0:00:05.379,0:00:06.730
What is a great TED Talk?

0:00:06.755,0:00:08.776
What are the elements of a great TED Talk?

0:00:08.800,0:00:10.601
What makes a TED.com talk?

0:00:10.626,0:00:11.864
(Laughter)

0:00:11.889,0:00:16.651
If you're thinking about that you'd like[br]some of the talks from your event

0:00:16.676,0:00:18.173
to make it to TED.com,

0:00:18.198,0:00:20.341
what are some of the filters[br]that we look at

0:00:20.365,0:00:21.628
to come to that decision?

0:00:21.652,0:00:23.469
Fortunately, they're really the same,

0:00:23.494,0:00:26.337
what makes a great TED Talk[br]makes a great TED.com talk.

0:00:26.361,0:00:29.958
But I want to talk through that[br]with you in a way you can think about both

0:00:29.983,0:00:33.412
as you're booking speakers[br]and working with them.

0:00:33.437,0:00:37.412
The first thing to thing[br]we think makes a great TED Talk

0:00:37.436,0:00:38.956
is "Tell us something new."

0:00:38.980,0:00:41.726
Many of us at TED come[br]from journalistic backgrounds

0:00:41.757,0:00:46.911
and you can almost think about TED[br]as a biannual magazine on stage.

0:00:46.935,0:00:49.796
We really think[br]about what is new out there.

0:00:49.821,0:00:54.026
What are the new, different ideas[br]we haven't heard of before?

0:00:54.050,0:00:55.311
Sometimes is the topic.

0:00:55.336,0:00:57.679
There are speakers at TEDGlobal this year,

0:00:57.703,0:01:02.395
who are here claiming[br]that plants have brains.

0:01:02.419,0:01:03.982
I haven't heard that before.

0:01:04.006,0:01:06.096
That's a really interesting perspective.

0:01:06.120,0:01:09.179
Sometimes is a really[br]new angle on an old topic.

0:01:09.203,0:01:11.251
For example, about climate change.

0:01:11.275,0:01:14.843
We had Al Gore four years ago,[br]that was a really definitive talk

0:01:14.867,0:01:17.032
that climate change[br]is a fact, it's a problem.

0:01:17.057,0:01:19.501
To talk about climate change,[br]you need a new angle.

0:01:19.525,0:01:21.753
Think about having a material scientist,

0:01:21.777,0:01:25.262
or a photographer[br]who photographs icebergs.

0:01:25.287,0:01:27.982
Someone telling the story in a new way.

0:01:28.006,0:01:32.061
We think about this for TED.com:[br]is this new, fresh and relevant?

0:01:32.086,0:01:34.799
One of the great, amazing things for us

0:01:34.823,0:01:36.490
in working with the TEDx community

0:01:36.514,0:01:39.629
is that you know your communities[br]and there are so many stories,

0:01:39.653,0:01:42.470
ideas, issues and people[br]that are local to you

0:01:42.494,0:01:45.667
that could be presented and brought[br]to an international audience

0:01:45.691,0:01:47.504
in ways we've never heard of before.

0:01:47.529,0:01:50.119
You're the eyes and ears[br]in your own regional areas,

0:01:50.169,0:01:53.819
and we're so excited[br]about bringing those new ideas in.

0:01:53.844,0:01:56.301
The second thing to think about

0:01:56.325,0:01:58.111
is evoking contagious emotions.

0:01:58.135,0:02:00.741
One of the things we consider[br]for talks on TED

0:02:00.765,0:02:02.498
is "Are these talks spreading?"

0:02:02.523,0:02:04.428
Are people sharing them with each other?

0:02:04.452,0:02:06.146
Do they have a viral nature?

0:02:06.170,0:02:08.779
When you think about viral videos online,

0:02:08.803,0:02:11.773
obviously people first think[br]of kitty videos, and pranks,

0:02:11.798,0:02:15.272
that you want to share because[br]they surprise you or make you laugh.

0:02:15.296,0:02:17.635
But there are other kinds[br]of contagious emotions.

0:02:17.659,0:02:20.901
People want to share something[br]when it is emotional.

0:02:20.925,0:02:23.944
When something brings a lump[br]to their throat,

0:02:23.968,0:02:26.332
or kind of brings butterflies[br]to their stomachs,

0:02:26.357,0:02:28.444
they want someone[br]next to them to share it.

0:02:28.468,0:02:31.164
But they also share things[br]that teach them something new.

0:02:31.189,0:02:34.942
If you get an aha! moment from a talk,[br]you want to share it, let others know.

