Four tips for your inspiring TED talk

"Ideas worth spreading," with that mission TED began its first conference in 1984. Since then, TED has become the speakers' platform for innovative ideas and original thinkers.

TED talks are meant to inspire. With an original idea, but also an appealing narrator who personifies that idea. In addition, there is a strict format: never longer than 12 minutes, no boring powerpoints and connecting with the audience. So a good TED talk is created by the combination of a clear idea, a concise but inspiring story, and a speaker who is not afraid to show himself.

Speak to Inspire coached many speakers to prepare their TED-talk, for TEDGlobal, TEDxAmsterdam, TEDxHaarlem, TEDxLeiden and TEDxMaastricht, among others.

Four tips to turn your presentation into an inspiring TED-talk:

TIP 1: Make your idea important to your audience

That you find your own idea interesting is of course a prerequisite, but you also need to make sure your audience perceives it as important! So tell why your idea is relevant to them and where it touches their world. In her famous TED talk on Super Chicken, Margaret Heffernan starts powerfully by making it immediately clear why these chickens are important to everyone working at a company.

TIP 2: Support your story with images

A PowerPoint presentation that lists text is really not done at TED talks. If you want to show something at all (because: less is more), opt for full-screen images, which add power to your story at the right moment. Remember the famous TED talk in which statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about so-called "developing countries" with the drama and urgency of a sports commentator.

3: Make it a show

Inspirational speakers don't just give a talk, they make it a show. They understand the dramaturgy of a story and use the possibilities of the stage. And often humor, too. Take a look at the TED Talk by Maz Jobrani, co-founder of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, who jokes about the challenges and difficulties of being Iranian-American.

4: Practice, practice, practice

Make no mistake; a good TED talk sometimes requires months of preparation time. First, structure a clear and inspiring storyline and then practice thoroughly. So even if you have an overflowing schedule; make time. By the way, TED speakers often don't do that preparation alone, but work with a coach or director. Like British photographer and photojournalist Jimmy Nelson, who was coached for TED Global by Huib Hudig.

Want to learn more about the success of TED talks and experience how to turn your presentation into a TED talk? Then check out our Presenting like a TED-talk training or our coaching offer!
We also regularly give this training in company.