most powerful personal talks about her modeling career on the TED stage. She explained that though she never studied the psychology of self-image issues, her years of experience in a image driven industry developed a passion and drive to help others who struggle with various self-image issues. Russell discussed how her appearance causes a distraction to the audience whenever she is speaking. Russell went on to explain her understanding of image distortion by explaining that the modeling industry was not as it generally appears. She specifically addressed that children need to understand that being a model is not necessarily as glamourous as it seems. She described her view that modeling essentially made her feel like a hard shell of a person with no inner value. She Ended by encouraging people to find a balance between outward appearance and inner beauty.
Chapter 2 is titled Master the Art of Storytelling. Gallo s second secret is, to be an effective public speaker you must tell stories that reach people s hearts (Gallo 44). Gallo provides a formula that contends a presentation should be made up of 65% pathos, 25% logos, and only 10% ethos (Gallo 48). Gallo uses TED speaker Sir Ken Robinson as an example of a great storyteller. Robinson is regarded as one of the top six speakers that have graced the TED stage, solely based on his video views alone. Robinson describes the life of famous Broadway choreographer, Gillian Lynne. In the 1930 s, Lynne struggled with a severe case of ADHD, which was poorly understood at that time. She was unable to focus on school work and consequently was asked to see a specialist regarding her learning disorders. The specialist asked her to step into the hallway and he began to play some music. Lynne immediately began dancing. Because of this interaction with the professional, Lynne was removed from traditional school and placed into a fine arts program. Robinson related this moving story to his audience colloquially as if he was having a personal conversation with his audience. Gallo discusses in chapter three the effectiveness of using personal engagement with your audience. He states that Robinson s uses language that is personable and relatable to the audience. Robinson s story telling technique will cause many people to recall their own experiences of frustration and discovery and build empathy for the characters in his story. Robinson uses this point to make the point that traditional schools nurture conformity and undermine creativity. By using Lynne s story as his primary example of how a school could miss the potential genius of someone because of the focus on narrow educational objectives Robinson is able to bring the audience onto his side by using an argument that resonates with them. This supports Gallo s notion that 65% of an argument is done in pathos. This is especially true of attempts at persuasive speaking.
In the second part of the book, Novel, Gallo describes that novelty is what captivates an audience. Chapter 4 starts with Teach Me Something. Gallo uses TED speaker Susan Cain, author of book Quiet and a self-described introvert, to prove teaching is an art desperately needed to allows today s youth to develop and thrive. Cain states that even the best public speakers will often doubt their own topics, saying things like my topic is boring (Gallo 123). However, she goes on to explain that no matter how many times an audience may have heard presentations on your topic, or know some of the information you are addressing, they have never heard your unique view on the subject or the unique voice you use to convey your message. Cain argues that the way you present your information may be the one way that will teach the audience something or make a concept stick that has not stuck before. This is paired nicely with Chapter 5, deliver jaw dropping moments. On a TED stage in 2009, Microsoft founder Bill Gates stated Malaria is, of course, transmitted by mosquitos. I brought some here, just so you could experience this. We ll let them roam around the auditorium a little bit. There s no reason only poor people should have the experience (Gallo 136). He then opened a small mason jar full of mosquitos into an audience, leaving them stunned. Jobs tied in the stories of Malaria and its effects on third world countries with a jaw dropping moment of releasing the mosquitos in order to bring awareness to a subject that was often dismissed as personally irrelevant by audience members because it is extremely rare in our country. Chapter 6 is titled Lighten Up. Gallo explains that your topic should never be taken too seriously. A professional or accomplished public speaker will need to use humor, relatability and even some humility to make themselves more relatable. In this chapter, he begins to use his own personal knowledge on public speaking in order to explain step 6. He uses the title Let s Talk
S*** in order to bring humor to otherwise serious events. Gallo cites the example of post 9/11 anxiety among the people of the United States. Millions of people had no idea how to cut the tension that had grown to encompass their lives. An entire nation was walking on eggshells unsure of how to return to some sense of normalcy. Gallo attributes the classic late night humor show Saturday Night Live with providing the outlet to allow a nation to breathe and begin healing. Through comedy sketches related to the current events many Americans found relief to the tension and began to laugh again. Though their hearts were still heavy, weights were lifted off the shoulders of thousands of Americans. Finally, the third section addresses the importance of being memorable. Gallo explains this as the technical portion of public speaking. In chapter 7, his first hint is to stick to 18-20 minute presentations. This will limit the possibility that people become uninterested or loose focus on the speaker. He goes on to explain in Chapter 8 that mental images, as well as visual aids, will also help keep the audience focused and the speaker on point. Storytelling, PowerPoint displays, and the use of props can all add memorable moments and become takeaways for your audience. Chapter 9 explains that you must stay in your lane in order to be successful. The audience must feel that you are speaking on a topic you understand and are passionate about. They do not want to hear tangents, run offs, or even about the coffee you had this morning with breakfast. Successful public speaking requires specific and focused knowledge and passion. Gallo addresses effective communication and audience captivation through the nine techniques he identifies in the book. He explains that these hints help prevent lags, loss of focus, and filler words in presentations. I believe he identified the skills of accomplished speakers by relating individual examples of things common among many successful TED speakers. Gallo
