Late last year when we started paying close attention to good opening hooks, we started noting those TED talks that had particularly good ones. In this 3 minute video we produced below, we’ve spliced out 6 really notable ones, and what we consider a represenative sample of the different types of hooks you can deploy. From self-deprecating […]
Everyone has their pet peeves. I have my pet loves. Among them, really awesome opening hooks. As in, how do you grab your audience from the first words out of your mouth. That means, ‘Thank you for having me,” or, “I’m here to discuss an idea…” are no where to be heard. This week at TEDGlobal, among
Do you ever wonder why ESPN Classics became so popular? We want to know why those games were so great. We don’t see how the play is developed until the second time around. So — when watching a great talk, do you ever wonder, what made it so great? Sometimes it’s hard to understand why
The second time around Read More »
Consider: We spend 4 billion hours in traffic. There are 1 billion people in the world with a brain disorder. For every 400 movies made, another 11,000 porn flicks are produced. And there are 113 official ways to die in the US. These are but a few of the interesting bits I absorbed at
TED 2011: Wondering if I’ll ever recover… Read More »
To kick off this year’s TEDActive conference in Palm Springs, the TED staff held a special workshop day for TEDx organizers. I gave a brief presentation on speaker preparation to my peers and I’ve included the slides (with notes) below. The irony of these slides is that they weren’t seen at the workshop — the tech
Live from the Desert. Read More »
Last year when we launched ar.tic.u.la.tion in mid-summer, we had no idea that we’d get the overwhelming response that we did. Between individual style coaching, signature story development advising and some unique teaching opportunities, we feel very lucky. But we know we need to work hard for that luck, so here are the top 11
11 things to look forward to in 2011 Read More »
Here’s my list of bad to beautiful public speaking moments for 2010: 10. We’ll start with bad: I’m still amazed that this guy made it onto national news after the viral explosion of his supposed nomination speech at a political event in NE Ohio. Nonetheless, I’ll chalk it up to good acting as there’s no way someone sober
Two weeks ago we produced the second TEDxColumbus. Huzzah!!! A wonderfully moving and inspiring afternoon of 13 different short talks and performances over 5 hours. I adored helping talented, articulate people find their inner voice to share their riveting ideas. And from our feedback and evaluations, we gave 400 enlightened audience members a moment (or
TEDxColumbus Saves the Cat Read More »
San Diego, August, 1996: I was sequestered for a day in the speechwriters’ room behind the big stage at the Republican National Convention. I was there to “traffic” a speech. I was charged to make sure the one that was supposed to scroll on the teleprompter was the one my ‘principal’ was expecting to give,
From Ruth: 25 years in the making Read More »
This is a note to organizers. Your role in getting a speaker ready to talk is as important as the speaker’s own preparation. In the last post about the “What If” event, there was a fatal flaw on behalf of the organizers. I thought I’d illuminate our top three forget-me-nots that every organizer needs to know.
So you have invited someone to talk, eh? Read More »
announcing
the motivated speaker
six principles to unlock your communication potential
In this book you will discover the six essential threshold concepts needed to give talks like the best TED speakers and Fortune 500 leaders.
The book will deliver May 2025.
Stay tuned for the launch!