0:02:34.967,0:02:38.013
Or if you've learned[br]something important, that feels urgent,

0:02:38.037,0:02:39.251
you want to pass that on.

0:02:39.275,0:02:41.042
Not every talk needs to inspire

0:02:41.067,0:02:45.615
this incredible desire to be shared[br]with somebody else,

0:02:45.639,0:02:47.706
but many of the great talks do.

0:02:48.716,0:02:52.122
The next thing to think about[br]is to tell a story.

0:02:52.147,0:02:56.651
This is so fundamental[br]to every great TED Talk.

0:02:56.676,0:03:00.247
It's not just relaying facts,[br]it's not just a lecture.

0:03:00.272,0:03:02.932
A great speaker takes you on a journey,

0:03:02.957,0:03:05.661
they tell you a story,[br]they pull you along with them.

0:03:05.685,0:03:09.250
It doesn't matter whether[br]it's about bacteria or architecture,

0:03:09.274,0:03:10.815
fish or climate change.

0:03:10.839,0:03:13.412
You're pulled in[br]and you go along with them.

0:03:13.436,0:03:19.281
That doesn't mean that every person[br]has to describe their talk as a journey,

0:03:19.306,0:03:20.906
but it should take you somewhere.

0:03:20.930,0:03:23.593
Part of telling you a great story[br]is being personal.

0:03:23.617,0:03:29.342
A great story tells you[br]something about the speaker.

0:03:29.366,0:03:32.859
It doesn't need to be confessional,[br]you don't want to know everything.

0:03:32.883,0:03:35.755
But you want to feel them[br]inside the story.

0:03:35.779,0:03:40.461
A great talk that has[br]a personal story at the center.

0:03:40.485,0:03:44.797
That personal story could be about[br]their passion for certain kinds of fish,

0:03:44.936,0:03:50.856
or something from their childhood[br]that brought them to an insight later on.

0:03:50.948,0:03:55.686
But the personal story, I think, is how[br]we relate to an individual TED Talk.

0:03:55.711,0:03:58.045
We may not know anything[br]about the subject matter,

0:03:58.069,0:04:00.095
or we may not even think we care about it,

0:04:00.120,0:04:02.827
but we can relate[br]to that personal storytelling.

0:04:02.852,0:04:07.217
You can also think about it[br]as a personal story with an idea inside,

0:04:07.241,0:04:12.005
or an idea that has[br]a personal part at the center.

0:04:12.029,0:04:14.677
This is an odd thing to say...

0:04:14.701,0:04:17.175
My sister-in-law is a rabbi,

0:04:17.199,0:04:20.815
and she says she uses TED Talks[br]all the time for "sermon fodder."

0:04:21.108,0:04:25.090
And she believes every TED Talk[br]is kind of a secular sermon.

0:04:25.115,0:04:28.788
It's kind of teaching you something,[br]it's giving you a lesson.

0:04:28.813,0:04:32.272
It's giving you a way to think[br]about your own life and journey.

0:04:32.297,0:04:35.210
That's very subtle,[br]I don't tell any of the speakers that,

0:04:35.235,0:04:36.931
it's not part of our speaker prep,

0:04:36.956,0:04:39.726
but it's an interesting lens[br]on what makes a great talk.

0:04:39.908,0:04:42.565
One more thing about the personal.

0:04:42.590,0:04:46.333
You want to guard against people[br]going too far in that direction

0:04:46.357,0:04:47.548
and just a quick example.

0:04:47.572,0:04:49.990
One of the trends we have to fight at TED

0:04:50.014,0:04:54.098
is every speaker wanting[br]to replicate Jill Bolte Taylor's talk.

0:04:54.122,0:04:59.231
Bolte Taylor was the neuroscientist[br]who observed a stroke from the inside out.

0:04:59.255,0:05:02.948
Incredible talk,[br]our most popular of all time.

0:05:02.973,0:05:05.337
But it's very unique,

0:05:05.362,0:05:08.278
and people sort of misinterpret[br]what was great in that talk.

0:05:08.302,0:05:11.882
It's great because it has science[br]combined with emotion,

0:05:11.907,0:05:13.618
draws in your left and right brain.

0:05:13.642,0:05:14.918
It's an incredible story.

0:05:14.943,0:05:17.415
She shows a human brain,[br]she almost cries.

0:05:17.440,0:05:19.281
It's an incredible journey,

0:05:19.306,0:05:21.147
but often people will interpret that

0:05:21.172,0:05:24.077
as just the part[br]about her crying at the end.

0:05:24.102,0:05:28.312
They'll forget about all the other pieces[br]that went into it along the way.

0:05:28.337,0:05:29.723
Guard against that.

