(Image From Amazon.com)

Not that long ago I met with a couple librarians to talk about Carmine Gallo’s book Talk Like TED. Coincidentally the national library community is showing signs of supporting TED (Technology, Education, and Design) like talks. See http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blog/ala-first-timer-tedx-program-empowers and http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blog/bringing-tedx-library.

Why is this book important? It’s important because it provides wonderful guidance to give great presentations. Gallo notes on page 8 that presentations should be emotional to touch our hearts, novel to teach us something new, and memorable in that they present content in ways we never forget.

What are some key takeaways from the book?

• Keep your message short. Think in terms of a Twitter friendly headline. As Gallo says, “If you can’t explain your big idea in 140 characters or less keep working on your message. (page 130)” Gallo notes that Google’s main message is, “Google provides access to the world’s information in one click. (page 123)”
• You’ll want to have data to support your message. This can come in the form of statistics and other evidence.
• However, remember to put this data in story form. Stories are “Data with a Soul”. Present the information in ways that are visual, interesting, and entertaining. Pictures, videos, and props can and should be used here.
• Good stories to use in presentations are personal stories, stories about other people, and stories about brand success.
• Appeal to the audience with your credibility, persuasion through logic/data/statistics, and appeal to them with emotions
• Watch your body language! Hands that hand below the navel show a lack of confidence. Take your hands out of your pockets. Work the room and walk around.
• Use humor to help your talk. Read the book for the dos and don’ts on this.
• Be aware of the speed with which you speak, the volume of your speech, your pitch (high or low inflections), and the right use of pauses.
• Believe in what you are saying!
• 18 minutes is a good presentation length
• Presentation can be everything. As Dr. Jill Taylor noted, “I wasn’t winning the awards at Harvard because my science was better than anyone else’s. I was winning the awards because I could tell a story that was more interesting and fascinating and it was mine, down to the detail. (page 33)”