transcript/TED_-FOCpMAww28.txt

[0.000 --> 15.120]  Some people think that there's a TED Talk formula.
[15.120 --> 17.280]  Give a talk on a round red rug.
[17.280 --> 23.480]  Share a childhood story, divulge a personal secret, end with an inspiring, core to action.
[23.480 --> 24.480]  No.
[24.480 --> 26.840]  That's not how to think of a TED Talk.
[26.840 --> 31.340]  In fact, if you overuse those devices, you're just going to come across as cliched or
[31.340 --> 33.120]  emotionally manipulative.
[33.120 --> 37.880]  But there is one thing that all great TED Talks have in common, and I would like to share
[37.880 --> 39.760]  that thing with you.
[39.760 --> 44.160]  Because over the past 12 years, I've had a ringside seat listening to many hundreds
[44.160 --> 47.080]  of amazing TED speakers like these.
[47.080 --> 50.880]  I've helped them prepare their talks for prime time and learned directly from them their
[50.880 --> 53.400]  secrets of what makes for a great talk.
[53.400 --> 57.720]  And even though these speakers and their topics all seem completely different, they actually
[57.720 --> 61.520]  do have one key common ingredient.
[61.520 --> 63.600]  And it's this.
[63.600 --> 69.440]  Your number one task as a speaker is to transfer into your listeners' minds an extraordinary
[69.440 --> 76.240]  gift, a strange and beautiful object that we call an idea.
[76.240 --> 77.240]  Let me show you what I mean.
[77.240 --> 78.240]  Here's Haley.
[78.240 --> 82.480]  She is about to give a TED Talk, and frankly, she's terrified.
[82.480 --> 83.960]  Haley, stand up.
[83.960 --> 84.960]  CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
[90.560 --> 96.360]  Over the course of 18 minutes, 1200 people, many of whom have never seen each other before,
[96.360 --> 101.680]  are finding that their brains are starting to sink with Haley's brain and with each other.
[101.680 --> 105.240]  They're literally beginning to exhibit the same brain wave patterns.
[105.240 --> 108.920]  And I don't just mean that they're feeling the same emotions, there's something even
[108.920 --> 110.400]  more startling happening.
[110.400 --> 114.360]  Let's take a look inside Haley's brain for a moment.
[114.360 --> 118.560]  There are billions of inter-connected neurons in an impossible tangle.
[118.560 --> 123.520]  But look, here, right here, a few million of them are linked to each other in a way
[123.520 --> 126.640]  which represents a single idea.
[126.640 --> 132.160]  And incredibly, this exact pattern is being recreated in real time inside the minds of
[132.160 --> 133.160]  everyone listening.
[133.160 --> 134.920]  That's right.
[134.920 --> 139.880]  And just a few minutes, a pattern involving millions of neurons is being teleported into
[139.880 --> 144.520]  1200 minds just by people listening to a voice and watching a face.
[144.520 --> 147.600]  But wait, what is an idea anyway?
[147.600 --> 153.880]  Well, you can think of it as a pattern of information that helps you understand and navigate the
[153.880 --> 154.880]  world.
[154.880 --> 160.040]  Ideas come in all shapes and sizes from the complex and analytical to the simple and aesthetic.
[160.040 --> 164.320]  And here are just a few examples shared from the TED stage.
[164.320 --> 165.920]  I can Robinson.
[165.920 --> 167.720]  Creativity is key to our kids' future.
[167.720 --> 173.840]  My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy.
[173.840 --> 176.240]  And we should treat it with the same status.
[176.240 --> 179.480]  Elora Hardy, building from Bamboo, is beautiful.
[179.480 --> 181.480]  It is growing all around us.
[181.480 --> 182.480]  It's strong.
[182.480 --> 183.480]  It's elegant.
[183.480 --> 185.480]  It's earthquake resistant.
[185.480 --> 189.800]  Chimamanda Aditi, people are more than a single identity.
[189.800 --> 192.880]  The single story creates stereotypes.
[192.880 --> 199.840]  And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.
[199.840 --> 204.400]  Your mind is teaming with ideas, and not just randomly, but they're carefully linked
[204.400 --> 205.400]  together.
[205.400 --> 210.320]  Collectively, they form an amazingly complex structure that is your personal world view.
[210.320 --> 213.080]  It's your brain's operating system.
[213.080 --> 214.440]  It's how you navigate the world.
[214.440 --> 218.720]  And it is built up out of millions of individual ideas.
[218.720 --> 223.720]  So for example, if one little component of your world view is the idea that kittens
[223.720 --> 229.080]  are adorable, then when you see this, you'll react like this.
[229.080 --> 233.560]  But if another component of your world view is the idea that leopards are dangerous, then
[233.560 --> 237.720]  when you see this, you'll react a little bit differently.