0:05:30.306,0:05:31.417
(Laughter)

0:05:33.795,0:05:37.444
The next piece[br]is don't lose the audience.

0:05:38.298,0:05:42.592
I've found this image by searching[br]for the word "'chase" on Flickr.

0:05:42.616,0:05:45.580
But my idea is often times,[br]speakers who are such experts

0:05:45.605,0:05:46.805
in their own area,

0:05:46.830,0:05:48.942
will kind of race ahead of the audience.

0:05:48.967,0:05:52.646
Many of the speakers that we bring[br]are experts in their own field

0:05:52.670,0:05:55.435
and are used to addressing[br]people in their own field.

0:05:55.460,0:05:59.515
Scientists that talk to scientists,[br]businesses to businesses audiences.

0:05:59.540,0:06:03.716
Architects and artists are sometimes[br]the biggest culprits.

0:06:03.740,0:06:05.763
They all use the jargon of their own field

0:06:05.788,0:06:09.055
and that's incredibly alienating[br]to the audience.

0:06:09.102,0:06:11.912
One of the things you want[br]to talk through with the speakers

0:06:11.936,0:06:15.321
is this idea that they are speaking[br]to a general intelligent audience.

0:06:15.345,0:06:17.250
That's something you can help them with.

0:06:17.274,0:06:20.664
When you're inside your field,[br]you don't know what your jargon is.

0:06:20.689,0:06:24.260
You don't know words like[br]"postmodernist structure"

0:06:24.285,0:06:27.895
is not really accessible[br]to the average audience.

0:06:27.927,0:06:32.271
That's something you can help[br]your speakers with, reviewing their talks,

0:06:32.295,0:06:33.912
helping them understand.

0:06:33.936,0:06:36.564
"I went to college[br]and I don't understand that word."

0:06:36.588,0:06:40.023
Or "I'm tracking with you,[br]but you really lost me there.

0:06:40.047,0:06:42.303
Can we think of another way[br]of explaining that?"

0:06:42.327,0:06:45.337
That will be really helpful to them.

0:06:45.361,0:06:48.379
Often times we'll see talks[br]that are such interesting topics

0:06:48.403,0:06:53.794
but they are just addressed in a way[br]that the general audience can't follow.

0:06:53.818,0:06:56.837
It's just too specific for us to use.

0:06:56.861,0:06:58.785
The next thing is start strong.

0:06:58.809,0:07:02.176
For us, this has to do both with editing[br]and also with the talk.

0:07:02.200,0:07:04.400
On TED.com, we think you all know,

0:07:04.425,0:07:07.351
or maybe some of you might not,

0:07:07.375,0:07:10.458
we edit, of course, all the talks[br]that go on to TED.com

0:07:10.482,0:07:14.181
No talk was as perfect on the stage[br]as it was when we put it online.

0:07:14.205,0:07:17.464
We really work to bring[br]the speakers' best selves out,

0:07:17.488,0:07:20.953
while staying extremely true[br]to what they actually delivered.

0:07:20.978,0:07:22.391
But we edit out their "umms,"

0:07:22.416,0:07:24.768
if they trip or spill water on themselves.

0:07:24.793,0:07:27.732
All these things have happened[br]and won't appear on TED.com.

0:07:27.756,0:07:31.616
What we also do, and it's really important[br]in TED Talks' success,

0:07:31.640,0:07:33.669
is we edit the very beginning.

0:07:33.693,0:07:39.377
We don't begin with the opening remarks,[br]the "hello," "Thank you for having me."

0:07:39.402,0:07:42.693
Or even their opening jokes,[br]people like to have one.

0:07:42.717,0:07:44.455
But their opening joke distracts.

0:07:44.481,0:07:48.346
We edit the talk so that it begins[br]right where it takes off.

0:07:48.371,0:07:53.218
We do that online because people online[br]are very vulnerable to distraction.

0:07:53.242,0:07:54.559
We all know this.

0:07:54.584,0:07:56.000
You start watching a video,

0:07:56.024,0:07:58.457
and at the beginning[br]there's a host's introduction,

0:07:58.482,0:08:01.652
something slow, and you don't mean to,[br]but you just got distracted.

0:08:01.676,0:08:04.395
You start an email, or a web search,[br]and you're just gone.

0:08:04.420,0:08:07.568
So we start our talks that way[br]and we edit them that way,

0:08:07.593,0:08:10.822
but it's good to keep it[br]in mind for the talk itself,

0:08:10.847,0:08:13.239
when you're hearing the person rehearse.

