Now that you’ve given your own TED-inspired Talk to your classmates (and will be possibly sharing the video of it with the world), what final reflection do you have about your experience?
- Do you think your topic was inspiring or interesting to the larger world? Why/why not?
- Do you think spending 2 months analyzing TED Talks and their speakers helped you prepare and deliver your own TED-inspired Talk?
- If you could do your own Talk one more time, what would you change or better emphasize?
- What — given all the videos you’ve watched, your own Talk, and watching your classmates give their Talks — is the secret to a really inspiring Talk?
Length: 5+ sentences (although that should be a bare, bare minimum)
Leave your response as a comment and hit ‘publish’.
The TEDxClassroomProject 
My TED talk was about teenage relationships: how they have changed, how they affect teens, and a few problems that are seen in many teen relationships. I believe that my talk was interesting to, not just my classmates, but the larger world as well. Many people, teens and adults, can relate to my talk. I think it is important to have a talk that makes the audience intrigued, has a connection with the audience, and leaves them inspired. I think my talk left the inspiration of not being in such a serious relationship as a teen because serious relationships can lead to abuse and pregnancies. The way I learned to give my own TED talk was from analyzing eight different TED talks over a two month time period.
While I spent two months watching and analyzing TED talks, I believe I learned what a TED talk was, what it should do and should not do, and soon learned how to do one of my own. As I analyzed eight individual TED talks I began to see how the personality of a person, props, tone of voice, eye contact, pictures, body language, length, and topic affected what the audience thought of it. All of these things I learned while analyzing talks soon added up and helped me when I presented my own TED talk. As I look back at my own talk, I realize it could have been better than I presented it.
The one thing that I could of made a lot better during my talk, was my public speaking. I had awful eye contact and I think I was quiet. Even though I practiced my talk many times, I realized it didn’t help me as much as it would of if I practiced in front of many people. If I did my talk again, I would go back and emphasize my process through a serious teen relationship. I would want to share my story in order to give proof that there are really bad teenage relationships that shouldn’t be happening, and maybe it would of inspired my audience just a little bit more.
After watching all of my analyzed TED talks and my classmates’ talks, I have learned what inspires me and what does not. I think the most important thing is to have a topic that many can relate to. What inspires me even more about some talks is when the person told a story, theirs or another persons. Lastly, when the person giving a talk asks a question it leaves the audience thinking. Of course, when someone asks you a question, you usually think of an answer. The audience would think about the answer, maybe for a minute or maybe for the rest of their lives. What really matters it, that the audience is left thinking about your question and soon inspired to take action.
I believe that my TED talk on sources of academic pressure on teenagers applies to a very large audience around the globe. Academic pressure affects nearly every teenager on the planet and nearly every person involved in that teenager’s life is involved in it one way or another. Every person to ever live has wanted to have a successful life and has felt the pressure that has been caused by wanting to achieve that goal. Whether the person watching the talk is a parent, teacher, friend, or just another kid who is feeling overwhelmed by trying to get into college and lead a successful life, they all can take something away from the talk.
Watching and analyzing the TED talks over the past few weeks greatly influenced the way I presented my TED talk to my class. I noted what grabbed the audience’s attention and what didn’t as well as the variety of the speaking techniques that were used by the speakers in the videos I had to analyze. Some were more quiet and subtle but very deliberate while others projected their voice to every corner of the TED auditorium and grabbed the audience’s attention that way. I took little bits from almost all of the talks that I analyzed and applied that to my presentation.
The one thing I would change with my TED talk would be to walk around and use the stage to my advantage. I mainly stood in one spot for the entire presentation. If I would have walked around a little more, I might have been able to engage the audience even more than I did during my talk.
If I were to give advice on the “secret” of giving a TED talk, it would be to relax and to enjoy the moment. You are up there to talk about something that you feel passionately about so you are already an expert in your subject. You might not have a PhD in the subject, but expertise does not require any degree. As long as you have the information to back up your passion, you should have nothing to fear. Just work hard to prepare and the results will take care of themselves.
My Ted talk analysis:
My Ted talk was over the lost city of Atlantis. Given the five minute boundary of the talk, I wasn’t able to go over most of the evidence to prove my theory, however I was able to go over a few points, and, in my opinion, I made a solid argument.
Do I think my Topic was interesting? I think so, it was away from the main stream, and it was also kinda funny, so I think it was interesting and enjoyable. However, I don’t think it was very inspiring. After seeing alot of my peers talks, I believe that I didn’t tackle any strong emotional issues, an I didn’t give an ending message of hope, or anything really, I gave information, over a topic most people don’t often times think about, but emotionally it was rather flat.
I think spending the last 2 months watching similar talks, did help with our videos, it gave me a sense of what to do when giving an inspiring talk, and what to do when giving a comedic talk. It definitely was helpful in both choosing what I was going to do, and how.
Over all I think I did an ok job. However, I think that I would A) know my material better, so I wouldn’t have stuttered as much. And B) I wouldn’t have looked back at my slides. While seeing some other people do their talks, their was a clear divide between the people who looked at their slides and those who didn’t. Those who did, seemed much more nervous, and less thought out. While those who didn’t seemed more confidant, and over all their presentations went smoother.
The Key to a great TED talk, is confidence, memorization, a passion for what you’re talking about, and a genuinely great idea. Half of Ted is inspiration, the other half is memorization. TED is about the presentation of Ideas, but also about trying to get other people to do the same. If at the end of your TED talk, your audience is ready to go outside, and change something in their lives, then you have done a good TED talk.
My TED talk was on the necessity for the arts; how schools should not drop the arts curriculum because of lack of funding and how it would affect children in the future. I do believe my topic was inspiring/interesting to the larger world. Whether one is a theatre geek or just likes to go see a movie once in a while, the arts affects everyone everyday. It is a source of entertainment and if we did not have this outlet to relax and be entertained we would probably not stay sane.
I do believe that spending two months analyzing TED talks and their speakers helped me prepare and deliver my own TED-inspired Talk. It allowed me to see what “worked” and what did not. If I like the style of visuals one speaker did but not the presentation as a whole, I could base my visuals only from that talk and base my overall presentation on what I believe would be the most effective. The TED talks were all wonderful examples we all could base our Talks from, yet it came down to what mattered to us and how we wanted to convey our opinions and ideas.
I believe if I could give my talk again, I would emphasize more on how it affected my audience rather than me personally. I would also probably move around the space that I was given more strategically instead of standing in one spot or occasionally moving. I had the opportunity to start over my talk the same day because the camera ran out of film in the middle of my talk when I presented it for the first time. I believe that when I presented my talk for a second time I was more confident and I was able to engage my audience more.
I believe the secret to a really inspiring Talk is simple. If you are passionate or interested in the topic of your talk and can make your audience interested or care about the topic than the talk itself will be great.
My talk was about correcting the misconceptions of what makes up a black belt. I cannot fully say if it was interesting to other people, but I hope it was. At the very least people paid attention when I talked about breaking boards and fighting. I aimed to make it inspirational in a way that people who don’t understand or have any interest in martial arts because they think it is about violence, will be willing to give it a try. Naturally, like any topic, it’s more interesting and makes more sense to someone already in martial arts, but I tried to make it pertain to other people. This was why I attempted to correct people’s pervious thoughts of what a black belt was.
Watching and analyzing the eight TED talks most certainly helped me give my own talk. If I hadn’t seen how other speakers incorporated their topics with their slides and facts, I wouldn’t have been able to put together slides matching with my talk. I learned what talks I didn’t like or did like, and took heed of how they gave their presentations. Things like, how loud you spoke, your attitude, and how much you walked around all affected how much I liked or disliked a talk. I tried to mimic the things I thought were effective and things like walking around a lot or not focusing on the audience when talking were things I tried to stay away from.
There are many things I would like to alter about my talk, but since they are things I am not aware showed or didn’t show on the camera I will only mention a few. I know that I didn’t quite expand on one point I had wanted to stress a lot, so that is one slide I’d like to go back and redo to make sure I got the point across. I think it would have been better if I’d put more emotion into what I was saying. At the time I was so focused on not showing how nervous I was I didn’t put enough energy into my words. Since I ended up not using the note cards I made, it would have been better not to hold them. I ended up making many gestures with the hand holding the note cards and I worry it was distracting.
I think different things work better for different people, so there isn’t really any ‘secret’ to giving a good talk. However, if there was one, it would have to be to just be yourself and talk like what you have to say is important. If you don’t take yourself seriously or your topic seriously, no one else will, so it’s important to care about what you have to say. You reap what you sow, so all you have to do is give you best effort and take what comes. Not everyone will love your talk, but you won’t love everyone else’s. As long as you are happy with what you have done, then you did well.
When Mr. Long told us we had to present our own TED Talk in front of the entire class and a camera all I could think was I hate talking in front of people, and especially cameras. But then I got over that and made myself realize this was just a project and its no big deal. When I realized I had nothing to talk about was when I started to really worry.
Then one day my mom and I got in an argument, and when we argue I always try to apply logic to are disagreement because I know thats the only way I even have a chance of getting her to agree with me. But that day she wouldn’t even listen to my logic, and thats when I decided what I wanted to do my TED Talk about: over protective parents and the effect they have on our brains.
Do I think my topic was interesting to the larger world? I hope so. I know that there are plenty of kids who agree with me and plenty of parents that have heard the same old story, “mom/dad stop trying to control my life.” But, my goal for this talk was to introduce a new subject of discussion: does this type of parenting really have a negative effect on kids’ brains? After I presented my talk, my dad wanted to see my presentation and ever since we’ve been discussing each and every point I mentioned. I think my dad’s a little upset that I supported my argument a little too well.
When doing my talk I tried to make it as fact-based as possible. If I could do it over again I would go into the effects on the brain in more depth and I would include more data from experiments performed on the subject. Just like with my mom, I think the only way I can win over the support of more adults is by appealing to them logically. But, I would also have made my talk a little more personal. There were some personal connections made to my own life, but I never really expressed what it feels like to have every move I make controlled by two other people.
I think there are some TED speakers out there that would have helped me deliver my own talk in a more productive manner, but I don’t think I watched any of their videos. One thing I did learn is how to combine personal opinions and experience with factual evidence. That skill really helped me when developing my argument. But, I think my delivery could have been better and if I watch more TED speeches I’m sure I could improve just by observing. But ultimately I will only get better with practice.
An inspiring TED talk is one that is enthusiastic, revolutionary, and personal. Somebody could easily get up on a stage and blurt out some cool facts, but with out a personal connection and enthusiasm and passion, it’s not worth listening to. A talk not worth listening to can’t make a difference, and it can’t be revolutionary. Thats what makes TED so special, everybody is passionate about what they talk about.
The topic of my own TED Talk was the 2009 Iranian Election Protests.
But 2009 was “such” a long time ago! What’s the relevance?
My topic was interesting in it’s own way. At least, I hope so. Being in Iran during the start of the protests, I had no idea what the folks back home thought. Of course, when I got home friends asked if I was alright, but not about the riots themselves. It seemed like what started on June 13, 2009 was important, but no one really knew what to do about it. I spoke of the emotions of the people of Iran prior to the protests, how the majority supported Mousavi, and that many of the citizens felt betrayed by the government because their votes were thrown out. In my opinion, my Talk was just a story I felt needed to be shared because it seemed that no foreigner or journalist actually understood what was going on. To them, it was all a mystery.
