How to Create a TED-Quality Presentation

The talks given at the TED conferences are some of the best you will ever see. While the actual conference is open to only about 1,000 attendees by invitation only, most of the presentations are available free online.

I highly recommend checking out some of the TED talks. Two sentences on their website sum up what you are in for. The first is their site tagline: “Ideas worth spreading.” That’s what TED is about. The second is “riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.” Fantastic.

One of the reasons the talks are so good is that the TED organizers provide the presenters with ten speaking guidelines (the “TED Commandments”). I admit that the concept of “TED Commandments” is a bit hokey, but they are nonetheless very helpful. Here they are:

  1. Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick.
  2. Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before.
  3. Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion.
  4. Thou Shalt Tell a Story.
  5. Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy.
  6. Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
  7. Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
  8. Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
  9. Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
  10. Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee.

(HT: Garr Reynolds; SA)

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May 18, 2009 | Filed Under Communication | 3 Comments 

Comments

3 Responses to “How to Create a TED-Quality Presentation”

  1. Jay Taylor on May 22nd, 2009 6:20 pm

    I can’t believe they have these commandments. That makes me love TED even more. I’ve been a fan of TED for years now, and I know I’ve spent at least 20 hours on the site this year alone. Nothing gives me more inspiration than the most brilliant minds of the world collaborating. What are some of your favorite talks on the site?

    Ken Robinsons on creativity is great!
    Arthur Benjamin on Mathemagics
    A.J. Jacobs on Living Biblically.

    I guess I say all of this to really say: “Thanks for your blog.”

  2. Matt on May 24th, 2009 9:50 am

    Jay,

    I’ll have to check those out.

    One of my favorites is Bjorn Lomborg’s on global priorities: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/bjorn_lomborg_sets_global_priorities.html. “Given $50 billion to spend, which would you solve first, AIDS or global warming? Danish political scientist Bjorn Lomborg comes up with surprising answers.”

    Glad you enjoy the blog!

    Matt

  3. Seth Rosario on April 12th, 2012 9:24 pm

    Thanks, these commandments are helpful in putting together a powerful talk of any kind :)

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