Finding Your Hidden TED Talk

Courtesy rom's photostream - View of the TED Stage from the Loge

Note: Having just returned from the TED Conference and had a bit of a chance to decompress I am struck by how much I wanted to write all week, yet relegated myself to short tweets when I had a moment or two. TED is the very definition of an immerse experience, so it is only now that I can start to put down some of the things that have been swirling around in my head. I am going to seriously apply myself towards writing a lot in the next week or so, I took some notes specifically for that purpose. There are many recaps of TED, tons of tweets (#ted) some great images (Flickr ted2009) if you want to vicariously experience one the most amazing experiences on the planet.

Finding Your Hidden TED Talk.

At TED we experience more than one hundred presentations on the main stage and at TED University. They are 3, 6, 9 or 18 minutes long. You can see them at TED.com and get a sense of the caliber of these talks by watching just a few. I suggest you pick a topic and watch 2 or 3 in a row. You will be hooked.

One of the things I learned from Chris Anderson when we first started working with him in 2003 was that his feeling about the attendees at TED is that everyone who attends could easily be on the stage. Each person has done something amazing in their life and that the beauty of TED is being able to meet and be inspired by each and every attendee, whether they were onstage or not.

Which brings me to the notion of finding your inner TED Talk.

Can you distill your life's work into an 18 minute talk?
Can you be vulnerable?
Can you tell a story you have never told before?
Can you tell and not sell?

In thinking about what makes a TED Talk special, I have come up with a formula that makes sense to me - were I ever to be on the main stage. Like all good formulas, it has three parts.

Visual

A great TED Talk has strong visual elements to it, both imagery, but the words can evoke strong representations that can conjure up images to illustrate the points being made. A powerful part of an effective TED Talk is seeing something you have never seen before or seeing something familiar from a different point of view. When you think about your own story, your own TED Talk - how do you paint a picture with your words?

Easy

Another aspect of a perfectly executed TED Talk is that no matter how complex, obscure, convoluted or arcane the topic, the speaker communicates in such a way as to make the ideas digestible and easily absorbed. I have listened and learned from bioengineers, Nobel Laureates, poets, educators and people much, much smarter than me - and the best ones were able to breakdown the topic so that I could find the takeaway in it. (This doesn't mean that you don't have to stretch your mind to keep up, the burden is not just on the speaker, but on the listener as well)

and finally,

Smart

A great TED Talk is one that when complete has you feeling smarter having heard it. Each of us that are dedicated to lifelong learning appreciate a new nugget, an insight, an unexpected piece of inspiration. When you are considering your own TED Talk, what will be the part that gives people this feeling?

Visual, Easy, Smart.

I am sure that there are many takes on a great TED Talk and having been a part of my wife's TED University talks (as a supporting player), I can tell you that this three part formula really works.

But don't wait for TED to get your talk ready. You never know when you will have your moment to tell a story you have never told before, be vulnerable and possibly inspire others with your ideas that are worth sharing.

(Note after rereading) I guess the obvious first question would be, "Mark, what is your TED Talk about?". I am going to have to ponder that and get back to you.