Analyzing the TED talks were actually interesting and in my opinion helped my writing ability. Honestly, they didn’t actually affect my speaking. Well, I supposed I learned a few tips to help connect with the audience, and what not to-do, but overall it didn’t change that aspect of me. I think one should be themselves when speaking, and using the techniques of another would defeat that purpose. I “thought” I was a decent public speaker until I gave my Talk. It was disappointing. The topic was interesting, but I wasn’t. I was so drained; I felt as though I let myself down because I wasn’t as good a speaker as I thought. Then it occurred to me that I wasn’t giving a speech, but rather, telling a story. I was overjoyed when I discovered this, because from what my peers tell me, I am a terrible storyteller. This may seem like a bad thing, but it was actually good news in my book. It meant I could still be a good speaker, because what I did up on “the stage” wasn’t speaking, but storytelling. My stories are all bad, but I know I would have given a much better Talk if I had simply spoke about an interesting topic that impacted me, but had not “occurred” to me. I think my biggest problem is that I subconsciously think the audience already knows what I am talking about, causing me to skip important details.
If I redid my talk (again) I would have to learn to use my time better, while still sharing more parts of the story. I wouldn’t change the topic/type of my talk just to receive a better grade, because I think sharing the experience was more important.
I don’t actually know the “secret” to giving an inspiring Talk. I don’t think there is a secret ingredient, it simply has to be a topic people can relate to, and understand. If it’s amusing or life-changing, well that’s just a bonus. If I had to “makeup” a rule to a great TED Talk, it would be the following: Become inspired. Chase your inspiration, and then share what you think is important.
For my TED talk I spoke about bad decision making. I included what causes people to make bad choices and the hardships that come with making them. This topic is inspiring to the world because everyone has to make decisions. As the world has grown more complex and integrated it has become harder for people to make the decisions they know are the right thing. With the technology we have today, like TV and the Internet, we are constantly being bombarded with ideas of how we should be. Mentally we will feel as if we have come up short. As people feel worse about themselves, they begin to criticize others. With the tension we put on ourselves to live up to the standards of the media comes the complexity of making the right choices. In other words, the multitude of today’s media confuses the idea of what is the good decision to make in life. The media often promotes what is enticing over the short term, rather than what will be beneficial over the long term. Therefore, society as a whole has a harder time of making the right decisions.
Watching the TED talks was really beneficial to me as it came time to give my own TED talk. Other TED talks inspired me to want to spread the ideas of what I feel strongly about. I also learned what makes a good presentation. By watching the TED videos I gained the insight and knowledge of giving a presentation even though I had not given one. When I actually gave my talk I felt like I had a good idea of how to present it.
If I were to redo my TED talk I would go slower so that people could hear more clearly what I was saying. If I had the opportunity to address this subject again I would have gone into more detail concerning the interplay of the different topics of my talk, but with the time given I felt like I said what I needed to say. I also would further elaborate upon the negative of the long term effects of making bad decisions so that people would be more aware of the consequences. Now that I have given my presentation I can learn from my mistakes and correct them next time.
In my opinion, two important aspects for giving an inspiring talk are an interesting subject and an exhibit of passion for that subject. People want to listen to something that concerns them or is fascinating to hear. An interesting topic will keep your audience’s attention. It is crucial that when picking your topic that you have your audience in mind. On the contrary, you also have to pick a topic that you are passionate about. If you are really passionate about the subject you will more likely draw them to your viewpoint. If these things are taken into consideration when giving a presentation your talk will be successful and inspiring.
My talk was over divorce from a kid’s point of view. I think this was a good topic primarily because of the large percentile of divorced families. Divorce is becoming ever more apparent and growing, with it comes a huge effect on our society. People do not always think of the aftermath of their actions and this action has a huge effect on everyone involved. It effects both children and adults and helps display the view and struggles of a child going through a divorce that often parents are blind to or simply ignorant of. Divorce has a huge impact on multiple peoples live therefore worthy of being a Ted talk.
Analyzing the TED talks helped me greatly to prepare for my own talk. I am not one big on public speaking and by watching how other speakers carried themselves and made their talks their own it helped me develop my own style. I’m not saying I am an amazing public speaker and that I am totally over my fear of speaking ,but the videos definitely inspired me and served as somewhat as a speaking coach. The TED speakers are all excellent speakers but none of them give their talk the exact same way. This was very helpful in prepping for my talk.
If I could change something about my talk I think I would have tried to include more percentile facts about divorce and express the facts more on divorce. Aside from that I was pretty pleased with my talk. I was a little shaky and had a couple break downs which bothered me. I wish I could have done my talk and been able to stay stronger throughout it. I’m not a very emotional person so it bothered me that I showed so much emotion in front of my peers.
A truly inspiring talk comes from someone who is truly passionate about what they are talking about. I was inspired by talks that I normally would not have the slightest feeling for. If the speaker is excited and passionate, it naturally causes the audience to become rallied up and inspired. Just as a smile is contagious, so is inspiration. If you are truly passionate about your topic it will show through tour talk. Do not worry about your speaking skills but simply, talk. That is what makes a talk truly inspiring.
My TED talk was over traveling, all the ways to travel, and necessities when traveling. I have been many places so this talk relates to me in a way where “I know what I’m doing” sort of thing.
Whenever I was deciding what to talk about I had no idea what to do, whenever you watch TED its more people telling you how to do stuff, or telling you something they have done before. In my talk I was extremely nervous and I messed up a lot because I could not think straight. If I could ever re-do my talk I would probably be more inspired by my talk. I would change up the slides, be more enthusiastic, and really show how much my topic means to me.
Watching TED videos for 8 weeks helped with learning how to speak with eye contact, a loud voice, and to be outgoing. When I watched my classmates do their talks I noticed once you did the first slide you got less nervous and opened up to the audience/camera. When I got really nervous I would try to smile so that I would feel less uncomfortable.
One thing to fix next time I speak in public would be to know what I am talking about after each slide so I can keep going and not just stop. Watching my classmates I learned about what things inspire them and I saw people who could really be a great speaker in the future.
I know very well that my talk applied to a large majority of teenagers, today and a long time ago. There are more teens in the world who don’t do drugs than that do, and yet we only seem to focus on those who do. Rather than talking about why you shouldn’t do drugs, how to say no, or what will happen if you don’t, I talked about not doing drugs. I talked about how hard it is to keep saying no when even your best friend is doing it. And most importantly, how badly drugs hurt those around you. When I was standing in front of the class, I wasn’t sure if anyone was interested at all, but afterwards, I kind of knew. Several people, even ones I don’t talk to often, came up to me afterwards and talked to me about it. I felt sort of…accomplished.
It’s clear to me that I wouldn’t have been able to give this talk without watching and analyzing videos over the last two months. My best friend has been dead for months, and I haven’t talked about it with anyone except my closest friends since it happened, and yet, I was able to stand up in front of a class room full of people, and tell a story. Despite the fact that most of us have known eachother for the past six or so years, I don’t know any of them very well. I’m a very reserved person in some areas- my home life being one of them.
I honestly don’t believe that I would have been able to give my talk without some of the videos I’ve seen on TED, but it was important to me. From the minute we were assigned our own talks, I’d been working on two: the one that I did and one on music, both of which would have been very personal to me. I chose not to go with music because of some of the talks that people in my class were giving, and because of some of the videos on TED. Anyone can tell that music is my “thing” from either reading my video responses, or actually knowing me. It wouldn’t have been anything that they hadn’t heard from me before, so I did something that no one knew. A lot of people expect me to be the “druggie” type because I’m a musician and I listen to 80’s Punk bands- but I’m not.
If I could re-do my talk, I probably would have emphasized that a little more. Just because you act a certain way doesn’t mean that you’re going to make the same mistakes as everyone before you. My family has a history of drug problems and alcohol abuse, why would I want to wind up the same way? That’s why it was so hard for me when my best friend started doing drugs…I was watching him do the exact things my family did, and I couldn’t stop him. I feel like people thought I was giving a lecture on why you shouldn’t do drugs, but that wasn’t it at all. I’m perfectly okay with it if that’s the message they got from it, because I can easily say that I would never advise anyone to use drugs for any reason whatsoever, but I’d feel generic. There are plenty of people out there who can tell you why you shouldn’t use drugs…how many will tell you how hard it is to keep saying no?
I don’t know what the key to an inspiring talk is, but I do believe that a talk will be interesting as long as it’s something you’re truly passionate about. I feel that the easiest way to make a NOT inspiring talk was to treat this project like a grade. I honestly don’t think that the grade mattered at all…what matters to me is that I affected someone…even if it’s just one person. I’m the same way with music…why put something out there if it’s not going to affect anyone? So, my key to an “inspiring” talk, is to only put it out there if it actually matters.
The topic I chose was ocean conservation. I discussed the atrocities of the world around us and how it is affecting the most crucial component of our world. The ocean provides most of the life on Earth and life originated there. The ocean is a necessary component of the world around us and without it there would be no life on Earth.
In regards to the impact on the larger world, my TED talk displayed my passion about the ‘Era of Conservation.’ While intertwining facts and stories concerning the ocean and my involvement, I used the recent oil spill to show the devastating effects humans are having on the ecology of the ocean. The ocean is the basis of life. Everyone has been to an ocean of some sort before. It is often dismissed or rather, pushed aside. The ocean needs to be acknowledged, cared for, and protected. The conservation of the ocean is very encompassing. It verifies the horrible things we are doing to the environment while also giving insight into how to protect the ocean. Therefore, the topic appealed to the larger majority of people because I provided details, facts and stories about the mysteries of the ocean, while also providing room for empathy.
Watching these TED blogs significantly impacted my talk. They showed what to do and what not to do. They essentially prepped me for my own speech. The TED talks gave me the rhythm, the visual appeal, and the speaking components necessary for a professional and passionate speech. The most successful videos used all three components listed above, while also being able to relate people from all corners of the globe. If you can inspire people to act on an idea just by giving a five to twenty minute speech, you have done your job. TED has taught me to not just think of great ideas but to act on them and that has not only helped me for my own talk, but also for life ahead.
If I could do my talk one more time, I would definitely emphasize how to help the situation at hand. I would like to embolden the aspects of cleaning up beaches, recycling, and eating sustainably caught fish. If these components were added, the ‘inspirational’ factor would have been more effective and more people would have left my talk feeling like they could actually act in order to save our oceans
The most essential component of a great TED talk is being passionate about the topic. If anything, passion is the most crucial component of any speech. Whether it is ocean conservation, or baseball, speeches need to matter to you. People are very intuitive. If they sense that you are not passionate about the topic, why should they be inspired? However, when they see that fiery passion building up inside the speaker and they can relate to the topic, they think: What can I do to help? Inspiration is fundamental and it is only achieved if you are passionate about the topic. If you aren’t, why would you even bother to speak about the topic at hand?
Overall, TED has helped me reach a new found confidence in my speaking abilities. It has given me the opportunity to portray important parts of my life. TED has given me the opportunity not only to be inspired, but to also inspire others.
This project is a fundamental step in order to become a confident person, both on stage or in daily conversation. I would recommend any classroom of any age group to do this project, because it builds our knowledge base and our source of inspiration. I believe that if TED continues to do what they are doing, they could have a significant impact on the thinking processes of future generations.
I did my TED talk on OCD, its components and different aspects. I am passionate for this subject due to the fact that I have three family members that have this disorder. I feel, at times, that the world is under-informed and I wanted to help a small group of twenty or so people understand.
