‪June Cohen and Emily McManus: How we prepare speakers and select talks‬

June Cohen, Executive Producer of TED Media, and Emily McManus, Editor of TED, discuss TED's editorial process and how TED prepares speakers for the stage.

So as everyone who's organized
a conference knows,

there is a difference between

booking a great speaker
and getting a great talk.

There is sort of a secret
to drawing a great talk out of a speaker

and we are going to share
some of those secrets with you

in 3 easy steps.

Preparation.

Preparation.

And preparation.

(Cheering)

Because everything that happens
from the moment you book a speaker

to the second they step on the stage

really influences
how successful their talk is.

And so what I'm going
to talk through with you

in the next 6,5 minutes

is 3 slightly more serious
steps you can take

to prepare your speakers.

And the first one is setting expectations,
from the very beginning,

that this isn't just a conference
where you can show up and talk.

That you expect to collaborate with them
in the lead-up to the conference

to find the best talk
for your particular audience.

You will probably to want to set
some structure around that.

You might want to ask them
to submit slides ahead of time,

or just submit an outline of their talk.

You may want to schedule
a pre-conference phone call

to talk through what they plan
to talk about on stage.

We always do this at TED HQ.

You might want to schedule
a pre-conference rehearsal

where they go through
their full talk with you.

And if you can, you may want to schedule
an on-site rehearsal at the event.

You don't want to do all of these things,

because you're going to end up
with exhausted and resentful speakers.

What you want to do is choose
which tools seem right

for you and your team

and bring them forward from the beginning.

The next step is to give
each speaker individual directions.

For this part you can cast
yourself in the role of editor,

shape a story with the writer,

or as the director who's trying to pull
the right performance out of an actor.

Both of those roles are actually
essential for coaching speakers,

but chances are you've never
played those roles before.

So this is the most challenging part
of preparing speakers

because there's no formula.

Every talk is different
and every speaker is different.

But over the years we've come
to rely on a few techniques

that we find really effective

and we want to share them
with you today.

TED curator Chris Anderson

really recommends
following the TED Commandments.

These are his best advice to speakers.

Most of you probably know
the TED Commandments are rules

that guide the speakers
as they prepare their talk.

But these rules can also prepare you
to guide the speakers.

The TED Commandments are actually
delivered on a stone tablet

to each of the speakers that speak at TED,

But they're also available
on the TEDx website,

so you can use them as a guide for you
as you're working with speakers.

And you'll start to identify
that certain commandments

come up over and over again.

One key commandment
is "No selling from the stage."

This is often a problem because
in many speaking environments

it's totally fine to sell from the stage:

trade shows, benefit dinners,
board room pitches.

It's OK to sell from the stage
to pitch your organization

to ask for money out right.

But that's a total turn-off in a TED Talk.

We really work with speakers
to help them reframe what they do,

to get them to lead with their passion.

Just talk about their work
and trust that the rest will follow.

Another key commandment is to really
show your true self and be vulnerable.

That's very hard for speakers

because for many of them,
it goes against what they've learned.

Academics, in particular, are trained

to deliver objective impersonal talks
from which they remove themselves.

But in a TED Talk,
we feel it's so important

to bring out that personal narrative

because that's part of what makes
the talk so appealing and universal

to people who are not
necessarily interested

in the subject matter on its own.

Another key commandment
is to make the complex plain.

And this one of the areas
you can really help your speakers with,

because TED Talks are aimed
at an intelligent general audience,

we ask the speakers
to talk in plain English.

But often we don't know
that we're using jargon.

Jargon surrounds us every day in our work,

and we need someone else
to point it out to us.

If a speaker is describing their work,

and you're not understanding them,
don't understand a word, tell them.

If you don't understand it,
other people won't,

and that information is important
for them in shaping the talk.

TEDGlobal producer Bruno Giussani
offers this advice: "Be frank."

If a talk isn't working,
if an introduction isn't working,

you have to tell the speaker
and be clear about it.

But don't just tell them what's wrong,

give them a suggestion
for how to improve it.

They might find
their own solution later on

but your direction will help them
not to feel they're hanging out there.

This process of being
very frank isn't always fun,

but it always leads to a great solution.

Kelly Stoetzel, our wonderful host here,
is also the content director

for our California conference.

She works with all of the speakers there.

She always looks to follow
the speaker's passion.

As they're talking about their work,

she watches for the moment
when their eyes light up

and they get really excited.

Because that indicates her that's
what they're really passionate about.

And that's probably part
of what their talk should focus on.

Similarly, we really try to point out
to speakers what is interesting to us.

It helps them to have
that outside perspective

on what's most interesting in their work.

When I'm working with speakers,
one of the things I try to do

is help identify what their true voice is.

