This is the last of the 3 blogs in our year-in-review series. We’ve been unpacking the top 5 most popular TED talks of 2022 which each gained over 2 million views. So far we’ve looked at presentation design and presentation delivery. Check out those blogs if you missed them. Today, we are exploring the content and structure of these messages to see how TED speakers at the top of the field are developing their presentations.
What patterns will we find in their content? And what lessons can we learn from these popular speakers?
1. “How a ‘Hi Level’ mindset helps you realize your potential,” Cordae.
Cordae used a pretty common presentation structure. He gave some personal history and then offered 3-points for the audience to apply. At the beginning of his talk, he offered a preview of the message to help his audience follow along more easily. He saved some of his most powerful content for the end of his presentation, creating a powerful crescendo.
The Takeaway: You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to move the audience. Sometimes the best content structure is the one your audience is already familiar with.
2. “Why having fun is the secret to a healthier life,” Catherine Price.
Price opened her TED Talk with a question to get the audience interested in her content. She then launched into a problem-solution presentation format. She had 3 points couched within the larger framework of the message. She relied heavily on language study to help build her content, something many great speakers do. She examined how we use the word “fun” and then redefined it more accurately for us. That way, when she offered ways to have more fun, the audience was all working from a correct, shared definition.
The Takeaway: Accurate definitions are critically important to creating shared understanding. Make sure your audience understands how you define your main terms.
3. “How to discover your authentic self–at any age,” Bevy Smith.
Smith’s content can easily be summed up in two words: life lessons. Her talk, more than others, follows a conversational flow. She opts for personal anecdotes and examples rather than calling on outside support or research. Her content doesn’t fall into structured points, but the audience doesn’t need them because they are soaking up wisdom from the beginning to the end.
The Takeaway: You aren’t stuck to 3 main points for your content. A great speaker knows how to make a message flow even if there aren’t distinct points in the presentation.
4. “We can make COVID-19 the last pandemic,” Bill Gates.
Gates structures his TED Talk content using an extended analogy. He builds his argument that we can stop pandemics by drawing comparisons to the Roman development of firefighting. He helps his audience embrace his big idea by proving that humans have faced big, complicated problems in the past and have developed innovative systems to overcome them. So, in a sense, Gates also uses a problem-solution format to present his content.
The Takeaway: Sometimes it helps us to move forward by looking back. An analogy is a powerful way to help your audience see similarities to other issues. And remember when you use a problem-solution format you need to leave your audience with hope. Hope is one of the greatest gifts a speaker can offer her audience because it provides a path forward.
5. “’A seat at the table’ isn’t the solution for gender equity,” Lilly Singh.
Singh starts with a story. Her story. And it’s a powerful one. After developing her own story as background for the first half of her message, she zooms out to explore how women still face inequality. This is an effective tactic that many speakers use: show one specific case and then relate it to a larger problem. Singh moves into her solution section towards the second half of her presentation, giving the audience ways to get involved with tackling the problem.
The Takeaway: Never underestimate the power of narrative. Use specific examples and stories to illustrate and “prove” how these problems affect real, identifiable people.
So let’s wrap it up. Here’s what we learned about content from the top 5 TED Talk speakers of 2022: clear content and structure never goes out of style, define main terms, pay attention to content flow, use analogies, offer hopeful solutions to any problems you present, and tell specific stories.
If you are looking for ways to take your presentation design, delivery, or content to the next level, Ethos3 is ready to help. Get in touch with one of our experts now.
The post The 5 Most Popular TED Talks of 2022: Content appeared first on Ethos3 – A Presentation Training and Design Agency.
Looking For Powerpoint Design Agency?
Call Pursho @ 0731-6725516
Telegram Group One Must Follow :
For Startups: https://t.me/daily_business_reads
#Popular #TED #Talks #Content