I’m not sure if my talk can be seen as “inspiring to the larger world”, but I think it’s most definitely interesting. Everyone loves a good story about people that are less fortunate than themselves. People with OCD suffer every minute of every day and although that may not be riveting it’s something to think about.
Watching numerous TED talks really helped me. I could decipher what was worthy and what was not and that helped inspire my talk. My talk was far from perfect but for a first timer I think I did alright. The advice I received just from watching these videos was very useful.
If I could re-do my talk I would change how much time I had. I could talk forever about OCD and I wish that I could have had more time to do so. Also I wish I could have shared my more personal experiences with this disorder. It’s easier for someone to connect and understand when you relate human experiences to the subject. If I could have told people about my story with this disorder maybe my peers could have further understood what effects OCD really has.
Who knows what makes a TED talk inspiring or not, I can’t say there’s only certain subjects that are defined as interesting or inspiring. Although a talk about struggle and then survival is inspiring some people can make computer science inspiring. So, I suppose, what makes something inspiring, is the delivery, not so much what story’s being told but how it’s being told.
My TED talk was about food calories, and how big the portions we get at restaurants now days are. Over the years it seems that bigger is better, but really by doing this we are only hurting ourselves with all these unnecessary calories. Even though it’s very bad in the United States, it’s not just here; it’s also a problem in many other countries. One dilemma is that since food is such a simple everyday thing, people do not take the time out of their day to count the calories or read about what they are actually putting in their body.
Spending the two months working on and watching TED talks helped me tremendously on putting together my very own TED talk. To start with, I always do better with examples, and watching someone do something before I have to do it myself. I watched a few while working on my TED talk to see how they talk and what their slides and pictures looked like. Also, I learned how to get the audience involved in what you are speaking about. It is easy to lose the audience’s attention sometimes, and as I watched some TED talks I focused on how they kept making their talk more and more interesting or unpredictable to keep to audience engaged.
If I had another shot at my TED talk, I would work on speaking slower and my stage presence. In advance I had my talk planned out perfectly: How I would stand, make sure to have eye contact, and to speak slow. As soon as I got up there, I let my nerves get the best of me. I felt like everything I had rehearsed was erased from my mind. Public speaking is very hard, even if it does not appear to be. Especially when it is not something you practice a lot it can be a challenge. Although I do feel I did a good job, but with more practice with speaking in front of an audience I will continue to get better.
I think the secret to giving a really inspiring talk is to know your material and practice it a lot. To me it is not about how much you know or how many slides, but about how good you can relate your knowledge to your audience. By practicing your talk it also makes your stronger and more familiar with it, so when you go on stage you will feel more relaxed with knowing it. Another important factor for giving a talk is be comfortable and inspired by your own topic. How can you inspire someone else, if you are not even inspired? It’s hard to do, so pick a topic you can relate to and something you will enjoy talking about. In conclusion, my advice to anyone who is looking for how to give a talk is to be calm, know your facts, and be passionate about what you have to say.
Personally, I chose a topic that I am passionate about. Everybody has different views, but I do think that there was a genuine aspect to my presentation. It was not just an assignment, it was a topic that I had interest in. If my feelings were conveyed to the audience, then I believe I succeeded. I believe my talk was more inspiring, due to the fact that it could potentially be what I want to pursue in the future. Animation is something that connects us all through our childhood, everybody in the audience has experienced it at one point or another, and therefore I believe I captured interest.
Analyzing TED speakers definitely made me aware of the importance of body language and tone of voice. However, I believe there is no way to “prepare” for a talk, you have to experience it. The most important thing to me was that I pick a topic I knew inside and out because I am invested in it. There can always be pointers, but ultimately you have to find what works for you. I believe preparation comes with familiarity, and not so much analyzing others.
If I had a chance to do my TED talk once over, I would probably bring one note card up with bullet points containing one or two phrases. I learned that you cannot over prepare, you just have to get up on stage, and let what comes to you speak for itself. Organization wise, I would have wanted to just stick to two big ideas, and tie the rest of the presentation back to those two points. I would have also liked to add a few more humorous comments into my talk. Anything to lighten the mood always helps.
The secret to a really inspiring TED talk is to care. Care about what you are saying, and the audience will as well. Have no fear, and it’s fine to let some vulnerability show, because it just indicates that your topic is important to you. These things sound easy to do but in reality are hard to achieve. To have confidence is a very big key factor in making a successful presentation.
I have always been fascinated with space since I was a little kid. I think everyone has at least a little curiosity about whats really in space.
I think spending 2 months researching this topic has helped made my presentation. My topic had such a wide range of thing to talk about it was kind of hard to chose what things to talk about. I wish I would have spent a little more time research and maybe even talking to professionals in that field of study. I think talking to people that know a lot about space would have really helped put my TED talk over the top.
The think I thing that really makes a TED talk stand out is the speakers personality. If you look like your really into what your talking about and if it seems like it matters to the speaker, it’s probably going to make the watcher more interested in your talk and will make the watcher pay more attention to the talker.
After going through giving a ‘TED talk’ I have to say I have a lot of respect for TED speakers and looking back I think spending two months analyzing them helped me to gauge how to present and what types of topics appealed to different people.
In the end I feel that I chose a good topic. Medicinal herbs are something that I personally love, that other people might find interesting. I think it’s a real shame that your average American is more willing to reach for a bottle of pills than a packet of tea. I was a little worried it might be too dry and informative for others to find it engaging but think I managed to make even the sleepiest student just a little bit more interested in common weeds.
However if I were to give my TED talk again I think I would try to work on my delivery. I don’t enjoy public speaking and I think it came out a bit rushed and hurried. With a bit more preparation I feel like I could have presented with more confidence and, having watched each of my classmates talks I think that presentation is one of the key elements to an inspiring talk.
The other is finding a topic that you truly care about, because it shows in the way you present. I found that people talking about abstract or impersonal topics were less interesting than those who shared something either from their own experience or about their personal passions, from family history to dance, drama or art. If they loved the topic of their talk you could tell.
My TED talk subject was on poverty with an emphasis on how we in the USA compare to other nations. I believe that we in the USA who are considered living at the poverty level have no idea what it means to be really poor. While I believe poverty is a subject that affects the world at large I tried to focus on how we as individuals can make a difference by giving back to our communities. I hope that my discussion of how less fortunate people have to cope with their circumstances will inspire anyone who watches it to want to participate in volunteering. Volunteering does not have to be done on the grand scale but if I continue committed to helping others then someday I might be giving my own TED stage talk on how I have made a difference.
Two months of watching TED speakers made me want to learn more. I admit that when we had to choose our original eight TED videos I paid more attention to what the title or the picture led me to think the video was about. Sometimes the tag line for a presentation on art was not quite it appeared and I was disappointed in some of my initial selections but I tried to make the best of the situation. I was definitely more selective in my extra credit reflections. In watching the talks, however, I did learn about how to present my topic and how to flow from one point in my discussion to another. I started to feel that if all these persons could stand up in front of large audiences then maybe I had a chance in successfully completing my own TED talk in front of my peers. . In my own experience, I think that if I had been able to relax and not be so conscious of being filmed my talk would have been more effective.
What would I change in my own TED talk if I were given the chance to do it one more time?
I wanted to encourage my classmates to go out and seek organizations needing volunteers. My talk centered more on how the USA compares to in terms of poverty to other nations by using maps and statistics on income levels, life spans and poverty percentages. I should have concentrated more on pointing out the organizations that could use volunteers both in the USA and worldwide. I did not think that I had sufficient time in the six minutes to incorporate all I wanted to discuss and I had to choose which information would support my topic. In hindsight, I think that I chose the wrong path to make my point.
The main element I noticed in all the TED speakers I really enjoyed was the passion they had for the subject matter. In order to give such inspirational talks I believe that you have to incorporate all of the following: a passion for your subject, being knowledgeable about the subject. I think that if you are really motivated to share your feelings and want others to share your enthusiasm you must convey these elements. There is nothing more depressing and boring than watching a speaker come across as disinterested in whatever they have chosen to discuss. The really good speakers prompt the listeners to want to further their knowledge in the subject. As far as I am concerned, all my classmates did a great job with their talks and I feel that we all successfully completed a most challenging assignment.
I did my own talk over bowhunting. During my talk, I talked about all of the aspects and preparations of modern day bowhunting. I feel like my talk would be very interesting to non-bowhunters and might even inspire bowhunters to hunt more. I think that my talk would interest those people that already love the outdoors and the feeling of being with nature. Although, I know that some people don’t realize that any type of hunting is not solely about the kill and will be offended or thrown off. I think the people that understand all the work and time put into it and know what it is like to be ‘one with nature’ will be interested in my talk.
I think that spending all those hours watching and analyzing the TED talks really helped me in presenting my own talk. When I would watch the talks, I would notice which speakers seemed awkward and uncomfortable on stage and those that seemed relaxed and in control. So when I prepared to do my talk I would try and mimic the techniques that the relaxed speakers would use. I also feel like I could study the way the speakers used visuals to their advantage. When I did my talk, I used simple pictures to help get my point or idea across. I noticed how most of the talks did not use much text on in their visuals. Also I noticed how the good speakers made an attempt to make eye contact with their audience. Although my audience wasn’t nearly as large as theirs was, I tried to do the same.
If I could do my talk one more time I would try to slow down and talk with more emphasis on the last part. The guidelines for the talk was that it had to be under six minutes, however I finished with a little over a minute to spare. So knowing that, I would have slowed down on the parts that I thought I had to rush through to finish in time. I also would have tried to project my voice and talk more clearly.
After I had watched all the videos on TED, done my own talk, and listened to my fellow classmates give their talk, I would say that the secret to a really inspiring talk is being passionate about what you are giving your talk over. This is the main reason that I did my talk over something that was so personal to me. If you do not seem passionate about what are talking about, how can you expect people to be inspired by it? Whenever you try to convince someone to do something or try something new, don’t you seem passionate about it? Put yourself in the position of someone listening to your talk, and make it as interesting as possible. So when doing a TED talk, speak loud and clearly, look your audience in the eye, have simple visuals without mass text, and remember, be passionate about your topic.
I think that my talk was inspiring because my topic was something that is everywhere whether you are a kid or an adult. Racism is everywhere I just talked about when friends joke with each other and they bring race into it. I also talked about growing up from another races perspective. I also think that me being a teenager and talking about it has some influence just because you wouldn’t expect a teenager to talk about it. I think that adults would sympathize with a teenager rather than an adult on such a fragile topic.
The two months that we spent watching TED talks was vital to how all of us prepared our talks. If we hadn’t watched so many talks than we wouldn’t know what to do, or what subjects to talk about. I think that the talks taught us to pick topics that were dear to us. Like the ‘professional’ TED talkers we talked about experiences or our firm belief in something.
If I could redo my talk I would want to move more. I kind of stood in one position and I think I looked in the same direction for too long and maybe not use so many jokes. I wish that my nerves would dissipate when I give speeches.
The secret I think is in the subject. If you a choose subject that is dear to you and relates to the world than your talk will be good. The next part is the way you deliver the talk and how you organize it. I also think that if you leave a job for the audience to do in the world your talk becomes even more inspiring.
