Good Talk Bad Talk
What Differentiates a Good TED Talk from a Bad TED Talk?
In this article, you will discover the most important differences between a good talk and one that is maybe not so good.
If you want to improve your speaking skills, one of the most effective things you can do to improve your skillset is to watch other speakers talk (a lot of other speakers). Not just for enjoyment, but to watch them with a critical eye. The more TED talks you watch, the more you will start to notice that there are a few distinct aspects that differentiate a good TED talk from a bad TED talk.
As you can imagine, our team watches a LOT of talks — more than the average person — so we thought we could save you some time by compiling a list of what we believe separates good talks from bad ones, in our experience.
Here are the 5 points we believe have the biggest impact on differentiating a good talk from a bad one:
1. Good TED talks are in alignment with the speaker’s own experience. Bad TED talks are incongruent and forced.
We have all seen those speakers who get up to talk about a topic they clearly don’t practice in their own lives. The business speaker who still needs a 9-to-5 job to survive, the investment speaker who is broke, the out-of-shape fitness speaker, the unhealthy nutrition speaker… The list goes on. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being any of those speakers. As long as you are honest about where you are on your journey, your experience is still very relevant and important.
The problem comes when speakers claim to be someone they’re not. All too often, speakers talk about things they clearly learned from someone else but don’t actually practice in their own lives. That incongruence shows up in the speaker’s stage presence, the way they present their information, the way they tell their stories, and how easy it is for the speaker to connect with the audience.
Don’t exaggerate, don’t make things up, don’t pretend to be an expert if you aren’t.
If you want to make sure your talk is strong and impactful, one of the most important things you can do is speak about your real life. Speak from the heart. Don’t exaggerate, don’t make things up, don’t pretend to be an expert if you aren’t. If you are genuinely being yourself and excited about your topic, your audience will feel that energy from you and connect with you so much more easily.
2. Good TED talks are composed of stories. Bad TED talks are composed of facts.
Have you ever had to sit through a lecture that seemed to make one hour feel like four? On the other hand, have you ever listened to a presentation that was so engaging it made you completely lose track of time?
Chances are the speaker who made it feel like time was dragging on was just relaying fact, after fact, after fact. There was probably very little emotion involved, so it was hard to engage with the presentation. Speakers make this mistake all the time; they think they have to relay as much information as they possibly can in a short amount of time. The problem is, this makes for a very bad talk. Human brains aren’t usually wired to enjoy pure facts. It takes a lot more effort to pay attention and remember what the speaker is saying, and it makes the talk a lot less enjoyable for them.
On the contrary, the speaker who made it seem like time disappeared was most likely a storyteller. The human brain is wired to enjoy stories; they engage our emotions and our senses in a way that pure facts simply cannot. Stories engage the imagination and, if told properly, they can make an audience forget they are listening to a talk at all. If you tell stories that make points, the audience is far more likely to remember the points you made, and they will enjoy your presentation while you are giving it. And the best part for you as a speaker? Stories are way easier to remember than a list of 52 facts!
The human brain is wired to enjoy stories; they engage our emotions and our senses in a way that pure facts simply cannot.
When you are planning a talk, remember to maximize the use of stories and minimize the use of lecture. By attaching some emotion to the points you are making through storytelling, there’s a better chance of your talk sticking in the audience’s minds properly.
3. Good TED talks share an idea or a message. Bad TED talks try to force you to learn.
There’s a very subtle difference between telling someone something and sharing something with them. Though it’s subtle, it’s crucial to how your audience perceives your talk. Nobody likes to be told what to do, but if you can intrigue them enough with your presentation, you can make them want to learn from you, and it is far more effective.
As a speaker, your job is to earn the interest of your audience, not to force information upon them.
As a speaker, your job is to earn the interest of your audience, not to force information upon them. Do this by sharing ideas and information that excites you. Let your enthusiasm prove to the audience that what you are saying is worth listening to. If you are trying to teach a new concept or idea, share with them how that concept or idea changed your own life, so they can see for themselves how it can change theirs too.
When you are giving a talk, don’t approach it with the intention of teaching, or forcing information upon your audience in any way. Instead, think of yourself as sharing your experiences and giving your audience an opportunity to learn from them. The difference here is extremely subtle, but it just might be one of the most important things that differentiate good talks from bad ones.
4. Good TED talks inspire. Bad TED talks scare.
It’s no secret that there are a number of topics in our world that need to be talked about, and some of those topics can be pretty scary. One of the things that really sets good talks and bad talks apart is the way a speaker handles talking about those scarier — often seen as taboo — subjects.
Bad speakers tend to lean on the fear and uncertainty surrounding the issues they are discussing. They point out everything that is wrong, they paint bleak pictures of the future, they try to frighten the audience into listening to what they have to say, and use scare tactics to edge them into taking action. This can be an effective tactic in a select few cases, but the vast majority of the time it is executed wrong and ends up just making for a bad talk.
In a good TED talk, the speaker acknowledges the uncertainty or fear the audience might be feeling, and counters it by talking about the topic in an empowering way. They focus on solutions, they talk about what humanity might have to gain, they offer perspectives that leave the audience feeling like even though there are challenges, there is hope. This is crucial to giving a good talk.
The contrast between fear and hope within a talk is an excellent way to create strong emotional impacts for the audience
The contrast between fear and hope within a talk is an excellent way to create strong emotional impacts for the audience, and the stronger the emotional impacts the more likely it is that the audience will remember the message.
5. Good TED talks use humor. Bad TED talks take themselves too seriously.
Nobody wants to sit through a TED talk that feels too serious, even if the topic is heavy and the talk is of the utmost importance. A TED talk that takes itself too seriously is absolutely dreadful to sit through.
When you watch a speaker who is taking their talk (and themselves) too seriously, it often comes across as very stiff. Sometimes they will read from scripts or slides because they don’t want to make a mistake, sometimes they ignore funny situations that come up during the presentation, sometimes they get angry when things go wrong. There are a number of traits that show up when a speaker takes their talk too seriously, but one thing they all have in common is that they make the audience uncomfortable, and an uncomfortable audience is not a receptive audience.
Having the ability to bring a light-hearted approach to even the darkest subjects gives your talks power and efficacy beyond anything else you can do.
On the other hand, when a speaker takes a light-hearted approach to their talk, the audience is instantly more relaxed. Using humor and telling jokes, laughing at your own mistakes, being totally comfortable with your talk no matter what happens; these aspects all give a speaker a level of confidence that is unmatched. Having the ability to bring a light-hearted approach to even the darkest subjects gives your talks power and efficacy beyond anything else you can do.
In Conclusion
As you can see, there are quite a lot of factors that go into a good TED talk, and it’s up to you to pick and choose which you want to incorporate into your own. The really important thing is to pay attention to what YOU like and dislike in other people’s talks and apply that information to your own. Remember that as a speaker it is your job to make the talk as enjoyable as possible for your audience, so you earn the right to have them listen to you. Watching and learning from other speakers whose work you enjoy is one of the easiest ways to find opportunities to improve your own work and make sure your talks are more good than bad.
When you learn how to deliver a good talk you are one step closer to unlocking the most powerful tool any speaker can use. We call it The Stage Effect and used properly it is one of the most powerful forms of influence you can master. Want to know more? Click here to download our free guide all about The Stage Effect and how to use it.