effectively conveyed the nine secrets by using them in the way he wrote the book and presented the material. I could easily imagine Gallo giving a talk on the nine secrets and that talk being as effective as reading his book. His knowledge and passion for public speaking is evident in his writing. Gallo ends the book with a call to action. If you are like most people, you re capable of so much more than you ve imagined for your life (Gallo 247). His closing statement encourages his readers to become the best public speaker they can be. Application The most important information in this book is the ideals that public speaking is an art form in which individuals can train themselves. The art can be learned through visualizing examples, reading novels, self-assurance, and even just lots of practice. However, in public speaking there are many different communication theories applied to successful speakers. When addressing the TED audience, many of the individuals use upwards of ten communication theories before they leave the stage. In a cultural context, Giles communication accommodation theory is easily applied to public speaking.this theory states, people in intercultural encounters who see themselves as unique individuals will adjust their speech style and content to mesh with others whose approval they seek (Griffin A-4). This is explained by Gallo in three of his nine rules, storytelling, lighten up, and have a conversation. Gallo suggests addressing the audience on their own playing field. They are attempting a repeatability and empathy. For example, in my high school there were many different public speaking organizations. However, I was in charge of one on bullying. This required many of our students to get up and exclaim their personal stories as to
why bullying is ruining today s youth. We were asked to speak in places such as elementary schools all the way up to a presentation we made for the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Though we were all addressing our stories still, each education level received a different dialect and concept in order to cater to the specific audience at hand. The next concept addressed in communication theory is Group and Public Communication. Bormann s symbolic convergence theory states dramatizing messages are group members expressed interpretations of events other than those in the here-and-now (Griffin A-3). This can be described again with the art of storytelling but as well as delivering a wow factor to the audience. It is used hand and hand with Aristotle's rhetoric, that says Rhetoric is the art of discovering all available means of persuasion. In the novel, Jobs works with the mosquitos in order to release the wow factor. He places them in a jar and releases them to the audience with the intent of showing them what is like to live with malaria. He recalls that the audience was shocked at his bold move and a slight gasp came out from everyone. He released the wow factor, but it did not last very long. After releasing the mosquitos he states that though it was a great thought, the mosquitos are actually all malaria free. He dramatized his message in order to grab the viewer's attentions and subsequently gave one of the most interactive and memorable experiences on the TED stage. Finally, TED speakers address interpersonal communications. One of the most important theories TED uses is Mead s Symbolic interactionism. This states, Humans act toward people, things and events on the basis of the meanings they assign to them (Griffin A-1). TED inventor, Richard Womac, did not create the event with the intent of having people from around the world praise his work. All he wanted to do was bring the intellectual minds of the world under one roof
to enlighten people on topics they were fascinated about. However, by doing such he found masters in their fields. This drew in the attention of others, accrediting for them for their ability to address topics that not many people would be confident to address. As an example, when I was in high school, I attended a youth leadership conference hosted by the Military Order of the World Wars. This group heard presentations from everyone from a social justice advocate all the way to the black hawk down survivor, Mike Durant. Mike Durant was one of the best speakers I have ever seen in person. He used Altman and Taylor s social penetration theory in order to rope in his audience and put meaning and emphasis on his symbolic interactionism. Durant addressed the idea that interpersonal closeness proceeds in a gradual and orderly fashion from superficial to intimate levels of exchange (Griffin A-1). Durant started his talk with explaining that he was a father to two wonderful little girls. He also said he had been with his girlfriend, addressing his life in a reliable way, for way longer than any of us had been alive. His talk started off superficial and statistical. He then breaks into speaking about his experiences in Somalia after losing their Black Hawk. This caused raw emotion to show. Durant allowed for vulnerability, openness and even a few tears address his audience. By doing such, the audience accredited him solely based on the experiences he had been through. All in all, public speaking is in art form in which everyone can learn. It is subject in which nine different secrets are placed into one presentation. By using communication theories with these nine items addressed by Gallo a public speaker can go from monotone and slide reading to sharing a bunch of mosquitos with the audience. This can be visualized with the help of world renowned conference, TED and the stories told through TED talks.
Work Cited Gallo, Carmine. Talk like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds. New York City: St.Martins, 2014. Print. Griffin, Emory A. A First Look at Communication Theory. 9th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.