How to Deliver a Great TED Talk: Presentation Secrets of the World's Best Speakers (How to Give a TED Talk) (13 page)

PART 6

STORY

In this section, you will learn how to make your messages stick using stories. We’ve already discussed a lot about storytelling – you have learned that your stories should be rich in sensory details (VAKS), that you should describe your characters and that you should be specific when describing scenes. Since we’ve already covered those concepts, we won’t cover them again here. Instead, we’ll examine some new storytelling tools you can use to tell exciting stories that keep your audiences hooked.

More specifically, you will learn the:

• Importance of storytelling
  
• 5C’s of great stories
  
• Delivery techniques for dynamic storytelling
  

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

How Subway Used a Story to Increase Sales by 20%

Did you hear about the guy who lost more than 200 pounds in less than a year? And that he did this by eating only fast food?

In November 1999, an article that appeared in the
Men’s Health
featured a bizarre story about Jared Fogle. According to the article, Fogle was an overweight student at Indiana University who managed to lose 245 pounds on his “Subway diet” – a diet that consisted of him eating only Subway sandwiches.

When the management at Subway heard about this, they decided to scrap their “7 under 6” campaign (a series of ads that promoted the fact that Subway had 7 sandwiches with under 6 grams of fat) and to market Jared’s story instead.

The result? As soon as “Jared the Subway guy” commercials began running, sales jumped by almost 20%. However, after a few years of Jared’s commercials, Subway began to remove Jared from their ads. With Jared gone, sales began to go down. So Subway decided to bring Jared back and sales shot back up again.

Why is it that Jared’s story was such a huge hit? Why was the Jared-story more successful than the “7 under 6” campaign?

The answer lies in the fact that stories are much more persuasive than statistics. Or, as executive speech coach Patricia Fripp puts it, “People are trained to resist a sales pitch, but no one can resist a good story.” It’s easy to resist the “7 Under 6” campaign, but Jared’s story is so inspiring that we cannot help but watch it. We get involved in Jared’s story – as humans, we empathize with his problem of being overweight, even though we may not be overweight ourselves. We get involved in the story because we are curious (“Wow! How did he lose so much weight?”), and we get involved because we can “see” the story – that is, even if you haven’t watched the Jared commercials, you can still mentally picture a “before-Subway” and “after-Subway” Jared.

The “7 Under 6” campaign, on the other hand, is a statistic which informs us, but fails to involve us because it doesn’t inspire us. It doesn’t make us curious. We can’t even picture what six grams of fat would mean for our body.

As we’ve seen, stories are a powerful form of communication. They’re engaging because they involve us emotionally, and they are memorable because we can mentally see the story. To be successful in our communication, we must use stories.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Five C’s of Great Stories

The essence of public speaking is to tell a story and make a point.

But what exactly makes a great story?

What are the elements that go into creating stories that captivate your audience members?

What kind of stories should you include in your speeches and presentations?

In this chapter, you will learn the five C’s of great stories. We’ll look at how Jared’s Subway story fits within the 5C’s framework. We’ll also examine Leslie Morgan Steiner’s story to see how Leslie used the 5C’s to deliver a captivating story. I suggest that you
first watch Leslie’s speech
on surviving domestic violence here before you read further (
http://bit.ly/YxLf3q
).

1. YOUR STORIES MUST HAVE CHARACTERS

Who are the main characters in your story?

Give a hint about what your main characters look like so audience members can visualize the characters. Provide a little bit of information about the characters’ appearances so that audience members can “see” the characters.

Let’s take the Subway story as an example. Who’s the main character? Jared Fogle.

What basic information have we been given about him? He is an overweight student at Indiana University. Even though you’re reading this, the information you’ve been given is enough for you to construct a mental picture of Jared.

What about Leslie’s speech? The two characters in Leslie’s speech are Leslie and her ex-husband. Since Leslie is standing on stage, we don’t need any description of her. What about her ex-husband? What information do we have about him? Leslie tells us that her ex-husband, Conor, “had just graduated from an Ivy League school, and that he worked at a very impressive Wall Street bank ... he was smart and funny and he looked like a farm boy. He had these big cheeks, these big apple cheeks and this wheat-blond hair, and he seemed so sweet.” Leslie gives us enough information about Conor to create a mental image of him in our heads.

When telling stories in your speeches and presentations, make sure that you provide some specific details about how your main characters look.

2. YOUR STORY MUST HAVE A CONFLICT

The conflict is the hook of the story. The conflict is what keeps audience members curious to find out what happens next in the story. Your audience members become interested in finding out how the conflict will be resolved.

For example, what was the main conflict in the movie “
Titanic”?
The ship was sinking and people were struggling to stay alive. More specifically, the two main characters – Jack and Rose – were struggling to stay alive. Would they stay alive? Would they die? There was also a secondary conflict in the movie regarding Jack and Rose’s relationship. Would they find a way to be together? Or would they break up because they were from such different backgrounds?