0:08:13.264,0:08:17.659
We've had speakers at TED who wanted[br]to read two paragraphs out of a letter

0:08:17.684,0:08:19.223
at the beginning of their talk.

0:08:19.248,0:08:22.547
Or start with something[br]that really doesn't grab us,

0:08:22.572,0:08:24.886
but two minutes in,[br]they get really interesting.

0:08:24.910,0:08:28.428
It's just something for you to think about[br]as you're helping the speakers,

0:08:28.453,0:08:31.468
to start on something[br]really compelling and interesting.

0:08:31.530,0:08:33.340
Another thing to think about is focus.

0:08:33.364,0:08:36.595
18 minutes is a very short[br]period of time, as you know.

0:08:36.620,0:08:39.099
And there are talks even shorter.

0:08:39.124,0:08:40.881
There is time for one idea.

0:08:40.905,0:08:43.111
Only one idea.

0:08:43.135,0:08:46.725
And it's so hard for most speakers,[br]and I'm guilty of the same thing.

0:08:46.750,0:08:48.473
They want to tell everything.

0:08:48.498,0:08:51.310
Or they want to have multiple ideas

0:08:51.335,0:08:52.826
and get them all in 18 minutes.

0:08:52.850,0:08:57.086
And they do that either by rushing[br]through things or leaving things out,

0:08:57.111,0:08:59.224
or simply just by not quite making sense.

0:08:59.249,0:09:02.608
Or not fulfilling[br]the potential of the talk.

0:09:02.632,0:09:05.099
The more you can focus in, the better.

0:09:05.124,0:09:10.861
This one is particularly for TEDx talks[br]coming onto TED.com

0:09:11.192,0:09:14.382
In curating most of your events[br]you always want a mix

0:09:14.407,0:09:18.994
of local and global ideas.

0:09:19.019,0:09:23.092
One of the things with many[br]of the TEDx talks we've looked at

0:09:23.116,0:09:27.326
is that they can often be very local

0:09:27.350,0:09:32.089
without addressing the audience in a way[br]that can be expanded beyond that.

0:09:32.113,0:09:35.066
And we have this issue at TED as well[br]as we work with speakers.

0:09:35.090,0:09:38.788
I think that many of your events[br]will have local talks

0:09:38.820,0:09:41.403
that are really interesting[br]to the people in the room,

0:09:41.427,0:09:42.682
to the local community.

0:09:42.706,0:09:46.397
But those talks aren't[br]quite appropriate for TED.com.

0:09:46.421,0:09:49.670
For the ones we'd use, we want[br]to be able to extract wider.

0:09:49.695,0:09:52.895
If it's a local idea,[br]have it presented in a way

0:09:52.920,0:09:56.595
that a wider audience can see relevance.

0:09:56.619,0:10:02.556
Part of the things that go into that[br]is being aware of regional knowledge.

0:10:02.580,0:10:05.961
If you're talking about something local,[br]if there is an issue in Houston

0:10:05.985,0:10:08.375
or a new building going up in Sao Paulo,

0:10:08.399,0:10:10.971
everyone in the room might know[br]that this is happening,

0:10:10.995,0:10:13.996
but just helping the speaker[br]give a sentence of context

0:10:14.021,0:10:15.974
about what it is they're talking about

0:10:15.998,0:10:18.209
will help the talk transcend the room

0:10:18.233,0:10:24.084
and move into and be applicable[br]to the wider world.

0:10:24.109,0:10:28.534
This doesn't mean you shouldn't be[br]covering certain local ideas,

0:10:28.558,0:10:32.642
but should think about it with an eye[br]towards the people who aren't in the room.

0:10:32.711,0:10:36.001
And this is something we've really had[br]to train ourselves on in TED.

0:10:36.025,0:10:39.016
We are not addressing[br]a thousand fairly wealthy people

0:10:39.041,0:10:40.984
in a room in California anymore.

0:10:41.009,0:10:43.095
We're just not.[br]We're addressing the world.

0:10:43.119,0:10:45.872
And that really shifts[br]how we think about the program.

0:10:45.896,0:10:49.848
Our obligation to be broad,[br]our obligation to diversity.

0:10:49.872,0:10:53.476
And to think about things more deeply.

0:10:53.500,0:10:55.786
I'll give you one example

0:10:55.811,0:10:58.667
of a talk that really[br]made us rethink things.

0:10:58.691,0:11:01.464
We often had audience talks at TED,

0:11:01.488,0:11:03.329
both at TEDUniversity and on stage.

0:11:03.353,0:11:05.710
One talk that was just great in the room.

0:11:05.735,0:11:10.296
People like to show vacation photos[br]and we've had a couple of talks like that.

