KILLER PRESENTATION MANAGING YOURSELF HOW TO GIVE A - LESSONS FROM TED BY CHRIS ANDERSON
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HBR.ORG June 2013
reprinT R1306K
Managing Yourself
How to Give a
Killer Presentation
Lessons from TED by Chris AndersonFor article reprints call 800-988-0886 or 617-783-7500, or visit hbr.org
Managing Yourself
How to Give a Killer
Presentation
Lessons from TED by Chris Anderson
A little more than a year ago,
on a trip to Nairobi, Kenya,
some colleagues and I met
a 12-year-old Masai boy named
Richard Turere, who told us a
TED Talk. He was painfully shy. His English
was halting. When he tried to describe
his invention, the sentences tumbled out
incoherently. And frankly, it was hard to
imagine a preteenager standing on a stage
fascinating story. His family in front of 1,400 people accustomed to
raises livestock on the edge hearing from polished speakers such as
of a vast national park, and Bill Gates, Sir Ken Robinson, and Jill Bolte
one of the biggest challenges Taylor.
is protecting the animals from But Richard’s story was so compel-
lions—especially at night. Richard ling that we invited him to speak. In the
had noticed that placing lamps in a months before the 2013 conference, we
field didn’t deter lion attacks, but when worked with him to frame his story—to
he walked the field with a torch, the lions find the right place to begin, and to de-
stayed away. From a young age, he’d been velop a succinct and logical arc of events.
interested in electronics, teaching himself On the back of his invention Richard had
by, for example, taking apart his parents’ won a scholarship to one of Kenya’s best
radio. He used that experience to devise a schools, and there he had the chance to
system of lights that would turn on and off practice the talk several times in front of a
in sequence—using solar panels, a car bat- live audience. It was critical that he build
tery, and a motorcycle indicator box—and his confidence to the point where his
thereby create a sense of movement that personality could shine through. When he
he hoped would scare off the lions. He in- finally gave his talk at TED, in Long Beach,
stalled the lights, and the lions stopped at- you could tell he was nervous, but that
tacking. Soon villages elsewhere in Kenya only made him more engaging—people
Illustration: serge Bloch
began installing Richard’s “lion lights.” were hanging on his every word. The con-
The story was inspiring and worthy of fidence was there, and every time Richard
the broader audience that our TED confer- smiled, the audience melted. When he
ence could offer, but on the surface, Rich- finished, the response was instantaneous:
ard seemed an unlikely candidate to give a a sustained standing ovation.
Copyright © 2013 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. June 2013 Harvard Business Review 2EXPERIENCE
Since the first TED conference, 30 to start and where to end. To find the for a solution. There’s an “aha” moment,
years ago, speakers have run the gamut right place to start, consider what people and the audience’s perspective shifts in
from political figures, musicians, and in the audience already know about your a meaningful way.
TV personalities who are completely subject—and how much they care about it. If a talk fails, it’s almost always because
at ease before a crowd to lesser-known If you assume they have more knowledge the speaker didn’t frame it correctly, mis-
academics, scientists, and writers—some or interest than they do, or if you start us- judged the audience’s level of interest, or
of whom feel deeply uncomfortable giv- ing jargon or get too technical, you’ll lose neglected to tell a story. Even if the topic is
ing presentations. Over the years, we’ve them. The most engaging speakers do a important, random pontification without
sought to develop a process for help- superb job of very quickly introducing the narrative is always deeply unsatisfying.
ing inexperienced presenters to frame, topic, explaining why they care so deeply There’s no progression, and you don’t feel
practice, and deliver talks that people about it, and convincing the audience that you’re learning.