Every great movie you watch or great book you read has a main conflict that keeps you hooked to find out how (or whether) the conflict will be resolved.

Again, let’s take Jared’s story as an example. What’s the conflict? The conflict at the beginning of the story is that Jared is struggling to lose weight. He’s overweight and out of shape and life seems to be going nowhere for him, but he wants to change that.

What’s the conflict in Leslie’s story?

“Conor used my anger as an excuse to put both of his hands around my neck as and to squeeze so tightly that I could not breathe or scream, and he used the chokehold to hit my head repeatedly against the wall. Five days later, the ten bruises on my neck had just faded, and I put on my mother’s wedding dress, and I married him. Despite what happened, I was sure we were going to live happily ever after, because I loved him, and he loved me so very much....It was an isolated incident, and he was never going to hurt me again.

It happened twice more on the honeymoon. The first time...”

The conflict in Leslie’s story is that she is being physically abused by her then-husband but can’t leave him because she’s in love with him and keeps believing he will change.

3. YOUR STORY MUST HAVE A CURE

The conflict needs to be resolved in some way.

What’s the cure that resolves the conflict?

The cure should help audience members overcome the conflicts they may be facing in their own lives. The cure is what adds value to your audience’s life.

In Jared’s story, the cure comes in the form of the Subway diet. The Subway diet helps Jared overcome his battle against obesity and lose 245 pounds.

What’s the cure in Leslie’s story?

“I was able to leave, because of one final, sadistic beating that broke through my denial. I realized that the man who I loved so much was going to kill me if I let him. So I broke the silence. I told everyone: the police, my neighbors, my friends and family, total strangers...”

The cure in Leslie’s story is that she finds the courage to leave Conor because of one final beating which broke through her denial.

4. CHARACTERS MUST CHANGE AS A RESULT OF THE CONFLICT

What personality/attitude shifts do your characters undergo as a result of having overcome the conflict?

How do they see the world differently as a result of having been through the conflict?

How do they change physically, emotionally or spiritually because of the conflict?

For example, after going through hardship, a character may become tougher. After struggling through poverty, a character may start up a business and become wealthy (rags to riches story).

For Jared, he goes from being extremely overweight to being in decent shape. He goes from feeling horrible to looking and feeling better because of his Subway sandwich “cure.”

In Leslie’s story, the change is that she goes from being in an abusive relationship to finally getting out of it. She goes from being in denial about her situation to finally accepting that the man she loved so much was going to kill her. Furthermore, she goes from keeping her abusive relationship a secret to sharing her story with the world so that she can help others in similar situations.

5. YOUR STORY MUST HAVE A CARRYOUT MESSAGE

The essence of public speaking is to “tell a story and make a point.”

So, what’s the point of your story?

What’s the one thing you want your audience members to remember from your story/speech/presentation? This is your Carryout Message that audience members will take home with them. It’s the key takeaway message for your audience.

The Carryout Message of the Subway story is that Subway sandwiches are a healthy choice! After all, they allowed Jared to lose 245 pounds.

What’s the Carryout Message of Leslie’s story? Leslie uses her story to take us through the different steps of a domestic violence relationship, but the final Carryout Message for her audience is that instead of blaming victims of violent relationships for staying in those relationships, we should “recast survivors as wonderful, loveable people with full futures. Recognize the early signs of violence and conscientiously intervene, de-escalate it, show victims a safe way out.”

After having examined Jared’s Subway story and Leslie’s personal story, we can see that the 5C’s structure makes up the foundation for effective stories. Apply the 5C’s to create stories that keep your audiences hooked onto your every word.

IN A NUTSHELL

Captivate your audience with stories. Make sure your stories contain the five essential C’s of storytelling:

• Characters
  
• Conflict
  
• Cure
  
• Change in character
  
• Carryout message
  

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Delivery Techniques for Dynamic Storytelling

It’s not enough to have a great story. You also need to know how to deliver it in a way that keeps your audiences on the edge of their seats. While it’s difficult to learn delivery techniques from a book, you can still learn some important delivery devices which will make you a dynamic speaker:

PAUSE BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Most speakers make the mistake of getting up on stage and beginning to speak immediately. Instead, I recommend that you get up on stage and make eye contact with your audience for a couple of seconds before you even say your first word. This is a way of acknowledging your audience and building a connection with them before you begin speaking.