My talk dealt with the topic of architecture, and three words that architects should consider before designing a house. As much as I enjoyed my talk, I do not think that my peers really took a lot away from the talk. None of them are ‘crazy’ about architecture like I am, and none of them really care too much about my topic. For that reason, I think that my talk had its “moments” and made people think about the houses that they live in and see, but overall was not as inspiring as other talks that my peers gave. I thought that my talk was interesting, but again, I am biased in my opinion because I like architecture.
The talks that we analyzed up to the point that we gave our own talks were helpful in understanding how to give a talk. I do not think that these talks were absolutely necessary to watch in order to make our own talks. Yet, the other talks were invaluable to get a basic understanding of what was necessary in a talk and how to present a successful talk. That reason is the main benefit to why it was semi-necessary to watch other talks, and that reason was to make a successful talk. WE watched videos and talks, and discovered which of them was boring, interesting, inspiring, and a number of other adjectives. This help set the foundation for our own talk.
I was the first person to give their TED talk, so you can only imagine that I was a little nervous. I wish I had spoken more clearly and had not rushed my talk like one of my classmates told me I had. I also left a part out of my talk because when I had rehearsed my talk at home, it ran over the time limit by at most thirty seconds. I had enough time to enter that part back into my talk, but my nerves were too high, and I did not judge the time well enough.
I think that there are very essential points that a TED speaker, or any speaker, should keep in their mind when giving a presentation. I think there needs to be some comedy in a talk, especially when people are told to listen to many talks in one day; the comedy relieves the seriousness of the talk if only for a second. The nest is that the speaker needs to be very involved in their talk; the speaker has to have a great degree of care for his or her topic. One of my videos had this, and even though the topic was not as interesting as others, it was one of my favorite videos because the speaker was really ‘into’ his topic. Those are really the two main points that I believe need to be in most talks. The comedy ‘factor’ may be a little contrived, but in some situations it is necessary to “un-bore” your audience. I am not saying that the President needs to be a comedian now, but less serious talks like in school and on TED could benefit from a comedic relief.
All religions are the same. That was my rather controversial topic. In our day and age, and actually, throughout human history, this is a topic that will interest the majority of the world. Without exception religion plays a major role in our world today; and most of the time not even for any spiritual reason. The fact that religion affects us so profoundly in our political and social lives makes it something that is important not only to religious leaders and devout believers but also to leaders of countries and to husband and wife and friends and social circles. Relgion plays such a major and far-reaching part in our lives that saying that they are all the same is rather far-fetched. Wouldn’t you agree? However, because this is not my TED talk but rather about my TED talk, I will leave the opinions to those of you who choose to watch my talk.
The time spent analyzing and learning about the speakers and the way they communicated surely affected me positively however, I have always loved public speaking and so I feel as though it wasn’t absolutely necessary. The experience itself was priceless, the people who talked on the stage were incredible, however, in terms of affecting my speaking, it played a rather small part.
My dad had always told me that you can never be too loud, only too soft. And so, when I speak, I tend to speak rather loudly. Next time I give my talk, I will use a voice with slightly less volume because of the size of the room. And, because I am so passionate about this topic, I will force myself to be more relaxed, as several of my classmates told me it seemed as though I was angry. Constructive criticism truly allows for improvement.
Overall, the most inspiring or “ultimate” TED talk, is a talk that you feel personally attached too and wish the audience to feel the same way about. If you love something so much that you can transmit that love through only your voice, talking about that will create the most inspiring TED talk in the world. Rather, it will create the most inspiring talk in the world. To inspire someone, you have to make them feel the same way you do. If you feel lethargic about a topic, they will too. If you are passionate about a topic, you will convey it, and you will create a truly inspirational talk.
My TED talk was about my great-grandparents journey to America through Ellis Island; Their determination to give, not only their children but the generations below them, a better life. This was important to me because I didn’t realize my appreciation for not only my great-grandparents but all of the immigrants who left everything behind, for a better life, until I went to Ellis Island a few weeks ago. I believe that my talk was inspiring, because it showed that with the right amount of bravery and perseverance anything can happen.
I think that in someways spending two months analyzing TED talks helped me deliver my own TED talk. Spending eight weeks with TED helped me to know what to do and what not to do when delivering my talk. I became aware of body language and I realized what a good talk should look like. In the end though I do not believe that analyzing all the TED videos really helped me, because it was up to me to choose and to deliver my talk, and I truly do not believe that there is any way to prepare for a talk.
I know if I could have watched my TED talk again, there would definitely be things that I would change. I would try and calm myself down and not be so nervous, but I think that no matter how much I try, I will always have nerves. I definitely would have tried to emphasize the point of my talk more and I would have tried to not fidget as much as I did. Even though there are things that I would have changed about my talk, I think that I did a pretty good job considering my nerves and how much I dislike public speaking.
I believe that the secret to an inspiring talk is simple. If you want to inspire people all you need to do is talk about something that inspires you. If you are passionate about your talk, then everything will go great. It doesn’t matter if the audience thinks your topic is boring, as long as your having fun and you believe in the talk, then nothing else matters.
In my TED talk, I tried to get the audience off their mobiles and listen to the cries of the dying world around them. I believe that the unfortunate truth is we are becoming more and more self-centered and self-gratifying as we enter into the customized technology era, and now we can hardly peel our eyes away from our iPhones. It makes it difficult to concentrate on anything at all. We are always thinking about our work, and our families and ourselves or what we need to do to succeed more or how to get more money for a newer car, but empathy is a trait becoming too sparse amongst the global population. When we think inward, it becomes more difficult to think outward. This is the equation I have adopted and am trying to change. We often fail to realize that someone, somewhere has it way worse than we do. Even when we do identify with the problems of the world, we seldom act to change it. I have a very big problem with this.
As an actress, speaking to an audience was not the challenge; it was the articulation that needed to be perfectly executed if I were to inspire my classmates and successfully convey my concern. Analyzing the TED talks did help with this quite a bit: I could easily pinpoint the strides that needed to be taken in order to reach a certain goal. The speakers on TED who wished to inform and amaze people simply talked about what they loved, whereas the speakers who wished to impact people and stimulate them would speak with a pinch more passion and carry themselves in an entirely different way. After generating a mental, tacit formula for the varying purposes of a TED talk, I selected my purpose, to inspire and motivate, and wrote my talk accordingly.
As a whole, my presentation went like I had wanted it to. The feedback I received from my peers was satisfying, and majority was concerning the eye contact, which seemed to be highly effective in expressing my worries about my topic. Perhaps I would stress more about how giving to others can be so easy, and how we make donating and volunteering such a big deal and vocalize it as a hassle, when in reality the effort needed to help someone can be as easy as giving ten dollars to an online charity. However, the only thing I really would want is more time to talk more, and connect more with the audience.
To inspire, you have to establish a connection between you and the audience within the first minute. This mutual trust is the key to the audience’s attention, and can help them understand you better. I’ve noticed that if the speaker puts himself or herself on the same level as me, I more readily accept the insight they have to offer, because I can identify the point of view they are coming from, be it the consumer, or the victim of an accident or a facebook user. The subject of the talk has absolutely no relation to the feeling of motivation or inspiration inside the audience member; it is simply the delivery and passion. There can be very dull subjects, such as 1800’s children’s arithmetic or something of the like, and the speech can be flawless and inspire me to not overlook the dull side of our history, or to consider myself lucky to have the education I do. Connection and trust are the most important aspects in a TED talk, I believe.
For my presentation I talked about what Hip Hop really is and the history of it as music and a culture. I think my talk appealed to people in the larger world because it covers the truth of Hip Hop and how people think all music in this genre advocate sex, drugs, violence when really it started as dance music and moved onto sharing life stories.
At first when Mr. Long told we would be doing a talk of our own I knew exactly what I was going to do it over but I did really know how to present it. After watching and analyzing eight talks presenting seemed easier and I started to become less nervous on my presenting style. I think watching and analyzing videos before presenting helped me a lot, but I thing two months and eight videos was just a little bit longer.
If I were to do my talk again I would add more slides and I would go over more people that contributed to Hip Hop music and culture. One of the big things that got me into Hip Hop was that when I would listen to a song that mentioned someone or something that I did not know I would look them or it up. And that is how I gathered knowledge on different rappers and subjects. Just a couple of minutes ago Googled “Rockefeller Law” because I heard it in a song by Dead Prez. So I think that if I would’ve covered more people my presentation would be a lot more effective, because I think my audience start to do the same thing that I did.
In my opinion the secret of having a really good talk is to connect with your audience. I try to play on that through eye contact. For instance when I talked about how Jamaican toasting acted as a foundation to rapping I made eye contact with my classmate, Andrew, who is a very proud Jamaican. Another example was when I talked about the multi-syllabic rhymes and the development of lyrics I made eye contact with Daniella, a slam poet.
Although I cannot tell what will or will not be interesting to anyone other than myself, I hope that my topic of the influence of TV crime shows on society and the criminal justice system was interesting to other people. It is a topic that many people probably do not think about very often, but since so many people do watch TV shows and movies with the theme of crime and punishment, it is something that I think everyone should be aware of. I tried to incorporate interesting and fun images in my PowerPoint presentation and include references to TV shows that many people are familiar with to make the talk more relatable and interesting to others.
I think that spending time watching and analyzing other speakers’ TED talks absolutely influenced how I gave my personal TED talk. Being a self-proclaimed terrible public speaker, I was terrified to get up in front of my peers and just “talk” about something. Watching how these great speakers gave their talks effectively helped me calm my nerves and strategize how to give mine successfully as well. As I watched some of the TED talks, I noticed that many of the most effective talks involved making the talk personal to the speaker, relating it to the audience, telling an interesting or inspiring story, and supporting the talk with interesting images, so I tried to incorporate these ideas into my talk in the short period of time that I had to speak.
If I could do my Talk one more time, I would try to find a way to make my talk more relatable to the audience. Looking back, I feel as if I spent too much time spitting facts and theoretical possibilities, and not enough time explaining how it could affect the people in the room and why they should care about what I was saying. I also wish I had told more stories of things that happened in real life, because those are the more relatable aspects of talks that help prove that what you are saying could possibly happen legitimately has happened, and therefore could happen again. Time was my biggest issue, and I think my talk may have been more effective and I would have remembered to include more points if I wasn’t so worried about exceeding the time limit.
In my opinion, the secret to having a great talk is forcing people to truly care about it. The more you relate your talk to your audience and things that they care about, the more it will influence them and the more engaged they will be in your ideas. If you can inspire someone to take action or change something about their lifestyle, or even just become conscious of something, you have given a successful talk.
My talk was about learning differences. I think my talk would appeal to any audience because of the misunderstandings and mystery of what it’s like to suffer from learning differences. As long as I could engage the audience I feel that I can be successful.
After spending two months watching good and bad TED talks I feel that they prepared me for my own talk well. After watching the TED videos I realized that my PowerPoint would need to be formatted in a more creative way rather than just information written on a slide. In addition i also discovered that the speakers choice of lexicon made it easier for the audience to comprehend the speakers ideas.
If I were to redo my talk I would go into detail better into ADHD and ADD. Because they affect my life equally as much as Dyslexia and dysgraphia does and I feel that the audience might have forgotten about the other two.
The secret to inspire me is to make me think about what you just said and to give thought into their ideas and feelings. However the way you make the audience feel by the tone of your voice. For example Hannah White brought a real relaxed cool attitude to the audience while she was talking about how chemicals in shampoo can harm you. No one could have delivered her talk like she did.