enjoy watching. It typically begins six members that they should, too. I was at an energy conference recently
to nine months before the event, and The biggest problem I see in first drafts where two people—a city mayor and a
involves cycles of devising (and revising) of presentations is that they try to cover former governor—gave back-to-back
a script, repeated rehearsals, and plenty of talks. The mayor’s talk was essentially
fine-tuning. We’re continually tweaking A successful talk a list of impressive projects his city had
our approach—because the art of public undertaken. It came off as boasting, like
speaking is evolving in real time—but
is a little miracle— a report card or an advertisement for his
judging by public response, our basic regi- people see the world reelection. It quickly got boring. When the
men works well: Since we began putting
TED Talks online, in 2006, they’ve been
differently afterward. governor spoke, she didn’t list achieve-
ments; instead, she shared an idea. Yes,
viewed more than one billion times. she recounted anecdotes from her time in
On the basis of this experience, I’m too much ground. You can’t summarize an office, but the idea was central—and the
convinced that giving a good talk is highly entire career in a single talk. If you try to stories explanatory or illustrative (and also
coachable. In a matter of hours, a speaker’s cram in everything you know, you won’t funny). It was so much more interesting.
content and delivery can be transformed have time to include key details, and your The mayor’s underlying point seemed to
from muddled to mesmerizing. And while talk will disappear into abstract language be how great he was, while the governor’s
my team’s experience has focused on that may make sense if your listeners are message was “Here’s a compelling idea
TED’s 18-minutes-or-shorter format, the familiar with the subject matter but will that would benefit us all.”
lessons we’ve learned are surely useful be completely opaque if they’re new to As a general rule, people are not very
to other presenters—whether it’s a CEO it. You need specific examples to flesh interested in talks about organizations or
doing an IPO road show, a brand manager out your ideas. So limit the scope of your institutions (unless they’re members of
unveiling a new product, or a start-up talk to that which can be explained, and them). Ideas and stories fascinate us; orga-
pitching to VCs. brought to life with examples, in the avail- nizations bore us—they’re much harder to
able time. Much of the early feedback we relate to. (Businesspeople especially take
Frame Your Story give aims to correct the impulse to sweep note: Don’t boast about your company;
There’s no way you can give a good talk too broadly. Instead, go deeper. Give more rather, tell us about the problem you’re
unless you have something worth talking detail. Don’t tell us about your entire solving.)
about. Conceptualizing and framing what field of study—tell us about your unique
you want to say is the most vital part of contribution. Plan Your Delivery
preparation. Of course, it can be just as damaging to Once you’ve got the framing down, it’s
We all know that humans are wired to overexplain or painstakingly draw out the time to focus on your delivery. There are
listen to stories, and metaphors abound implications of a talk. And there the rem- three main ways to deliver a talk. You
for the narrative structures that work best edy is different: Remember that the people can read it directly off a script or a tele-
to engage people. When I think about in the audience are intelligent. Let them prompter. You can develop a set of bullet
compelling presentations, I think about figure some things out for themselves. Let points that map out what you’re going to
taking an audience on a journey. A suc- them draw their own conclusions. say in each section rather than scripting
cessful talk is a little miracle—people see Many of the best talks have a narrative the whole thing word for word. Or you can
the world differently afterward. structure that loosely follows a detective memorize your talk, which entails rehears-
If you frame the talk as a journey, the story. The speaker starts out by presenting ing it to the point where you internalize
biggest decisions are figuring out where a problem and then describes the search every word—verbatim.
3 Harvard Business Review June 2013For article reprints call 800-988-0886 or 617-783-7500, or visit hbr.org
Find the Perfect Mix of Data and Narrative by Nancy Duarte
Most presentations lie somewhere on the continuum between a
report and a story. A report is data-rich, exhaustive, and informa-
tive—but not very engaging. Stories help a speaker connect with
an audience, but listeners often want facts and information, too.
Great presenters layer story and information like a cake, and under-
Report stand that different types of talks require differing ingredients. Story
Literal, Dramatic,
Informational, Experiential,
Factual, Evocative,
Exhaustive Persuasive
Research Financial Product VC Pitch Keynote
Findings Presentation Launch For 30 minutes with Address
If your goal is to commu Financial audiences Instead of covering a VC, prepare a crisp, Formal talks at big
nicate information from a love data, and they’ll only specs and well-structured story events are high-
written report, send the want the details. features, focus on the arc that conveys your stakes, high-impact
full document to the audi- Satisfy their analytical value your product idea compellingly in opportunities to
ence in advance, and limit appetite with facts, brings to the world. 10 minutes or less; take your listeners
the presentation to key but add a thread of Tell stories that show then let Q&A drive the on a transformative
takeaways. Don’t do a long narrative to appeal how real people will rest of the meeting. journey. Use a clear
slide show that repeats to their emotional use it and why it will Anticipate questions story framework and
all your findings. Anyone side. Then present change their lives. and rehearse clear aim to engage them
who’s really interested can the key takeaways and concise answers. emotionally.
read the report; everyone visually, to help them
else will appreciate find meaning in the
brevity. numbers.
