BEING STRATEGIC as you REVISE YOUR TED Talk

As we met individually to explore options for your TED Talks over the past two weeks, several themes emerged.

​

1] It's hard to know where to start

2] It's hard to know what to say

3] It's hard to find the right supporting data

​

These challenges are exactly the three things every writer and speaker faces, from the person who presents about fundraising at the Parent School Association to the people to take the stage at the United Nations to argue that refugee camps need reliable running water. These three point are always a challenge.

​

One way to leap these hurdles is to focus on the rhetorical context:

• Who am I talking to? Why?

• What do I want this specific audience to know?

• What evidence will help convince them? (Emotional appeals through my personal story? Logical appeals through statistics and research? Ethical appeals through real-world examples and expert commentary? A blend of the three?)

• How much time to I have?

• How can I stay on focus and cover the evidence in this time frame?

​

After determining the rhetorical context, you'll have a better idea of your next step:

PICK A FOCUS

​

After you have a focus in mind, think back to the major strategies we pulled from Duerte and our study of MLK's work:

​

• Make the audience the hero

• Open with the trouble

• Incorporate an artifact

• Share your story [clarify context: places, years, characters, setting]

• Move from high to low to high to low [like Duerte charted in her TED Talk]

• Share supporting evidence and examples

• Revisit the artifact

• Address the resistance and say there is a better way [Counter Argument and Response]

• End with the audience as the hero

​

At the 2021 Biden Inauguration, Amanda Gorman took the stage as the youngest poet laureate to ever read at a US president's swearing in. She studied speeches by Lincoln and Dr. King as she composed her poem. The strategies she incorporate are in line with both of the works we covered by Dr. King. And, her poem also follows many of Duerte's suggestions for building a powerful TED Talk.

 

Read the following article about Gorman's journey and listen to her reading from the inauguration:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amanda-gorman-inaugural-poet-the-hill-we-climb/

​

You too can shape powerful presentations as you strategically plan and use the ideas we're exploring as part of the Advanced Grassroots MCH Leadership program.

​

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

​

LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD

Building Your TED Talk on the Chassis of Great Story Tellers

​

During our Zoom Session 4, we analyzed Duerte's comments on charting your story then closely examined Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" with Duerte's ideas in mind.

​

After lively discussions, insightful observations, and lively commentary, we made a list of important ingredients for a speech to follow Duerte's advice. Building on Session 4 and Session 5, for Session 6, REFLECT on the ways your TED Talk addresses and integrates the NINE points below.

​

• Make the Audience the Hero of the Story. 

  • ​Duerte does this in her first line, and Dr. King does a variation of the same thing in his opening welcome.

• Have a Focused Topic.

  • ​Go narrow and deep rather than wide and general. Duerte is charting a speech. Dr. King is sharing a dream. Both are powerful, and Dr. King's is shorter. [Two of the greatest speeches in U.S. history are under 10 minutes: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Dr. King's I Have a Dream.

• Target/Identify a Specific Audience.

  • ​Think about what they know, what they don't know, and what they're interested in knowing about your and the topic.

• Open with The Trouble.

  • Provide context of the way things are and why the way things are is a problem.

• Provide Setting and Context. Comment on the setting in a way that adds context (who, where, what, why) for the story.

  • The Greeks used the term kiaros for making the right argument at the right time. The trouble and context help your audience understand why this is the right argument for this moment.

• Share Your Story.

  • ​Narrate, in a concise yet detailed way, part of your story up front. Then, build on that story more later. 

  • Imagine your speech and the way it could be charted a pulsing with energy or rolling in like ocean waves, cresting and falling--like Duerte's chart. Find ways to rise and fall to make the speech more powerful and engaging.

• Artifacts: Comment On, Show, and Specifically Name Artifacts.

  • ​Allow the artifact to open up into metaphor. Duerte uses a poster, several charts, sailboat physics, images from her childhood, and returns to the poster. Dr. King uses the monument, historical documents, concrete/common artifacts his audience could relate to (the check, the bank, etc), and re-iterates the setting and promise of this moment.

• Move from high to low to high to low to add energy and speed to the pace [like Duerte charted in her TED Talk]

• Address the Resistance.

  • ​At some point, clearly address the resistance (the counterargument) that you anticipate your audience is thinking. Duerte uses the sailboat analogy to address resistance, then she speaks to resistance to her message. King speaks to the arguments for gradual change and resorting to violence.

• Close with the audience as the hero in a hopeful future.