But I also observed that its possible to be too passionate about your topic. If your tone comes off angry during your talk, the audience will likely walk out of the room either disgusted or scared. If they walk away with either of these attitudes you hurt your argument and topic rather than you helping it.
But the TEDxClassroomProject will be somewhere on the top of my list as one of the most memorable academic projects I did in high school. I know analyzing complicated material all over the spectrum will prepare me for college courses and performing the talk gave me public speaking experience that I will need for later in life.
My TED Talk was about dieting and popular diets that you would think were healthy, but aren’t. I even talked about some possible choices of diets and an alternative to dieting. I think my talk would be inspiring to all those people out there who think that because of all the magazines and stars that they have to be thin and use the program that your favorite star is using. These people could finally see behind the colors and names of the diets that they are actually not healthy and can cause serious health problems. After analyzing TED videos it helped me find the right pacing to make the audience understand me and connect with my ideas. If I could redo my talk I would probably emphasize the way the marketing of the diet makes us want to go out and try it. I think the secret to a really inspiring TED talk is to make your talk about something you are inspired with and something you may want to learn about even more. Also great visuals that attract the audience can help make your TED Talk great.
My TED talk was over stage fright. I think my talk was interesting to the larger world because some people go through this situation all the time. I think in the last two months of watching the TED talks, I learned a lot. By watching, I learn how to present better and make good eye connection with the audience. If I did my TED talk over I would concentrate on making better eye contact and slow down the speed of my talking. I think a inspiring talk is when you talk and tech someone about something that matter to you.
Personally, I think that my topic was rather inspiring. I have a lot of friends who are vegetarians and with my dad being a chef, I learn a lot about food and where it comes from. I think that if more people learned about the meat that they are eating, and what happens to it while it is still alive, they would be more cognizant of what they eat overall.
I think that the two months helped me prepare, maybe unintentionally, to talk in front of the people in my class. Watching those talks showed how those people were prepared and how nervous or calm they were.
If I could do my talk one more time, I would finish all of the information. With the time limit that was set for us, I completely skipped over two points that I really wanted to make. The problem with my presentation was that I didn’t have any slides for that information. If I had the chance, I would probably make slides for that information and make sure that I was more prepared.
I think the secret to a really inspiring talk is to choose a topic that your viewers can connect with, or to integrate stories that they can relate to. I think that if you have a story that means something to your point and to the viewers. People really want to hear about other’s stories, about their lives, and I think that is what really makes a TED talk.
One of the most important deciding factors in determining the success of a TED talk is the topic. It must engage your audience. That is why i chose to talk about beauty. I did not only talk about one aspect of beauty either. I expanded the idea in many different directions. This allowed my audience to stay interested during my talk because I wasn’t just repeating the same idea over and over; it had some variety. When choosing my topic I didn’t just think about what my audience would enjoy listening to, I thought about what I would enjoy talking about as well. I have learned that if the speaker doesn’t even sound interested then the audience stops caring. In general I also think a topic such as beauty can be thought about in many different ways. It can sound provocative, scientific, universal, or anything in between. Beauty evokes many types of thoughts and emotions and those kids of dynamic topics are the ones that really engage the audience and keeps them interested.
I absolutely think studying and analyzing TED talks for two months helped me with my presentation. All those weeks I learned the Do’s and Don’t’s in the world of TED. TED is a unique kind of experience that you must immerse yourself in to to really know how to execute it. It also helped me gain confidence in my own abilities to talk and become a mini-expert on my own topic.
If I chose to redo my TED talk there are a few things I would change. First of all I would try to make the visual experience of my PowerPoint longer to give the audience a little more to chew on during my presentation and follow my points better. I would also have practice my talk in the actual space I would be doing it so I could learn how to work the room better, in terms of moving around, hand gestures, how to put emphasis on a certain part of my talk. Something I also would have done, if time allowed, was to add more emotion to my talk because that pulls people in because they can relate more easily with personal experience than facts and concepts.These are the things that really amazing TED speakers perfect and that’s how you can tell them apart from the rest.
As I said before, the topic, visual experience but most importantly how you deliver your TED talk are things that determine whether or not your talk will be inspiring to your audience. Once you perfect these things, little nuances such as the passion you exude during the talk and eloquence of your speech will surely help you give a remarkable TED talk.
The reason I did my talk over my family business was because my dad has always really inspired me by how hard of a worker he’s been. He raised me to never quit and I knew I always wanted to be just like him by all the great qualities he had. Since this was so personal to me, I don’t think people in the larger would would think this topic is very interesting. But, I think some might find this inspiring and maybe take in some of this success to their mind and change their lifestyle.
Spending all this time since spring break preparing these talks for our final TED talks have most definitely helped me. Watching so many people give their talk to a crowd has really shown me things what to do and what not to do! I learned a lot from all these different people and took it into consideration before I presented my own talk to the class.
I think if I could do my TED talk one more time I would choose a subject that the world would be more interested in. It was a lot easier to do a talk over something I was so familiar with, but I think if I could find something more broad and something I was passionate about I would be able to give a really good talk.
I think the big secret of a great talk is a subject everyone is interested in and starting off with a good beginning that would grab every one’s attention. I personally think Hersh did a really good job with doing both of these things. He did a topic that everyone is aware of and always having conflicts over and also started the talk at a very loud voice and start that grabbed every one’s immediate attention and go them sucked in.
My TED talk was about how my disease changed my life. I wanted to share my inner problems with my classmates- something that only a very minute, few amount of people have seen me deal with. I wanted people to know what I was conceiling from the rest of the world. Not only did I want to share my story, but I wanted people to know that everyone has those problems that they’re scared to share with the world, and that it’s okay to be open with people about their problems. Because I was so open with my friends about my struggles, it brought us all closer together and made my hardships that much easier to deal with because I had their full support. I truly hope that my talk was inspiring to others, because it’s not exactly the easiest thing to talk about.
Watching and analyzing all of the videos for this project did truly help me with all of the aspects of my talk. Visually, the videos helped me in the design of my PowerPoint and the set up of it. The videos also helped me with the delivery of my subject, such as the pacing and tone. It also helped me with my posture and movement in the view of my class.
If I could go back and change it, there would be many things that I would alter. I would first try to refrain myself from crying. I think that my tears did have a powerful effect on it, but my whole goal wasn’t for people to see my talk as a sob story. I wanted to inspire people to look beyond the surface of another random person. I would also change how I presented myself to the class. I felt like I was very stiff and somewhat repetitive in my presentation. I also wish that I hadn’t let my nerves get the best of me because I think that that also crippled my talk.
Lastly, I think the secret to a great, inspiring talk is to find a way to grab your audience’s attention. Something to catch their eye and peak their interest. Once you’re able to do that, then I think it’s important to find something to then spark the inspiration of that person. Make it very relateable and not full of things many people don’t understand.
The talk I gave was about the discovery of the Antikythera device that was found. I think it was an interesting topic but it did suffer from my poor speaking performance. I think anytime something is discovered in archeology or just by accident it is interesting to the world. We can all benefit from these types of discoveries.
I definitely benefited from watching and analyzing many TED talks over the past couple of months. I saw successful and not so successful talks. I tried to mimic the ones that I was most inspired by. However, I am a shy person and I did not properly convey the excitement and interest that my audience needed.
I felt like my talk suffered from my poor ability to sift through a lot of data and info and cut to the chase. I would have liked to be more relaxed about it. I really enjoyed researching the topic, but when it came to doing the talk I was nervous and uptight. I think more practice at public speaking would help. The subject is really interesting and should have been more lively.
The secret to a good talk is enthusiasm and passion. The talk that I liked the best given by the African economist Ayittey was captivating because he was so passionate about the subject. He also came across as very knowledgeable about the subject. I also think being comfortable with the audience and looking them in the eyes helps.
I believe that my talk was pretty inspiring. Given that we were only allowed 5-6 minutes I really had to get my point across fast. Because of the time issue I felt like I rushed by talk to fast but I think I effectively delivered my point across to the audience. I believe the real world would be inspired from the talk because my topic relates to everyone in some way or another. We all have been through an injury that has held us back from our full potential. Because we can all relate I believe I have a sort of connection with my audience, which I believe is key to a good presentation.
Spending two months to analyze TED really helped me prepare for my own presentation. I was stuck for some time on how to start my presentation. After watching some of my favorite talks and some of my least favorite talk I was able to pick up good and bad qualities from both and use them in my own talk. One of the major things I picked up from my most favorite talks was the connection with the audience. I cannot stress how important I believe this is to a presentation. If you have that connection you have already done your job, the rest is just bonus.
When I was about to present I was a little nervous not because of the people around me but because of the intimidating camera and stopwatch. I believe If I was to redo the presentation, which I intend to in the near future, I will pace myself better and find a way to connect even more with the audience, because there can never be a to strong of a connection between the speaker and the audience.
I talked about how school really fails to prepare you for life. The topic itself is very controversial. I think it is interesting, if only the topic. I think that watching and analyzing talks helped to prepare us for our own talk. It helped to pick a topic that would come across as interesting. Also, it helped to teach me how to deliver the talk itself. I would have added more information and examples to my presentation. Also, I would have been able to actually deliver the talk better a second time. And no, I don’t think there is a magic secret to do a great TED talk.
The main reason I did my TED talk about Facebook was because I felt it would be interesting to students.
I believe that my talk was interesting and hopefully made students realize that they need to be more careful of what they put online. I felt that my fellow students would be interested in the topic I was talking about because they understand it and we belong to a generation centered around Facebook.
Watching TED videos really helped prepare us for our own talks. It was nice to be analyzing because it helps you reach your own audience.
If I could redo my talk, I would use more real life examples. Every day I hear about Facebook on the news. As teenagers, we know it can be dangerous but we don’t act until we see something bad happen.
I think the secret to inspire the audience is to be connected what your talking about. I noticed that the talks that affected me the most, were very personal to the speaker. Knowing that the story is something that is so personal to them, makes people automatically interested.
My TED talk was a story about my little brother, and the many struggles my family has gone through with his mysterious medical issues.
Honestly I don’t believe my talk hit very close to home for my audience in the room. But I do think for those 5 minutes they were able to immerse themselves in the story and maybe get a taste of what it would be like.
To my larger audience (the internet), I believe that there will be at least one person out there that will be able to say they have experienced or are experiencing a situation similar to mine. I hope that some one out there can watch my video and know that they are not alone in their confusion and daily heartache as they search for answers.
After two months of watching several TED talks, the main concept I have learned is that as long as you inspire or connect with one person in your audience, you have been successful. I feel that if I were to do my talk again and not be so nervous, I would have connected with my audience much better
I believe the secret to giving an inspiring talk, is to talk about something that inspires you. You could be the greatest speaker in the world, but if you have no passion or inspiration behind your topic it’s going to negatively effect your audience. If you show no emotion or enthusiasm, you can’t expect for your audience do so either.
I believe my talk could have inspired people around the world. My talk about hunting let people know that it is not just going out somewhere and killing an animal. Hunting is a way people can survive or a way people can live. It showed how people can use hunting for an advantage. This is something I take seriously and it is a major part of my life. Watching the videos with professionals from different areas of the world made realize you have to be emotionally connected with your talk. It also showed me what to do and what not to do. My PowerPoint went from words to pictures that caught peoples eye. It let me take a few words turn into an image which is worth a thousand. I also think that my talk could have been rejected by people easily. Some people think you can got to a supermarket and by food to survive. You can do that but hunting is something that is a passion which is time consuming. If I could had emphasized more on that subject I could have made a better impact on people. More people could understand that hunting is more than going to a market and buying food. The big secret is being able to gain the attention of the people you are talking to. If you can make an effort to do that you have a chance on impacting people and how they think.