Nancy Duarte is the author of HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations, Slide:ology, and Resonate.
She is the CEO of Duarte, Inc., which designs presentations and teaches presentation development.
My advice: Don’t read it, and don’t use the eight years it took her to recover. After But if you don’t have time to learn
a teleprompter. It’s usually just too dis- crafting her story and undertaking many a speech thoroughly and get past that
tancing—people will know you’re reading. hours of solo practice, she rehearsed her awkward valley, don’t try. Go with bullet
And as soon as they sense it, the way they talk dozens of times in front of an audi- points on note cards. As long as you know
receive your talk will shift. Suddenly your ence to be sure she had it down. what you want to say for each one, you’ll
intimate connection evaporates, and ev- Obviously, not every presentation is be fine. Focus on remembering the transi-
erything feels a lot more formal. We gener- worth that kind of investment of time. tions from one bullet point to the next.
ally outlaw reading approaches of any kind But if you do decide to memorize your Also pay attention to your tone. Some
at TED, though we made an exception a talk, be aware that there’s a predictable speakers may want to come across as
few years ago for a man who insisted on arc to the learning curve. Most people authoritative or wise or powerful or pas-
using a monitor. We set up a screen at the go through what I call the “valley of sionate, but it’s usually much better to just
back of the auditorium, in the hope that awkwardness,” where they haven’t quite sound conversational. Don’t force it. Don’t
the audience wouldn’t notice it. At first memorized the talk. If they give the talk orate. Just be you.
he spoke naturally. But soon he stiffened while stuck in that valley, the audience If a successful talk is a journey, make
up, and you could see this horrible sink- will sense it. Their words will sound sure you don’t start to annoy your travel
ing feeling pass through the audience as recited, or there will be painful moments companions along the way. Some speak-
people realized, “Oh, no, he’s reading to where they stare into the middle distance, ers project too much ego. They sound
us!” The words were great, but the talk got or cast their eyes upward, as they struggle condescending or full of themselves, and
poor ratings. to remember their lines. This creates the audience shuts down. Don’t let that
Many of our best and most popular distance between the speaker and the happen.
TED Talks have been memorized word for audience.
word. If you’re giving an important talk Getting past this point is simple, Develop Stage Presence
and you have the time to do this, it’s the fortunately. It’s just a matter of rehears- For inexperienced speakers, the physi-
best way to go. But don’t underestimate ing enough times that the flow of words cal act of being onstage can be the most
the work involved. One of our most mem- becomes second nature. Then you can difficult part of giving a presentation—but
orable speakers was Jill Bolte Taylor, a focus on delivering the talk with meaning people tend to overestimate its impor-
brain researcher who had suffered a stroke. and authenticity. Don’t worry—you’ll get tance. Getting the words, story, and sub-
She talked about what she learned during there. stance right is a much bigger determinant
June 2013 Harvard Business Review 4EXPERIENCE
of success or failure than how you stand or best advice is simply to breathe deeply Many of the best TED speakers don’t
whether you’re visibly nervous. And when before you go onstage. It works. use slides at all, and many talks don’t
it comes to stage presence, a little coach- In general, people worry too much require them. If you have photographs
ing can go a long way. about nervousness. Nerves are not a or illustrations that make the topic come
The biggest mistake we see in early disaster. The audience expects you to be alive, then yes, show them. If not, consider
rehearsals is that people move their bodies nervous. It’s a natural body response that doing without, at least for some parts of
too much. They sway from side to side, or can actually improve your performance: the presentation. And if you’re going to
shift their weight from one leg to the other. It gives you energy to perform and keeps use slides, it’s worth exploring alterna-
People do this naturally when they’re your mind sharp. Just keep breathing, and tives to PowerPoint. For instance, TED
nervous, but it’s distracting and makes you’ll be fine. has invested in the company Prezi, which
the speaker seem weak. Simply getting Acknowledging nervousness can also makes presentation software that offers a
a person to keep his or her lower body create engagement. Showing your vulner- camera’s-eye view of a two-dimensional
motionless can dramatically improve ability, whether through nerves or tone of landscape. Instead of a flat sequence of
stage presence. There are some people voice, is one of the most powerful ways images, you can move around the land-
who are able to walk around a stage during to win over an audience, provided it is scape and zoom in to it if need be. Used
a presentation, and that’s fine if it comes authentic. Susan Cain, who wrote a book properly, such techniques can dramati-
naturally. But the vast majority are better about introverts and spoke at our 2012 cally boost the visual punch of a talk and
off standing still and relying on hand ges- conference, was terrified about giving her enhance its meaning.