Often when a speaker comes to TED

they suddenly feel they have
to be someone else.

An artist starts talking like a scientist,

a scientist starts talking
like an activist.

Your job is to persuade them
to be who they are.

To present their beautiful work,
their fascinating findings,

and trust that the audience
will follow along with them.

The final step in getting a great talk
out of your speakers

is forcing them to rehearse.

I use the word "force" because
no speaker ever wants to rehearse.

They never have enough time,
they don't think they need it,

but they always admit
it really helped them, afterward.

Yesterday I found out
we were having rehearsals

for our presentations today

and I didn't have enough time,
I didn't want to do it,

but I thought: "I'm preparing a talk
on how to help you prepare speakers,

I don't think I can turn down
the opportunity to prepare my talk."

And so, I rehearsed,

and I'm actually really glad
for it, thank you.

When we say "rehearse,"

we don't mean sitting
in front of your laptop,

looking at the slides.

You have to rehearse
out loud with a timer.

18 minutes is so much shorter
than you think it is.

And the words don't always come out
as easily as in your head.

It's really useful to get
the speakers on the stage.

It increases their confidence enormously,
even if you don't get to rehearse.

Just putting them on stage
so they can feel what it's like

will improve their performance.

If you have a chance to rehearse on stage,

there are two things
we recommend you look for.

The first is to encourage eye contact.

So instead of staring off into space,

find a single person in the audience,
pretend they're your best friend

and talk just to them.

This really improves
your ability to connect

and the authenticity that comes through.

Finally, take a look at how they stand.

Most of us on stage we have this tendency

of sliding back and forth,
and wobble back and forth.

And we don't even realize we're doing it.

But look how much more confident
I seem when I just hold my ground.

If you can point that out to the speaker,
that will come across,

and after all this preparation,
they deserve to look and feel confident.

Thank you.

(Applause)

So, next step.

I'm actually going to introduce
my extraordinary colleague.

She's the editor of TED.com,
an important person in all of our lives.

Please welcome Emily McManus.

(Cheering)

(Applause)

Hi there!

Wait, I have a slide says who I am...

Hi, I'm Emily McManus,
the editor of TED.com.

My e-mail is up here,

if you have any follow-up
questions after the Q&A.

Part of my job is to look
at all the talks from TEDx

and decide what talks
we're going to feature

on the homepage of TED.com.

The first thing I want to say about that

is that everything I say should be
like 8th or 10th in your priority list.

when you plan a TEDx event.

Your event is for your community.

You're telling your story
to your community,

introducing it to each other,

it's a great benefit if we get
a TEDx Talk that works on TED.com,

and we actually get a fair number.

There are 7000+ TEDx Talks on YouTube.

71 of them have become TED Talks,

and that's actually a huge proportion

that is more talks than we get
from any conference.

You should be really proud
of this kind of achievement.

What I'm looking for when I pick a talk

is new research,
stuff we haven't seen before,

a master storyteller, like Dan Phillips
from TEDxHouston,

a passionate local with a global
message that I can share.

Self-help talks always work,

but make sure they're based
on research.

And talks that are amusing.

I look for talks in five categories.

One - the big great idea.

Like Lesley Hazleton, she's a non-Muslim,

who thought, "What's in the Koran?
I don't know. I'll read it."

Great science talks.

Both talks that are great explanations
of basic concepts,

and breakthroughs,

like Angela Belcher talking
about what's going in her lab at MIT

at TEDxCaltech.

Number three: I'm looking
for design and tech talks.

Gorgeous images, slide shows...

Or what's new? What's going on?

Fourth, and this is such
a strength for TEDx,

talks about being human.

This is e-Patient Dave, who talked
about his fight against cancer

and how he went online to find an answer.

And music and amusements,

like Geer Chatrou, the whistling champion.

There are four kinds of talks I can't use
but that might work for your show.

Talks that duplicate content
I already have.

You may have a much better talk
about how to tie your shoes,

I've already got one.

Talks that are under-rehearsed,

and this is really hard
especially for local heroes.

Sometimes it's hard to get them
on stage to practice,

but there's love in the room for them
and they should be at your event.

Don't say no just because
they can't rehearse,

though it's good if they can.

Scripts that you read off
your slides, your iPad.

Again, it might be the way
to get that talk in your program,

I can't really use it, but it might be
the perfect talk for you.

And two-person talks.

Might work in your program,
don't usually work on video.

Media. You're going to hear
a lot about this going forward.

If you have to make a choice between
video and audio in your program

if you make a budget decision,

go with audio.

A talk with poor video
but great audio, I can still use.

A talk with poor audio and great video...

kind of unwatchable.

If you see a great talk
that I should know about,

write to [e-mail]

and let me know,
I'll be eternally grateful.

Thank you!

(Applause)