Doing my TED-inspired talk over public speaking I feel that it was interesting, at least to my classmates because public speaking is something everyone(or 99% of people) can relate to. It is seldom you find a TED-talk topic that pleases everything so I believe my talk could appeal to a very large variety of people. A couple months ago, I didn’t know what TED was. If I didn’t go through this experience and you asked my what TED was today I would definitely say, a name? TED has so much to offer people, even to students my age. You can learn so much from so many speakers from around the world which can lead to so many new ideas and opportunites. So yes, 2 months of analyzing TED talk greatly helped me create my own TED-inspired talk. Although I have had more public speaking opportunites than some of my classmates and TED wasn’t the sole influence, it definitely contributed.
Actually, third question about improving my talk will actually help me because I am doing my talk one more time in the upcoming week. What I hope to improve in my talk is a little more humor because if you are making people really laugh, then you know for sure they are interested and listening to everything you are saying. Throughout my talk I want people to be more comfortable with public speaking, it’s not something to extensively worry about. I also hope to make my talk a little longer with more questions for people to ponder. I felt that in my last talk it was rushed and shortened and although I feel it was good, I feel that if could have been better. After this entire experience, I believe the secret to a really inspiring talk is finding a way to connect to your audience. Figure out what will make them listen and have a true passion for what you are saying. If you have a passion for whatever you are talking about then let people see that, even those uninterested in your topic. Don’t force it down their throats or drown them in facts. Find your own personal way to connect. Along with passion, who knows, you could be someone’s inspiration in beginning to do or learn something great.
My TED talk was over a school provided class, at our school, called Zero Hour. It’s called a class, but really it’s a place where the student athletes go to get stronger, faster, and quicker. In my talk I presented basically four main qualities that come along with Zero Hour. Commitment, trust, self-determination, and camaraderie are all key components to life and the business world. I tried to give a talk that would connect with my audience. Luckily, they all went to my school.
As far as my presentation goes, I think i did “okay”. I thought that it would be easier than I thought and under pressure I lost a few key points to my presentation. But if anything, I thought it was great practice for me as a speaker and a presenter.
If there is any advice I can give to the reader right now it would be that to not take granted of rehearsing. If you want to give a perfect presentation you have to practice perfectly.
I feel that my TED talk was very inspiring because it was something that I truly believed in and everything that I talked about came from the heart. When the audience sees that I really care about what I am talking about then that is going to inspire them. I don’t think that watching TED talks helped that much but in ways it did. One thing it did help me with was my slide presentation. I literally didn’t have any information on my slides and that is what I learned from some of the TED talks that I watched over the last few months.
Honestly if I could do my TED talk over again I don’t think i would change a thing. I said everything that I wanted to say to get my point across and I think that is what matters in the end. The secret to an inspiring TED talk is to really believe in what you are talking about and not just stating facts, because anybody can go up their and do that. To inspire people, you have to be inspired yourself.
I believe my TED talk was very informative. I don’t think most people know what it goes on, and what has to be done in order to run a vet clinic. I also work at a vet clinic and I think that personal touch reall added to my talk.
Watching all those speakers really did make me think when I was getting ready to present. They were all so sure and confident and I really wanted to be like that. So, I reall thought about what I had put in to this and what it meant to me and that seemed to give me the same confidience that the TED speakers had.
If I could redo my TED talk I would better empasize the connection between running a vet clinic and the comunity. I think this would have helped my connection with my audience.
Passion, passion is key. If you are passioniate people will listen. Passion also gives people a reason to care about what you are saying. But, the most important part of passion is, if you are passionate then what others think will not maatter to you because it’s about you, and what you love, and that attitude will help you look great on stage.
My TED talk was about my favorite hobby which is making short films or videos. I talked about how I got started and what I like to do with them and how I plan on taking it a little further. I believe that my talk was inspiring for the most part because I showed how I can make something that others would see as a hard task and make it look fun. Which it is in reality. It shows that I have a true passion for something and that other people could share this same passion with me. A big part in what helped me prepare this short talk was watching and analyzing all the talks in class. It really showed me how I could make my TED talk really eye catching, and how to do the complete opposite. Watching all the videos on the website led me to see how I can capture people’s attention and make them understand where I’m coming from and keep them interested the whole time. After seeing all the videos on TED and making mine I’ve come to realize that to make the perfect TED talk you can’t just blurt out facts and statistics. Like I said in my talk, you have to make them feel some emotion when watching it. I noticed that in a lot of professional talks the speaker would tell jokes to try to get to the audience on a different level. Even if it was a small remark, it still made a big difference. I believe the key to a good TED talk is this: don’t go up there thinking “what can I do to get through this?”. But think “how can I keep the audience asking for more?”. If I had to do my talk one more time that is what I’d do. Of course I made them laugh but I planned on doing so much more. And in the heat of the moment when you’re up on stage, it’s a lot harder then it sounds.
I gave my talk about how people only focus on one thing they are good at when they should use all their talents to benefit the world. I think this topic is relevant to the rest of the world as a whole because people everywhere give up on part of their dreams all the time. Everyone has many talents and skills so I think that people can relate to what I said and take it into consideration when making decisions that affect their future.
After spending a good amount of time watching TED talks I feel like I gained a better understanding of what a TED talk is and how to give an effective talk of my own. It gave me some examples to demonstrate the proper ways to move around the “stage” and how to put together a slideshow. These talks are given by the best of the best, so watching them was definitely an inspiration to make mine as great as possible.
If I could do my talk again there are definitely a few things I would change. I would be sure to make eye contact with every person in the room. Right before I gave my talk I reminded myself not to forget to make eye contact, but once I hit the stage I completely forgot. I would also better emphasize the impact that having multiple talents has on the world. I would give more examples of people who use their multiple talents efficiently. I would talk slower, as well. I have a tendency to talk very quickly when I get nervous and I was very nervous. Finally, I would drink more water before I gave my presentation! My mouth felt like a desert which made it difficult for me to project my voice.
I think that the secret to a really great TED talk is about the presentation of the idea, rather than the idea itself. You can have the best idea in the world, but if it isn’t presented in a new and exciting way people aren’t going to care. Also, a great TED talk involves passion. If I can tell that the speaker is passionate about what they are saying I am more apt to be interested.
My talk on baseball and its effect on my life I do think could have been interesting and inspiring to the world, although my presentation was poorly executed and modest at best. The presentation could have been more cohesive and could have been more tightly tied to larger world connections.
The topic, itself, had potential, but ultimately I failed while attempting to make these connections.
From this experience, I do not think the two months that I spent analyzing various TED speakers helped me give my own talk. When someone is in the moment, no amount of preparation can truly help. When one is on the spot, it had to be instinctive. It is just you. It does not matter how long you spent analyzing other speakers, reviewing presentation techniques, or researching the topic.
In the end, you have to present your ideas at that given moment in front of an audience which is a skill that only comes from practice.
After giving my talk and replaying it in my mind, I probably should have maintained better eye contact and should have presented the connections between my experiences and the world more clearly.
If I could do my talk one more time, these are the areas I would focus on the most. Of course there were other mistakes, but these are the couple that would impact my presentation’s overall effectiveness the most.
As for the secret to an effective talk, it is just a combination of passion and knowledge. Those are the keys to a successful talk. If the talk and the speaker both have those characteristics, everything else will fall in place regardless of the topic, speaker, or audience.
I thought my talk was interesting, and I believe this because I at least received some responses during and after the video. While I had to restart about one fourth of the way through the talk, I still managed to finish. I feel passionate about my talk over the Marcopper Mining Disaster as I have been to Marinduque. I’ve seen the aftermath of the disaster firsthand, and I have seen the poverty of the island as well. Watching other TED Talks did help me organize my TED Talk; transitions and design are important to me and I attempted to mimic those of the TED speakers. If I had done my TED Talk another one more time like I had initially planned to, I most likely would have tried to organize it less mechanically. I focused too much on the PowerPoint itself, and my points were fixed with the slides. The transition didn’t feel as fluid as it could have been, as each topic seemed restricted to its own slide; there was no flow or mingling and mixing with other slides, and if I had done this, I most likely would have increased the length of the talk itself. Nonetheless, I still believe my TED Talk was successful. I heard a few gasps when I showed the effects of the acidic river, and afterwards a few people told me that my talk was interesting. I truly think that the key to success on speaking is to find something you are passionate about. If I had picked some aloof thing I don’t care about like the design of stairs or something, I would not have had an interesting talk. On the contrary, picking something that I am dedicated to such as environmental disasters allows me to do well. I honestly think I could have done a TED Talk just as good as my initial one on cats, as I am passionate about them and do community service at a cat shelter because it is something I care about.
I believe that my topic can be interesting to the larger world if taken with sincerity. The topic can be very useful if people could just give it a shot. If it doesn’t work for them, at least they had the grace to try. Watching the TED talks helped me in organizing my talk, and aided me in motivating myself to speak more smoothly. If I were to do my TED talk again, I really think I’d be much more comfortable and less nervous. I would speak at a faster pace as well in order to get all the information in. Sadly, there was so much I wanted to share, but the public speaking part definitely took advantage of me. The key to the best inspiring TED talk in my opinion, is to know your topic and to be enthusiastic and to love it. Those were the talks that I really had fun watching and inspired me to think more about.
My talk was over nutrition, but more importantly it was over the truth about school lunches.
I feel that my topic could be very inspiring and interesting to the larger world because everyone in the world can relate to the subject. Almost everyone has to deal with school lunches at one point or another.
Spending the 2 months analyzing and studying all of the TED talks definitely helped me prepare and deliver my talk. I learned tips and tricks to give a presentation. I also even got my inspiration for my own talk from one of the videos I watched. I also learned what not to do while giving my talk from watching some not-so-inspiring talks.
If I could do my talk again I think the only things I would change would be my timing, and that I looked at my reference cards too often. If I could do it again I would practice even more than I did the first time to get the timng and pacing down right. I would also work to better memorize my information so that I wouldn’t have to look down so much at my cards.
From watching all of these TED talks, as well as giving my own, I would have to say that the secret to an inspiring TED talk is to be passionate about your topic. I don’t know how to stress this enough. If you want someone to be inspired by what you are saying, you have to be inspired by your topic. You have to be passionate about it, and then tell your audience why they should be passionate about the same subject. Another good tip is to have a good delivery. You have to make it seem like you are an expert on your subject, even if you aren’t. It’s ok to fake how much you know.
My talk:
I believe I talked about an interesting topic. It was very hard to explain though but I think I did pretty well. Watching the TED talks helped me pick a topic but other than that they didn’t really help my talk. If I did my talk again I definitely would have tried to calm down more. I rushed through my presentation and in the end it was really short. To me the secret to a really inspiring ted talk is a talk that cheers people up about life. I tried to do that by comparing us to animals. If your talk is beneficial to society and optimistic it is very inspiring.
