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A university professor was giving a lecture recently when, about half way through the class, he paused and said, “An author named Carmine Gallo would probably suggest I tell you a story right about now.” The professor choked up as he told a personally moving story that tied into the theme of the lecture. The student who told me about the event said the story breathed new life into what had been a “dry” class. The student only wished the professor had started his lecture with the story.
The professor is correct—I would have suggested a story to reinforce his theme. He did the right thing. And yes, I agree with the student and would have suggested that the professor begin the lecture with the story to grab the audience’s attention.
You can’t go wrong if you start your presentation with a story. I can say this confidently because nearly every TED talk begins with a story and the TED conference, which marks its 31st anniversary this week, has become the gold standard of public speaking.
I’ve analyzed more than 500 of the most popular TED talks, interviewed some of the most famous TED speakers, and poured over hundreds of pages of research from prominent neuroscientists in the field of communication. Based on all this research I can confidently say that the TED style is effective because it’s consistent with how our brains are wired to receive information.
Although there is no set “method” to delivering a presentation in the TED style, the most popular and influential TED talks do share similar components.
Start with a story.
Have you heard of the movement, Lean In? Perhaps you’ve read the bestselling book by the same name. I've argued that Lean In—the movement encouraging women to take their place at the table in the business world— would not exist if it had not been for a story.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg gave a now famous TED talk in 2010 titled, “Why We Have So Few Women Leaders.” Before taking the stage she confided in a friend that she had a difficult time leaving her daughter for the conference. Sandberg’s friend urged her to tell the story and to be open, honest, and authentic with the largely female audience. Sandberg later acknowledged that her original presentation was “chock full” of data, and no personal stories. Instead she told the audience,
Now, at the outset, I want to be very clear that this speech comes with no judgments. I don't have the right answer. I don't even have it for myself. I left San Francisco, where I live, on Monday, and I was getting on the plane for this conference. And my daughter, who's three, when I dropped her off at preschool, did that whole hugging-the-leg, crying, "Mommy, don't get on the plane" thing. This is hard. I feel guilty sometimes. I know no women, whether they're at home or whether they're in the workforce, who don't feel that sometimes…
Sheryl Sandberg’s TED talk triggered a movement because data doesn't inspire people. Stories do .
In the past ten years researchers using fMRI brain scans have learned more about the science of persuasion than we've ever known. We know what moves people, and we can prove it scientifically. We know that humans are hardwired for story. For example, researchers have learned that the brain chemical oxytocin enhances our sense of empathy and character-driven stories trigger our brains to release it. Research also finds that when one person tells a story to another person, the same regions of their brains show similar blood flow patterns. In other words, their brains are literally in sync.
If you’re not telling stories you are missing out on one of the most valuable tools of persuasion.
Stick to the 18-minute rule.
It doesn't matter how much money you have or how famous you are, you won’t get more than 18 minutes to deliver a TED talk. There’s a good reason for it. The TED event organizers have found that 18 minutes is the ideal amount of time to have a substantive discussion without putting people to sleep. As it turns out, there’s also solid science behind the time restriction.
In the Department of Communication Studies At Texas Christian University, researchers are studying “cognitive backlog.” It’s a fascinating field of study showing that listeners can only retain so much information before losing everything they’re supposed to retain. Content is like piling weights—if you add too much at once you’ll drop everything.
Turning back to the reason behind TED’s 18-minute rule, think about the most influential speeches in modern history. John F. Kennedy delivered one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century in 15 minutes. The next year he inspired America to look to the moon in an 18-minute speech at Rice University. Martin Luther King painted a vision of racial harmony in 17 minutes and Steve Jobs delivered one of the most famous commencement addresses in 15 minutes.
If you can’t deliver your next PowerPoint presentation in 18 minutes, keep editing until you can.
Use more pictures than text.
It’s a very well established principle in the field of communication that pictures on a slide are more memorable than words alone. It’s well established, but rarely followed in the world of business presentations where “Death by PowerPoint” is alive and well. Take a look at the most popular TED talks, however, and you will rarely find bullet points on a slide. Instead you will see pictures—a lot of them.
When I spoke to astronaut Chris Hadfield about his well-received 2014 TED Talk titled, “What I Learned From Going Blind In Space,” I learned that his presentation contained 35 slides—all photos. “I’m a big believer in the power of a compelling visual,” Hadfield said. “In my talk I was responsible for the words, not the slides.” In the best presentations—whether they’re created in PowerPoint, Prezi, or Apple Keynote—the slides don’t tell the story; the slides complement the story.
You may never give a TED talk, but your next presentation is being compared to TED. Viewers are streaming TED talks at the rate of 2 million times per day. Smaller, independently organized TEDx conferences are being held at the rate of five per day across 150 countries. People in a wide variety of roles—CEOs, students, faith leaders, educators, managers, sales professionals—are interested in adopting what they call the “TED style.”
Although there are more elements to the TED style than I've described in this article, if you tell more stories, use more pictures than words, and stick to 18 minutes, your presentations will be far more impactful than you've ever imagined. And that’s a scientific fact.