0:11:10.321,0:11:13.661
One of them was about a trip[br]that someone took to North Korea,

0:11:13.686,0:11:17.505
and his perspective[br]and what he learned in this trip.

0:11:17.529,0:11:20.899
It was fascinating[br]to the group in California

0:11:20.924,0:11:22.321
that was listening to it.

0:11:22.346,0:11:26.140
But it really sounded a bit offensive[br]once you put out to a global audience.

0:11:26.394,0:11:30.179
And it wasn't actually[br]that there was anything...

0:11:30.713,0:11:34.018
There's nothing wrong with the talk[br]in the context it was given,

0:11:34.042,0:11:35.634
but it really had the wrong tone

0:11:35.659,0:11:37.742
once you've opened it up[br]to the wider world.

0:11:37.767,0:11:40.211
That's the type of thing[br]you have to think about

0:11:40.235,0:11:44.302
when thinking about taking talks[br]from TEDx to TED.com.

0:11:44.327,0:11:46.469
That they're going[br]to a much wider audience.

0:11:47.639,0:11:52.837
Finally, I think the biggest secret[br]to the success of any TED Talk

0:11:52.861,0:11:53.946
is practice.

0:11:53.971,0:11:55.594
It's rehearsing.

0:11:55.618,0:11:58.298
It's working with the speaker[br]from the first moment

0:11:58.323,0:12:00.980
that you talk to them[br]and getting them used to the idea

0:12:01.005,0:12:04.001
they're going to have to practice[br]and rehearse to get it right.

0:12:04.025,0:12:07.678
There's sort of heartbreak,[br]with both TED and TEDx Talks...

0:12:07.736,0:12:12.070
"That's such a good talk, but it's not[br]the best that person could give."

0:12:12.095,0:12:15.914
They had a really good talk in them[br]but they didn't quite get it out.

0:12:15.938,0:12:19.882
And honestly, the difference[br]between a medium talk and a great one

0:12:19.906,0:12:21.440
is often just practice.

0:12:21.465,0:12:24.199
It's having the person commit[br]to actually rehearsing.

0:12:24.223,0:12:27.759
This is something that speakers[br]will often resist. Also our speakers.

0:12:27.783,0:12:29.879
And I'm sure this happens[br]with your speakers.

0:12:29.903,0:12:33.040
They feel they're above it[br]or they think it's kind of silly.

0:12:33.064,0:12:34.636
Or they think they don't need it.

0:12:34.660,0:12:36.397
Everyone needs to rehearse.

0:12:36.421,0:12:40.610
It was interesting when we did[br]the Cannes advertising festival,

0:12:40.634,0:12:43.806
one session was for TED[br]and Hans Rosling was speaking.

0:12:44.091,0:12:46.495
He's the Swedish professor.

0:12:46.520,0:12:49.186
Global health issues,[br]statistics on the screen,

0:12:49.211,0:12:52.083
he narrates them crazily[br]and he's a fantastic speaker.

0:12:52.108,0:12:54.919
He has five talks online.

0:12:54.944,0:12:58.309
I think he has more views[br]than any other speaker on TED.com.

0:12:58.333,0:13:02.686
The other speakers were furious with me[br]because I had put him on first.

0:13:02.711,0:13:04.530
So they all had to follow him.

0:13:04.554,0:13:07.407
But one of the things they noted to me

0:13:07.431,0:13:09.855
is how much he rehearsed.

0:13:09.879,0:13:13.118
From the second we opened up the room[br]and we were still setting it up

0:13:13.196,0:13:19.145
for hours and hours, he had[br]this table and all these props.

0:13:19.169,0:13:22.995
He kept going over it for hours[br]with a countdown clock.

0:13:23.019,0:13:26.074
Moving the things around, practicing,[br]getting his phrasing right.

0:13:26.176,0:13:28.605
And he's one of the most[br]successful speakers on TED.

0:13:28.629,0:13:31.403
So that's one of the things[br]you could really integrate

0:13:31.428,0:13:35.346
into your own practice[br]as a TEDx organizer,

0:13:35.371,0:13:39.851
and really impress on your speakers:[br]the best talks are produced by practice.

0:13:40.777,0:13:44.108
That is what I had to share[br]with you today.

0:13:44.132,0:13:48.269
I'm incredibly impressed[br]with all the work you're doing,

0:13:48.294,0:13:51.063
and so looking forward to seeing[br]all of your talks come in.

0:13:51.087,0:13:53.136
And to talking to you over the next week.

0:13:53.161,0:13:54.164
Thanks.

0:13:54.188,0:13:55.263
(Applause)