I did a talk about The Truth Behind Helicopters. I do think that my topic was interesting to the larger world because, as humans, we enjoy finding out new information about things that we know little about. Well, I suppose that this could be argued against if you really weren’t interested in the topic, but in general I believe this is true. In my talk I cleared up misconceptions about helicopters, and I think people really enjoyed that. I also think (or hope, at least) that my classmates would feel safer if they ever got to ride in a helicopter because they understand the truth, and not just the myths that everyone believes.
Analyzing the TED Talks definitely helped me prepare and present my TED talk. For example, I made sure to note how each speaker acted on stage and how the spoke. I thought that the most successful speakers were the ones that used lots of hand gestures, and while they didn’t stay in just one spot, they stayed in one area of the stage. I also tried to speak clearly and without pauses in between – like a normal conversation. The speakers, in my opinion, who give their talk like they are having a conversation with the audience are the best.
If I could do my talk again, I think I would expand a little more and talk about how being a pilot and understanding how helicopters/airplanes work can change the way you look at the world. Corny, I know, but still true.
I think the secret to an inspiring TED talk, like some of my classmates have said, is to love your topic. This doesn’t mean that your topic is what you do for a living, what you got your degree in, or what you’re an expert on – you have to LOVE the topic. If I was a monk, I would tell you to be ‘one’ with the topic. This, in my opinion, is absolutely necessary to delivering a successful, interesting, and inspiring TED Talk.
The universe has been an interesting place for human since we pretty much explored the Earth. In the old days, the people didn’t even know how the Earth look like and try to go over the ocean explored; now, people are doing the same thing like old days. The aliens will effect every life living on the Earth if they do exist. I do not think the human would like to be control by other species from outer space. I did this talk because I’ve saw a same talk that Dr. Hawking made and it was very interesting.
I wasn’t a good speaker before I watched the TED Talks. Some of the speaker were first time speak in public like me, they looked nervous and I know that won’t be good. I was nervous first few slide, but I know I got to fix it or no one will understand what I’m saying. The speaker didn’t talk fast or slow, they just follow their own tempo, I still don’t have my own way to speak. It helped me how to get the power point work the best way and organized what I was going to talk about “aliens”.
I changed the way I was doing mine power point, I used to put lots of picture, but now I know it don’t work. I didn’t make every slide connect together. I was little nervous and shaking my voice first, but I believe i fixed it after few slide. When I get through it, I can’t remember what i was going to say, so I started looking at my notes instead of the audience, I know that was a huge mistake I didn’t let those stuck in my head. I will still do my best and try to fix my accent.
When the people get interesting like the speaker does, that mean the Talk was succeed. I don’t really know who was interesting to mine because I was too nervous to look at the people although they were my friends. But I do feel good after I finished my talk and people clapped. It was a really good exprience for me to talk in front of people.
To the larger world, my talk probably would mean nothing. However, to my family, the Scouting world, and any who respects the values of the Scout law, my talk can speak volumes. I do not consider it to really be inspiring in any way, it is simply an insight into the Scouting world that so few seem to really see.
Watching other talks for the last 8 weeks has been beneficial in being inspired and entertained. However, I do not believe it improved my presentation skills or helped me to write my own talk. My skills were pre-developed, even though they were not the best. Writing my own talk was not particularly difficult. I knew what I wanted to say, and the presentation just came. The only issue I had was deciding what to cut out, so that I could make just one important point in an efficient and inspiring manner.
Practice, practice, practice. I would 100 times over say that if I practiced more, I would have performed at a much higher level, perfectly conveying my message without need of my PowerPoint as a crutch or excessive pause to gather my thoughts.
Passion and change of intonation. To really inspire one’s audience demands passion for your subject. If you don’t care about it, why should they? Altering tone between loud and soft keeps the audience awake and interested, as well as more likely to listen to what you have to say. Therefore, if your topic is also actually interesting and inspirational, it is more likely to inspire your audience.
My TED talk idea was interesting because very few people could think of anything to say on eye contact. It something everyone does and very easy to understand.
If I could change one thing about my TED talk I would have moved around a little more so I could have looked more comfortable. I would have also clicked through my slides one more time to make sure they were all there. That would have made it flow a little easier.
Watching all those TED talks did help. It helped me understand that to give an inspiring TED talk not only do you have to be passionate about it and love it but you also have to know how to show and articulate your passion for that subject.
Another thing to do to give a good passionate talk you have to give good eye contact like I talked about in my talk. Once you make good eye contact the people will feel better about you as a speaker. It can also hide nervousness and show you are passionate
I did a Talk on “Our Life in Transition.” I think my Talk was inspiring, because I provided good examples that related to the real world, and I think I caught people’s attention with the topic. I think that analyzing the Talks influenced my Talk quite heavily – if I hadn’t done so, I think my Talk would have been preachy and uninformative. I learned to be passionate about the topic. If I got a redo, I’d probably just really figure out exactly what I wanted to say. At the end of my Talk, I had a “don’t-look-at-the-card, don’t-look-at-the-card!” moment when I almost forgot what I wanted to say. I believe the secret to an inspiring Talk is to really figure out what to talk about. If your topic is uninspiring, you won’t do much to your audience, but if you know how to pick a topic, you’ll really make an impact.
My own personal TED talk was over mood and how your individual mood is effected by things such as neurotransmitters. I feel as if though my topic was only inspiring if you can empathize with what I happened to discuss, as I discussed psychological impairments such as ADD, OCD, and the like. If you can empathize with such subjects, and actually feel as if the talk was directed towards you, then I would more than likely say it was a tad informative, if nor inspiring. However, to those who can only sympathize with the subject, and not actually feel empathy towards it, I would say they would merely pick up a few facts and smile their head and nod, as the subject isnt personal to them, and what truly inspires an individual to me is something that is personal to that very individual.
I am a tad bit ashamed to say that after giving my own talk, I cant say watching any of the TED videos neccessarily helped my ability to present as much as the assistance of my teachers and peers did. While the TED videos are incredibly informative and fun to watch in their own right, they arent neccessarily a handbook on how to give a public speech, as multiple people who get up on the TED stage fail to deliver a reasonable talk no matter what the topic whilst at the same time many people completely hit the ball out of the park merely with their presentation.
If I were to give my TED talk again, I would attempt to be a little bit less complicated in the scope of what I tend to say and introduce more of a spark to my speaking, as though I really have a firey passion for what I am talking about, which would help me connect to my audience in a more profound way.
Overall, being able to do my own TED talk was a medium for me to practice public speaking and be passionate about something I often do not get to talk about with my teachers and associates, and it has opened a doorway for me to continue learning about things such as the ones discussed in my talk.
My talk was about smart cars and how if more people used them they could be very beneficial to both our economy and our environment. I was playing in a golf tournament when the TED project was first brought up, and when I got to school the next day I had no idea what in the world was going on. When Mr. Long told us we were going to give our own talk at the end of the year, I freaked out. I’ve never been very good at keeping my guts together when I talk in front of people, but it was really nice to get some public speaking experience under my belt. Overall, I thought that our unique TED project was very fun. Even though the bare minimum required sentences we had to do for each video we analyzed, I think most of us pushed far past that, I reached almost 200 sentences on a few of mine.
The best TED talks in my class were from people who lived and loved their topic. In my opinion, if the subject of your talk is something that you personally value, your talk will end up better. I had an awesome time with this entire project and I’m really glad to have had the opportunity to do something of such magnitude as this. TED will change the world, just wait and see.
Yes because everyone, everyday all around the world people are arguing. So If I can make everyone not argue, but set a different goal, as said in my talk, then the world will be a better place.
Analyzing TED talks definitely helped me give my own TED talk. If I hadn’t, then my talk would not have been organized or made much sense.
I’d give more personal experiences. That way people could relate to it more.
The secret to a really inspiring talk is simple. You have to know what you are talking about. Know your facts. This way, you will be more confident. Confidence is key.
I don’t really think that my topic was interesting to the whole world because it only applied to a certain amount of people. Mostly to younger people and those who are athletes. I don’t really think watching the TED talks had an impact on me because I didn’t pay attention to how the talks were delivered. If I could watch the videos again I would probably watch to see how they presented them. If I could do my talk again, I would change how I delivered my speech and who I delivered it to. The secret to a really inspiring talk, is to be inspired by the talk you are giving. If you just like the subject you are talking about, it is different than really being inspired. When you are really inspired it is a different story and it comes across differently.
I did my TED talk on “Popular Media and How it Affects Your Perception on the World Around You”. Before my personal TED Talk, I knew video games changed how people interacted in the real world, but I wasn’t super-passionate about it. Because of this, when I started making my TEDtalk presentation, I was only doing it for the sake of a good grade. However, while putting the slides together and making sure everything was in-sync I realized it had a lot of potential. Every point I had in my talk was real. Everything I mentioned was really happening. After my little epiphany of sorts, I went through my PowerPoint once more, but this time I made it simpler and I also added visuals. I then went through yet again and added side-by-side comparisons comparing video games from the past and video games from the present.Now that I look back, my TED talk did inspire me, and I know it will inspire others to really look at how media changes them. So to answer the first question, yes. Yes I do believe my TED talk has a larger influence.
I also believe watching/analyzing TED talks for the past two months or so was helpful. By watching the pros do their thing, I was able to see what worked and what didn’t work. By watching many, many different TED talks, I was able to see how to enunciate and speak clearly without yelling, how to stand, and how to guide listeners through each and every individual slide. With all of these skills, my personal TED talk was better. If I hadn’t seen so many videos of public speakers, I probably would have blanked out on stage.
If I could do my TED talk one more time, I would put more emphasis on the past and present. I would also ask for a longer time restriction. I say this because I had to cut out a few slides explaining how games have changed and I had to cut out a lot of slides explaining how movies and television have changed. I would also put more emphasis on the technology we use to make games and movies so real and where the technology is headed in the future so we could see how popular media would affect us then.
Personally, I think the secret(s) to a really good TED talk are confidence and passion. If you go onto the stage and you are truly passionate about what you’re speaking about and you are confident the message is good, then nobody can rattle your nerves and throw you’re talk off.
I felt my TED talk wasn’t inspiring, but more of an interesting talk to sports fans. I believe it was not inspiring because I didn’t talk of how to be good or effective at sports, just how baseball had changed overtime to more of a career than just a game. I think that the two months watching TED’s did help me with how to present a topic and how to relate it to the world. If I did it all over again I would probably change my topic from how baseball relates to the world, to what it takes to make it to the next level and prolong your career as a player. Also about staying focused and committed to your goals in life and not taking detours along the way that could possibly end your journey towards your goals. The secret to giving a good talk to me is to be very passionate about what you are presenting and to have a level of expertise about your ideas. Overall if you are believable and back up your thoughts people will always want to follow them. Again changing my topic to something I am truly passionate about and experiencing in my life would have helped me speak more with my heart and with passion than just talk about an interesting fact that has little effect on my daily life and the way I feel.
I do believe I was able to make my TED-inspired talk inspiring and interesting to the larger world. What I tried to do is make it truly related to everyone in their own personal way, but still be true. My talk was over creativity, who has it, why is it important, and how we be creative. The fact of it all is that we are all, in fact, creative. We are just creative in our own ways. I explained how there are two types of people in the world: actively creative people and inactively creative people. The inactive ones simply need to find their outlet for creativity and also know how to go about coming up with creative ideas. This led into how you must ALWAYS take note of any ideas you come up with, because more times than not the ideas will be serendipitous.
Watching the professional TED talks really did help. One of the main things I studied while making my talk was how general the speakers were whenever they talked of creativity. I didn’t want to go too much into my own creative outlet and have the subject fall far from their own thoughts.
