Review by Booklist Review
TED began as an annual conference focusing on technology, entertainment, and design. When Anderson's foundation took over the conference in 2001, he quickly realized that the popular inspirational speeches given at the conferences were something special, and today TED Talks cover just about every subject imaginable all delivered succinctly and pointedly. Readers familiar with TED Talks meant to inspire, teach, or entertain, usually in under 10 minutes know that there is no one way of presenting, no magic bullet that makes something a TED Talk. In this book, Anderson shares the secrets behind the best TED presentations, believing that anyone can be taught the skills to deliver a compelling speech TED-style or otherwise. He starts with the basics, including techniques to beat stage fright and styles to avoid. The book then moves into the preparation process, covering the use of slides, memorization, and rehearsing skills. It's all presented very naturally and with an upbeat, positive tone. While, as expected, the examples here come from TED Talks, readers will be able to use the techniques for any manner of public speaking.--Vnuk, Rebecca Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This guide to effective public speaking-informed by the wildly popular TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Talks-gives readers tips for winning over audiences big and small: wedding guests expecting a great toast, a client waiting to be wowed, or a lecture hall full of multitasking students. Anderson, whose nonprofit organization, the Sapling Foundation, runs TED, has a plethora of excellent advice to offer based on past TED talks, including some of the most successful and popular ones. He covers important topics such as making a personal connection with audiences, explaining complicated subjects to laypeople, priming people to accept counterintuitive ideas, and cultivating a sense of showmanship. He also addresses aspects of preparation, such as knowing what vocal styles to avoid, planning attire, and managing nervousness. The prose can be hard to muddle through-true to the topic, it reads more like a transcript of a speech than a book-but this is an invaluable guide to effective presentations, and catnip for all the TED fans out there. Agent: John Brockman, Brockman Inc. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
Anderson is the curator of TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), the nonprofit known for its TED Conference and eponymous TED Talks lecture series. In this first book, the entrepreneur offers advice on acquiring and honing public speaking skills, while also delivering a history of TED Talks themselves, including profiles of several speakers and public feedback to their presentations. The text is structured along the lines of Rule 1, Rule 2, etc., throughout 21 chapters. As a guide to public speaking, the work is conveniently searchable through its section titles, and many well-received TED Talks are represented. The author documents TED's progress, from its origination as an on-site conference in California to the development of TEDx events in communities around the world. For instance, in the section on the power of stories, he references author Elizabeth Gilbert's statements that storytelling is key to persuasion. He later notes actor Salman Khan to explain the significance of focusing on main ideas. Though some mundane details are included, the book still provides solid public-speaking wisdom. VERDICT For readers who appreciate TED's mantra of "ideas worth spreading" and those who are inspired to improve their own performances, no matter their line of work.-Jesse A. Lambertson, Metamedia Management, LLC, Washington, DC © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The head honcho of the much-watched (and oft-satirized) TED Talks shares how he gets the best out of speakers.Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, writes Anderson, clocked in at 17 minutes, 40 seconds: just a hair under the 18 minutes allotted to speakers at the TED Conference, a group that's included high-wattage thinkers like Bill Gates, Andrew Solomon, and Steven Pinker. The King comparison is apt, since Anderson writes with a preacher's enthusiasm and messianic demeanor about the virtues of TED Talks and about why you might want to master the skills involved in presenting one. From appropriate dress to calming your nerves to revising to pacing, the bulk of the book is filled with tips. Hone the "throughline" of your talkits (usually counterintuitive) pointinto 15 words. Own your vulnerability and express it onstage. Emphasize parable and metaphor in your storytelling. Avoid bombarding people with slides, especially ones with lots of bullet points ("bullets belong in The Godfather"). Avoid airy expressions of gratitude when you start and finish, and focus instead on more earthbound questions and assertions that stoke curiosity. Anderson provides examples from the TED vault to bolster his points, mentioning speaker shipwrecks anonymously and calling out particularly surprising and successful ones by namehe refers a few times to Monica Lewinsky's 2015 talk as an example of intense preparation, fending off fear, and telling a story that resonates. The author's exhortations to constantly revise, rehearse, and rethink your story are all unimpeachably practical. (Indeed, the book unintentionally doubles as a helpful writing guide.) So it's disappointing that the closing chapters devolve into a TED history lesson and overenthusiastic cheerleading about the organization's world-changing powersan oddly soft conclusion from a writer who demands we stick the landing. A handy guide for novice and moderately experienced speakers, once you've dodged the TED boosterism. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