tures for emphasis. talk. You could feel her fragility onstage, Artists, architects, photographers, and
Perhaps the most important physical and it created this dynamic where the designers have the best opportunity to use
act onstage is making eye contact. Find audience was rooting for her—everybody visuals. Slides can help frame and pace a
five or six friendly-looking people in dif- wanted to hug her afterward. The fact that talk and help speakers avoid getting lost in
ferent parts of the audience and look them we knew she was fighting to keep herself jargon or overly intellectual language. (Art
in the eye as you speak. Think of them as up there made it beautiful, and it was the can be hard to talk about—better to experi-
friends you haven’t seen in a year, whom most popular talk that year. ence it visually.) I’ve seen great presenta-
you’re bringing up to date on your work. tions in which the artist or designer put
That eye contact is incredibly powerful, Nerves are not a slides on an automatic timer so that the
and it will do more than anything else to image changed every 15 seconds. I’ve also
help your talk land. Even if you don’t have disaster. The audience seen presenters give a talk accompanied
time to prepare fully and have to read expects you to be by video, speaking along to it. That can
from a script, looking up and making eye
contact will make a huge difference.
nervous. help sustain momentum. The industrial
designer Ross Lovegrove’s highly visual
Another big hurdle for inexperienced TED Talk, for instance, used this technique
speakers is nervousness—both in advance Plan the Multimedia to bring the audience along on a remark-
of the talk and while they’re onstage. With so much technology at our disposal, able creative journey.
People deal with this in different ways. it may feel almost mandatory to use, at a Another approach creative types might
Many speakers stay out in the audience minimum, presentation slides. By now consider is to build silence into their talks,
until the moment they go on; this can most people have heard the advice about and just let the work speak for itself. The
work well, because keeping your mind en- PowerPoint: Keep it simple; don’t use a kinetic sculptor Reuben Margolin used
gaged in the earlier speakers can distract slide deck as a substitute for notes (by, say, that approach to powerful effect. The idea
you and limit nervousness. Amy Cuddy, listing the bullet points you’ll discuss— is not to think “I’m giving a talk.” Instead,
a Harvard Business School professor who those are best put on note cards); and think “I want to give this audience a pow-
studies how certain body poses can affect don’t repeat out loud words that are on the erful experience of my work.” The single
power, utilized one of the more unusual slide. Not only is reciting slides a variation worst thing artists and architects can do
preparation techniques I’ve seen. She rec- of the teleprompter problem—“Oh, no, is to retreat into abstract or conceptual
ommends that people spend time before she’s reading to us, too!”—but information language.
a talk striding around, standing tall, and is interesting only once, and hearing and Video has obvious uses for many speak-
extending their bodies; these poses make seeing the same words feels repetitive. ers. In a TED Talk about the intelligence of
you feel more powerful. It’s what she did That advice may seem universal by now, crows, for instance, the scientist showed
before going onstage, and she delivered but go into any company and you’ll see a clip of a crow bending a hook to fish a
a phenomenal talk. But I think the single presenters violating it every day. piece of food out of a tube—essentially
5 Harvard Business Review June 2013For article reprints call 800-988-0886 or 617-783-7500, or visit hbr.org
10 Ways to Ruin
a Presentation
As hard as it may be to give a
great talk, it’s really easy to
blow it. Here are some common
creating a tool. It illustrated his point far mistakes that TED advises its Talk myself. So he invited me to give one,
1
better than anything he could have said. and I accepted.
speakers to avoid.