Ah, a second try. I look back on the first and know that I missed one or two key points that would have, at least in my opinion, greatly enhanced the presentation. I did move a bit too fast with some of the slides, which led to the forgetting of those key ideas. If I were to do it all again, I would rehearse much more before speaking. I paused one or two times in the first talk, so I’d hope the second time around I’d be more relaxed and fluent.
A secret? Perhaps there is no secret, but there are many tips. One of the big ones is to be prepared. Preparation is huge. If you are nervous, but still prepared, you will still do fine. On the subject of nervousness, be sure to know that your audience wants you to succeed just as much as you yourself. Know that they are on your side. Do not even consider pressure to be a problem. As for the actual content, I believe the best talks relate to each individual in their own way, or something that affects everyone.
I believe that my general idea would should be of a great concern to our world, because we’re in the middle of a crisis here. Although, I told a little more from a scuba diver’s perspective, my talk was about how we ARE destroying our oceans. Day by day, we’re killing off hundreds of thousands of marine life and their habitat, and it’s killing me to sit idly doing nothing to help the oceans. What’s amazing is that a lot of people don’t know HOW important the oceans affect us in our daily lives. I would like to see some a movement, in the NEAR-future, in restoring our oceans. Because once they’re gone, well, I don’t believe we’ll be around soon after.
So, after spending 2 months, analyzing TED talks, I can’t say that it really enhanced my overall performance. Also, to be honest, I literally started the project the night before it was due, so there really was no preparation for me the next day. Basically, it was show time during second period.
For the longest time now, I’ve also had the case of stage-fright. Whether it’s with my class mates, or performing on stage for a play, I always seem to choke up somewhere along the path, which is kinda irritating me now. So I guess it’s good to get this practice now, rather than speaking poorly in front of a huge business client. However, besides how I presented my talk, I think that I did a fairly decent job in the slide show itself.
From watching over TED, hearing it from Mr. Long, and even my dad, I’ve been told that a good, effective slide show is to be just plain and simple. No fancy fonts or colors, no animations, and definitely no bullet-points. The presentation should be clean and precise, that way the audience doesn’t get lost nor confused. So, I suppose can attribute that I benefited slide presentation from the TED talks. Lastly, right here I would like acknowledge Dr. Sylvia Earle, from her TED Prize talk. I found a lot of inspiration from her talk, and most of my facts were from her presentation as well, so I want to give her credit for that.
If I could do my, own Talk one more time I would definitely take more time to prepare. Usually I’m relaxed and having fun whenever I’m around my classmates, outside of class, and even in class. I’m not really that afraid to speak in front of them because everyone in my class are mature and will respect what I would have to say. And even, when I know all that in the back of my head, I STILL tense up and become nervous when it comes to THESE kind of public speaking events. Since I never had proper training, nor took the time to train and prepare myself, it’s amazing that I didn’t choke up even more than what I already did, which I’m kinda thankful for, in a way. To reiterate, once more, if I were to do this all over again, I would have spent more time trying to prepare myself, and just be more relaxed. Take it easy while I’m presenting, instead of being a rigid board.
As for the secret to a really inspiring TED talk, I wouldn’t know what exactly say, hence that I’m no expert at public speaking.
But, gathering all what I can remember and a hint of personal belief, I think what makes a truly, inspirational talk, is passion. Passion is the key to success. If you’re passionate about something, and I mean really passionate, people will follow you. It’s like a high school Homecoming pep rally. The speakers are the coaches, players and cheerleaders that are all rallying up the entire school through singing and chanting fight songs and such. And even though, the school might know that the team will lose to the opponent, but the student body won’t give up on their team. They keep fighting to the very end. Now, I know that metaphor might be lame, but I think I’m getting the message across. The more passionate you are, the more inspiring your talk will be to others. Because, if you look at it from a business point of view, you’re like selling your idea/topic to the audience and you WANT them to buy your product. Well, you can’t be dull and boring to sell. You have to energetic, connecting, and interactive with your audience. Once they see you, doing your thing, then of course people will become inspired. So that’s my “secret” to giving an inspirational talk.
I believe that my topic was interesting and that the people that listened found it interesting. I’m glad I presented that topic. I would do it again but I would have to practice more. During my talk I stuttered and was really nervous and kind of shaky. I do think that after watching all the TED talks that we did, helped us in presenting our own speech. I’m not really sure what the secret is, but I guess it is just what you find inspiring to yourself and how it would help others in your community and the world.
While I hope it didn’t bleed through too profusely, the majority of my TED talk was constructed the night prior to its presentation. This wasn’t due to laziness on my part (not to say that’s not a dear friend of mine); rather, I simply decided my current topic was dull and hardly relatable, and I decided to start from the ground-up.
I think the positives and negatives of this approach came into the limelight during the talk itself. On the plus side, I would like to think my theater experience has molded me into an adequate public speaker, and the fact that my speech was not over-rehearsed allowed for a fluidity that wouldn’t have been possible if I had it memorized line for line. I also think it was a good choice on my part to inject some humor into the powerpoints and to directly single-out members of my audience; there’s a fine line between keeping a talk interesting and turning into fluff, and I don’t think I crossed over into the latter. All in all, there was a sufficient balance between entertainment and substance.
On the flip side, a bit more preparation might have been preferable, as I made a few key blunders; luckily, the fact that I forgot a crucial point I wanted to bring up went unnoticed, but less so was my getting hit in the face by the projector beam. It was a completely amateur mistake, and a little more time planning out my motions could have prevented the resulting embarrassment.
On the whole, I’d surmise I did fine. I never place a large amount of bank into my own opinions, though, so I’m more convinced by the compliments I received from others. Taking their views into a consideration, it was definitely a job well-done.
As for the (in my view) needless questions posed in the prompt: not really, they didn’t view it.
Sure, it gave me a satisfactory feel for what I was doing.
I think I covered that.
Preparation, confidence, and the desire to do well. None of that’s really a secret, but I’ve never been great at mysteries.
I do believe my talk was inspiring to the larger world because it opened up eyes to something many of us never think about or take for granted. The human mind is a great machine that is capable of doing many great intellectual things. But in these times, where most of our information is shoved down our throats through boring, repetitive, and mindless, courses in school and through mindless reports by the media, we take for granted what our brains can do. They are capable of synthesizing information in the most complex ways and turning something that may seem simple into one of the most profound thoughts ever. I think that my talk reminded people of the power of their brains to open up to see the deeper meaning in things that they take for granted every day.
I do think this helped me alot because my TED talk was inspired by Euvin Naidoo’s ability to see past things in his talk over investing in Africa. But also being able to see how people moved on stage, talked, and delivered their powerpoint visuals helped me prepare for what I needed to do.
If I could change anything about my talk it would be my delivery and I would provide better visuals and more examples. I felt that it may have come off a little sloppy with some studdering here and there but overall it was pretty good. But for a perfect presentation you need perfect delivery. When it comes to visuals, I wish I could have foound a way to use them to explain my point better. And with examples, I feel like I provided solid examples in referring to Kyle, Meighan, and Alex’s talks, but when discussing things of the mind I feel that you need as many examples as possible to provided solid evidence.
I feel like two secrets to giving the best TED talk are providing a story or a concept to make your audience interested and also presenting it in a new and exciting way. I felt like the way people like Kyle and Brittany presented their talks with stories and passion truly set them apart from the other talks even if they would not have had stong points.
My TED talk was about Utopia: the perfect society and I believe that it would be interesting to the larger world. My Ted talk was very interesting topic to me and I’m pretty sure that it would be interesting to the larger world because it relates to us and what some of us strive to be in our communities. Spending two months discussing and analyzing TED talks in class and at home gave me sense of how I could present my own talk. Whenever I was stuck, I just watched TED talks and that helped me prepare my slides and gave me an idea of how to set them up. If given more time to redo my TED talk I would change the pace at which I talked because I talked really fast and I would emphasize more on how the Utopian society is impossible. To me the secret of a really inspiring TED talk is one that you can relate to. If the TED talk is over something that you find interesting then you will be more attentive towards it.
I believe that my TED Talk was inspiring. My TED Talk was about the real truth about hygiene products. It was interesting because alot of people don’t know that out deodorants, shampoos, and soaps are actually killing us. I think that spending 2 months did help me prepare and deliver my own TED talk. If I could do my talk one more time, I would make more eye contact to the audience and I would not be timid. I think the secret to a really inspiring talk is to do something that you love. It seems like people who talked about something that was personal to them, that was personal to them, they bought power to their talk.
I believe that everyone will find my TED talk inspiring because everyone wants to be happy in life, and most of our life will revolve around our careers. It makes sense then that the key to being happy in life is to be happy at work. That is why I gave my talk about the Container Store’s Foundation Principles. The Container Store is one of the best companies to work for in America according to Fortune Magazine, and because my mom works there, I know for a fact that the employees there are motivated, happy, and friendly people. I am not sure if I want to work there when I grow up because I am very interested in the sciences, but it is the only place I know of where the employees are consistently and truly happy. That the main reason I believe that others will be inspired by my talk. If we take the Foundation Principles that work so well for the Container Store and apply them to other business, perhaps more employees will find the contentment and purpose that those of the Container Store have found. I hope that someday every business will have some version or adaptation of the Foundation Principles, so that everyone has the opportunity to live a happy life with a great place to work and co-workers who are also their friends.
After watching and analysing so many TED talks, I was able to pinpoint what frustrated me in speakers and what caused me to like some speakers over others. At the beginning of this project I could only say, “I really like this talk. I’m not sure why, but I do.”
However, as the project went on, I became very good at discovering just what it was about each speaker that I liked, or didn’t like, so much. I took those observations and tried to use them to improve the delivery of my own talk. For example, the thing that bothered me most was when speakers would pause and say things like umm…, or just break off in the middle of a sentence and follow a new train of thought. I practiced many times before I gave my talk in class, taking any new ideas that appeared in the middle of my talk that could have caused me to abruptly change subjects, and incorporating them smoothly into my final talk. I also took elements that I liked from my favorite talk by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and used them in the preparation of my talk. I loved how she opened and closed with how it affected her personally, but focused on the facts in the middle of her talk. I also loved the small moments of humor that lightened her talk and tried to make humorous comments of my own. Having so many different examples of great and not so great speakers allowed me to pick and choose elements of their speaking that I felt I could apply to my own talk, and I believe it helped me greatly in the development and delivery of my talk.
I actually have almost no recollection of my talk other than that I looked directly into Shannon and Sam’s eyes and tried to avoid Mr. Long’s. I seem to have “zoned out” during the talk, so if anyone has any constructive criticism for me, I would love to hear it. Especially since I plan on giving this talk again.
I think that one of the secrets to a great TED talk is to make it easily accessible to the audience. You shouldn’t expect them to understand exactly what you are talking about for the entire time. If you are talking about something more technical, you should try relating it something that they already encounter on a regular basis. Also, not everyone will be able to make the jump directly from topic to topic. I tend to have this problem in my essays. I will make one point and then jump to another one, that in my head is a logical follow-up, but unfortunately, people cannot see what I am thinking in my head about why that is so logical. It makes it so much easier for people to comprehend and appreciate your talk on a whole new level if you make those connections for them. Not everyone will connect the same dots, so helping them to connect the dots that you followed will help them understand both where you are coming from, and where you are going.