Pausing at the beginning has several other advantages. First, it shows that you’re a confident speaker who’s not afraid of silence. Second, it allows everyone in the room to get on the same vibration and energy level. For example, let’s say that your audience members are chatting among themselves when you get up on stage. By pausing for a couple of seconds, you give your audience members time to stop their conversations and focus their attention on you. Finally, pausing at the beginning of your speech allows you to gain confidence. If you’re nervous about speaking, use the pause at the beginning of your speech to take in a couple of subtle yet deep belly-breaths to calm yourself down. I usually get nervous before an important presentation, but by pausing for a couple of seconds before I start, I can usually get rid of the butterflies in my stomach.

SMILE

When you get on stage, you should generally smile at your audience to show that you acknowledge their presence. However, don’t try to fake a smile, because studies show that people are subconsciously able to detect a fake smile. Get yourself into a mindset where you truly value your time with the audience. Realize that you have been given a wonderful opportunity to share your message with the world. Getting yourself into this positive mindset will help you smile.

The only time you should not smile when you get up on stage is if you want to create tension in the room. For example, if you are about to deliver sad story that begins with the death of a loved one, it would not be appropriate to start off with a smile.

Generally, though, I recommend smiling at your audience. A smile reveals your warmth and your sincerity and is the first step in establishing an emotional connection with your audience.

MAKE EYE CONTACT

Making eye contact with your audience is a great way to gain their trust. We associate eye contact with sincerity and lack of it with lying. Thus, make eye contact with your audience members as often as possible.

I recommend the scan and stop method for making eye contact. When you are delivering your story, scan the room with your eyes so that you briefly make eye contact with people in each section of the room (front, back, left, right and center). However, when you come to an important point, stop and look one person in the eye and deliver your point directly to them. Similarly, when you ask an important question, stop and deliver your question to one person in the room.

GET RID OF FILLER WORDS

Filler words such as “um” and “er” can reduce the credibility of your message because they make you sound unsure about yourself. Speakers also use other, less obvious filler words, such as “like” and “so.” The first step in reducing filler words is to become aware of the ones you use. The second step is to practice pausing when you are unsure of what to say. Most of the time, speakers use filler words because they don’t know what to say next. If you practice deliberately pausing, you’ll find that your filler words will naturally disappear.

You don’t have to wait for your next speech or presentation to practice this technique. Use it during your everyday conversations. Practice pausing when you find yourself struggling with what to say next. It’s difficult, but the more you do this, the easier it becomes.

GESTURE NATURALLY

One of the most common questions I hear as a public speaking coach is, “What should I do with my hands?”

You should try to use your hands as naturally as possible. Use your hands the way you normally would when having a conversation with a friend because that’s really what public speaking is – it’s a conversation with a group of friendly people who are interested in what you have to say.

For example, during his TED talk, Anthony Robbins asks the following question:

The question we’ve got to ask ourselves is: What is it? What is it that shapes us?

When he asks this question, his right hand holds his chin in a thinking gesture. Was this a planned gesture? No, obviously not. It came naturally. The challenge for you is to become so passionate and so involved in your presentation that you stop thinking about your gestures and allow these natural gestures to pour out of you without consciously thinking about them.

Similarly, in his TED talk, Dan Pink uses gestures very effectively. When he talks about low, medium and high rewards, his hand starts off low to indicate low rewards, then rises to indicate medium rewards and rises even more to indicate high rewards. These gestures help show what Dan is saying.

Now, I realize that “gesture naturally” may not be a very helpful answer, so let me offer you some specifics as to how you should use your hands:

• Don’t cross your arms – this signals to your audience that you are feeling defensive. Studies have revealed that people judge others who cross their arms as being less likeable and less friendly than those who do not.
  
• Don’t put your hands in your pockets – there are two reasons why I would advise you not to do this. First, most people have a tendency to play about with the coins and other small items they have in their pockets. This can be really annoying. Second, your hands are a valuable tool in helping your audience see your story. You can use your hands to demonstrate shapes, divisions and sizes, so don’t hide your hands!
  
• Avoid the fig leaf: The fig leaf is a posture many men tend to use. They fold hold their hands in front of their private parts. Not only can this be distracting, it also signals that the speaker feels unconfident and insecure.
  
• Don’t point at your audience. Pointing your finger at your audience can be interpreted as rude and can offend your audience members. Instead, use an open palm to point at your audience if you have to.
  
• Use your hands to show what you are saying. Your hands should help bring your story alive for your audience. For example, if you say, “John was about six feet tall and built like a Greek statue”, use your hands to show how tall and muscular he was.
  

USE POSTURE TO BRING YOUR CHARACTERS TO LIFE

When you are delivering your speech, make sure you stand in a confident posture. The most confident posture you can have is when you are standing with your back straight and your chest out. Confident speakers own the stage by using their bodies to take up as much space as they need. Speakers who are shy and nervous tend to adopt a small posture where they try to take up as little space as possible – they keep their head down and their hands close to their bodies to make themselves as tiny as possible.