Used well, video can be very effec- It was more stressful than I’d expected.
tive, but there are common mistakes that Take a really long time Even though I spend time helping others
should be avoided. A clip needs to be frame their stories, framing my own in
to explain what your
short—if it’s more than 60 seconds, you a way that felt compelling was difficult.
talk is about.
2
risk losing people. Don’t use videos—par- I decided to memorize my presentation,
ticularly corporate ones—that sound which was about how web video powers
self-promotional or like infomercials; Speak slowly and global innovation, and that was really
people are conditioned to tune those dramatically. Why talk hard: Even though I was putting in a lot of
when you can orate?
3
out. Anything with a soundtrack can be hours, and getting sound advice from my
dangerously off-putting. And whatever colleagues, I definitely hit a point where
you do, don’t show a clip of yourself being Make sure you subtly I didn’t quite have it down and began
interviewed on, say, CNN. I’ve seen speak- let everyone know how to doubt I ever would. I really thought I
ers do this, and it’s a really bad idea—no important you are. might bomb. I was nervous right up until
4
one wants to go along with you on your the moment I took the stage. But it ended
ego trip. The people in your audience are up going fine. It’s definitely not one of the
already listening to you live; why would
Refer to your book all-time great TED Talks, but it got a posi-
they want to simultaneously watch your
repeatedly. Even better, tive reaction—and I survived the stress of
talking-head clip on a screen? quote yourself from it. going through it.
5
Ultimately I learned firsthand what our
Putting It Together Cram your slides speakers have been discovering for three
We start helping speakers prepare their with numerous text decades: Presentations rise or fall on the
talks six months (or more) in advance so bullet points and quality of the idea, the narrative, and the
that they’ll have plenty of time to practice. multiple fonts. passion of the speaker. It’s about sub-
6
We want people’s talks to be in final form stance, not speaking style or multimedia
at least a month before the event. The pyrotechnics. It’s fairly easy to “coach
Use lots of unexplained
more practice they can do in the final out” the problems in a talk, but there’s
weeks, the better off they’ll be. Ideally,
technical jargon to no way to “coach in” the basic story—the
they’ll practice the talk on their own and
make yourself sound presenter has to have the raw material.
in front of an audience. smart. If you have something to say, you can
7
The tricky part about rehearsing a pre- build a great talk. But if the central theme
sentation in front of other people is that Speak at great length isn’t there, you’re better off not speaking.
they will feel obligated to offer feedback about the history of Decline the invitation. Go back to work,
and constructive criticism. Often the your organization and wait until you have a compelling idea
feedback from different people will vary and its glorious that’s really worth sharing.
or directly conflict. This can be confus- achievements. The single most important thing to
8
ing or even paralyzing, which is why it’s remember is that there is no one good way
important to be choosy about the people to do a talk. The most memorable talks of-
you use as a test audience, and whom
Don’t bother rehearsing fer something fresh, something no one has
you invite to offer feedback. In general,
to check how long your seen before. The worst ones are those that
talk is running.
9
the more experience a person has as a feel formulaic. So do not on any account
presenter, the better the criticism he or try to emulate every piece of advice I’ve
she can offer. Sound as if you’re offered here. Take the bulk of it on board,
I learned many of these lessons myself reciting your talk sure. But make the talk your own. You
10
in 2011. My colleague Bruno Giussani, who from memory. know what’s distinctive about you and
curates our TEDGlobal event, pointed your idea. Play to your strengths and give a
out that although I’d worked at TED for talk that is truly authentic to you.
Never, ever make eye
nine years, served as the emcee at our HBR Reprint R1306K
contact with anyone
conferences, and introduced many of the
speakers, I’d never actually given a TED
in the audience. Chris Anderson is the curator of TED.
June 2013 Harvard Business Review 6FROM THE SPONSOR
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