[237.720 --> 243.240]  So it's pretty obvious why the ideas that make up your world view are crucial.
[243.240 --> 248.920]  You need them to be as reliable as possible a guide to the scary but wonderful real world
[248.920 --> 249.920]  out there.
[249.920 --> 254.560]  Now, different people's world views can be dramatically different.
[254.560 --> 260.080]  For example, how does your world view react when you see this image?
[260.080 --> 262.960]  What do you think when you look at me?
[262.960 --> 273.200]  A woman of faith, an expert, maybe even a sister, or oppressed, brainwashed, a terrorist,
[274.040 --> 278.560]  whatever your answer, there are millions of people out there who would react very differently.
[278.560 --> 281.080]  So that's why ideas really matter.
[281.080 --> 285.760]  If communicated properly, they're capable of changing forever how someone thinks about
[285.760 --> 292.080]  the world and shaping their actions both now and well into the future.
[292.080 --> 295.680]  Ideas are the most powerful force shaping human culture.
[295.680 --> 299.880]  So if you accept that your number one task as a speaker is to build an idea inside the
[299.880 --> 305.160]  minds of your audience, here are four guidelines for how you should go about that task.
[305.160 --> 309.560]  One, limit your talk to just one major idea.
[309.560 --> 311.160]  Ideas are complex things.
[311.160 --> 315.720]  You need to slash back your content so that you can focus on the single idea you're
[315.720 --> 321.000]  most passionate about and give yourself a chance to explain that one thing properly.
[321.000 --> 326.400]  You have to give context, share examples, make it vivid, so pick one idea and make it
[326.400 --> 331.240]  the through line, running through your entire talk so that everything you say links back
[331.240 --> 333.200]  to it in some way.
[333.200 --> 337.800]  Two, give your listeners a reason to care.
[337.800 --> 342.080]  Before you can start building things inside the minds of your audience, you have to get
[342.080 --> 344.080]  their permission to welcome you in.
[344.080 --> 346.280]  And the main tool to achieve that?
[346.280 --> 347.680]  Curiosity.
[347.680 --> 350.040]  Stir your audience's curiosity.
[350.040 --> 355.000]  Use intriguing provocative questions to identify why something doesn't make sense and
[355.000 --> 356.920]  needs explaining.
[356.920 --> 362.240]  If you can reveal a disconnection in someone's worldview, they'll feel the need to bridge
[362.240 --> 364.160]  that knowledge gap.
[364.160 --> 368.560]  And once you've sparked that desire, it will be so much easier to start building your
[368.560 --> 369.560]  idea.
[369.560 --> 372.360]  Three, build your idea.
[372.360 --> 373.600]  Piece by piece.
[373.600 --> 379.080]  Out of concepts that your audience already understands, you use the power of language to
[379.080 --> 383.040]  weave together concepts that already exist in your listeners' minds.
[383.040 --> 385.920]  But not your language, their language.
[385.920 --> 387.360]  You start where they are.
[387.360 --> 391.680]  But speakers often forget that many of the terms and concepts they live with are completely
[391.680 --> 393.760]  unfamiliar to their audiences.
[393.760 --> 400.000]  Now metaphors can play a crucial role in showing how the pieces fit together, because they reveal
[400.000 --> 406.280]  the desired shape of the pattern based on an idea that the listener already understands.
[406.280 --> 410.640]  For example, when Jennifer Khan wanted to explain the incredible new biotechnology called
[410.640 --> 417.160]  CRISPR, she said, it's as if for the first time you had a word processor to edit DNA.
[417.160 --> 422.360]  CRISPR allows you to cut and paste genetic information really easily.
[422.360 --> 427.680]  Now a vivid explanation like that delivers a satisfying aha moment as it snaps into
[427.680 --> 429.000]  place in our minds.
[429.000 --> 433.840]  It's important therefore to test your talk on trusted friends and find out which parts
[433.840 --> 435.640]  they get confused by.
[435.640 --> 438.080]  Four, here's the final tip.
[438.080 --> 441.440]  Make your idea worth sharing.
[441.440 --> 446.840]  By that I mean ask yourself the question, who does this idea benefit?
[446.840 --> 449.760]  And I need you to be honest with the answer.
[449.760 --> 454.560]  If the idea only serves you or your organisation, then I'm sorry to say it's probably not
[454.560 --> 455.880]  worth sharing.
[455.880 --> 458.080]  The audience will see right through you.
[458.080 --> 462.920]  But if you believe that the idea has the potential to brighten up someone else's day or change
[462.920 --> 468.400]  someone else's perspective for the better or inspire someone to do something differently,
[468.400 --> 473.680]  then you have the core ingredient to a truly great talk, one that can be a gift to them
[473.680 --> 474.640]  and to all of us.