I recommend that you videotape yourself speaking and analyze your body language to see whether you appear confident. When I did this exercise, I realized that I was slightly hunched over and wasn’t standing fully straight. Since I have become aware of this, I have made a conscious decision to push my shoulders back further and make my back straight and erect. I know I’m doing it right because when I adopt this posture I feel more confident.

You can also bring your characters to life on stage by taking on their postures. For example, if one of the characters in your story is a tiny, frail old lady, you should assume her bent-over, tiny posture when delivering her dialogue. This helps your audience
see
your characters on stage.

KEEP YOUR FACIAL EXPRESSIONS CONGRUENT WITH YOUR STORY

Your facial expressions should be congruent with the story that you’re telling. If you’re delivering a very sad story, make sure that this sadness reflects on your face. If you’re delivering a story where one of the characters in your speech is very excited, make sure that this excitement is evident on your face.

Your facial expressions can also help you get more laughs. When you are delivering a funny line, the right facial expression can help you get a bigger laugh. An open mouth depicting surprise, a raised eyebrow indicating confusion or wide eyes indicating fear can bring your story alive and make a line funnier. I encourage you to watch a video of one of your favorite comedians. Pay attention to his or her facial expressions and you will notice how facial expressions alone can sometimes trigger big belly laughs.

SHOW, DON’T TELL

Doug Stevenson, author of
The Story Theatre Method
says, “Behavior is language. Rather than saying, ‘I was so frustrated I could hardly speak,’ show what it looks and feels like. Be physically frustrated while you stammer and sputter to find the words to say.” Whenever you can, follow the principle of showing rather than telling.

BIGGER AUDIENCE MEANS A BIGGER YOU

When you have a larger audience, you need an enlarged version of you.

This means that your gestures need to be larger and your voice needs to be louder. With a smaller audience, you don’t need to be as loud.

For example, thousands of people line up to see the popular motivational speaker Anthony Robbins, so his gestures (and facial expressions) are always very large. However,
during Tony’s TED talk
, his facial expressions and gestures were smaller because his audience was smaller.

MATCH THEIR ENERGY LEVEL

If you come across an audience with low energy, don’t come out with high energy and expect your audience members to get equally excited. Instead, match their energy level and then lead them to a higher level of energy using activities, questions, etc. Similarly, when you come across audience members who are very excited and enthusiastic to see you, make sure you match that level of energy.

Audience members are always fired up for Anthony Robbins’ seminars, so Tony comes out with a high level of energy and takes it up a notch. There’s music, clapping, dancing.

However, during his TED talk, where audience members weren’t as expressive with their emotions, Anthony Robbins came out with a much milder opening to match the energy level of his audience.

MAKE FULL USE OF THE STAGE

Avoid pacing back and forth on stage like a caged tiger because this can be distracting. Your movement on stage should be purposeful and should help show the story you are telling. I recommend that different scenes in your story should have their own spots on the stage. For example, if one of your scenes involves you at work, then you might set up that scene on the right side of the stage. Then, naturally, when you talk about going back home, you would walk to the left side of the stage where you would set up the scene at home. This way, when you walk back to the right side of the stage, your audience knows that you are back at the office without you having to say so. In this way, you can use the stage as a prop to make your story more visual for your audience.

You can also use the stage as a timeline. The left side of the stage (from the audience’s perspective) would represent the past, center stage would represent the present and the right side of the stage would represent the future.

USE VOCAL VARIETY

Vocal variety refers to how you use your voice. You can use your voice to arouse different emotions in audience members. If you shorten your sentences, reduce your pauses and speak very quickly, you can create the excitement of a high-speed car chase. If you speak softly and at a leisurely pace while talking about a relaxing day at the beach, you can recreate the peacefulness of sitting at the beach.

The key to dynamic delivery, however, lies in the contrast. If you are always loud and fast, your audience members will soon get tired of listening to you because nothing stands out. If you speak quietly and softly, you will soon bore your audience into sleeping. The trick is to mix and match. Vary your volume and pace to create different moods for different scenes in your story.

When delivering character dialogue, vary your pitch. Take on the voice of your character – speak with a slightly deep voice when imitating a man and a slightly high voice when imitating a frail old woman. However, don’t go overboard with this technique. If you’re a man, you don’t have to speak with a very high girlish voice when delivering a line by a little girl. Make the change subtle yet noticeable.

IN A NUTSHELL

Use the following tools to become a powerful and dynamic speaker

• Pause before you begin
  
• Smile
  
• Make eye contact
  
• Get rid of filler words
  
• Gesture naturally
  
• Use posture to bring your characters to life
  
• Keep facial expressions congruent with your story
  
• Show, don’t tell
  
• Bigger audience means a bigger you
  
• Match the audience’s energy level
  
• Make full use of the stage
  
• Use vocal variety