Talk like TED by Carmine Gallo

Talk Like TED by Carmine Gallo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nice book for individuals who want to make a powerful presentation.

It is repeated mentioned in the book that it is important to stick to 18 minutes for the presentation to be relevant to the audience. Anything more than that will be useless.

The key suggestions are
Bring in your inner emotion (it needs to be genuine not fake)
1. Unleash the master within - Bring out your complete knowledge of the topic in the 18 minutes. Squeeze and Condense the material till only the essence goes to the audience. The essence needs to be strong.
2. Master the art of storytelling - Include stories, specially personal if possible or of someone who matters in the subject being spoken about. People tend to remember the essence on the basis of story.
3. Have a conversation - Don't make it an officious, formal, drab presentation. Speak as if you are having a conversation with another person.

Be Novel
4. Teach me something new - Need to show something new to the audience or present something known in a novel way.
5. Delivery Jaw dropping moments: Speak about something shocking. Not something crass (could be gross depending on the expected impact), but something that will draw their attention to and something that they will not forget in a hurry.
6. Be lighthearted: Have some fun. The chemicals required by humans to remember better are triggered by laughter.

Make it memorable
7. Stick to the 18 minute Rule - 18 minutes has been found to be the right length for a presentation. Anything more than this tends to tier the audience and anything less may be too short to fit in all the contents.
8. Paint a mental picture with multi-sensory Experiences - It is important to stimulate the senses of the audience. These simulations help the audience remember the topics better than just verbal delivery. Use photos, props, videos, audios and if possible smell and touch (at least talk about them vividly) to simulate the senses of the audience. Text on the presentation should be minimal.
9. Stay in Your Lane - Do not copy someone else. This does not help unless one is a professional mimic. It is important to do what one is convinced about in a way that one is comfortable with.

One note of caution. This will work with an audience who have come with some interest in the topic that is being spoken about or is mature enough to listen to what the speaker has come to speak about. It will work when one wishes to provide information about a specific subject/topic, it is unlikely to work in situations where one is trying to teach a subject to the audience.

One place where it jars is when it advises ("fake it if you have to") and then later it says be true and honest. It is contrary to the earlier advice.

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