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TED'sSecrettoGreatPublicSpeaking-ChrisAndersonSomepeoplethinkthatthere'saTEDTalkformula:Giveatalkonaround,redrug.Shareachildhoodstory.Divulgeapersonalsecret.Endwithaninspiringcalltoaction.No.That'snothowtothinkofaTEDTalk.Infact,ifyouoverusethosedevices,you'rejustgoingtocomeacrossasclichédoremotionallymanipulative.ButthereisonethingthatallgreatTEDTalkshaveincommon,andIwouldliketosharethatthingwithyou,becauseoverthepast12years,I'vehadaringsideseat,listeningtomanyhundredsofamazingTEDspeakers,likethese.I'vehelpedthempreparetheirtalksforprimetime,andlearneddirectlyfromthemtheirsecretsofwhatmakesforagreattalk.Andeventhoughthesespeakersandtheirtopicsallseemcompletelydifferent,theyactuallydohaveonekeycommoningredient.Andit'sthis:Yournumberonetaskasaspeakeristotransferintoyourlisteners'mindsanextraordinarygift–astrangeandbeautifulobjectthatwecallanidea.LetmeshowyouwhatImean.Here'sHaley.SheisabouttogiveaTEDTalkandfrankly,she'sterrified.(Video:HaleyVanDyck!)Overthecourseof18minutes,1,200people,manyofwhomhaveneverseeneachotherbefore,arefindingthattheirbrainsarestartingtosyncwithHaley'sbrainandwitheachother.They'reliterallybeginningtoexhibitthesamebrain-wavepatterns.AndIdon'tjustmeanthey'refeelingthesameemotions.There'ssomethingevenmorestartlinghappening.Let'stakealookinsideHaley'sbrainforamoment.Therearebillionsofinterconnectedneuronsinanimpossibletangle.Butlookhere,righthere–afewmillionofthemarelinkedtoeachotherinawaywhichrepresentsasingleidea.Andincredibly,thisexactpatternisbeingrecreatedinrealtimeinsidethemindsofeveryonelistening.That'sright;injustafewminutes,apatterninvolvingmillionsofneuronsisbeingteleportedinto1,200minds,justbypeoplelisteningtoavoiceandwatchingaface.Butwait–whatisanideaanyway?Well,youcanthinkofitasapatternofinformationthathelpsyouunderstandandnavigatetheworld.Ideascomeinallshapesandsizes,fromthecomplexandanalyticaltothesimpleandaesthetic.HerearejustafewexamplessharedfromtheTEDstage.SirKenRobinson–creativityiskeytoourkids'future.(Video:Mycontentionisthatcreativitynowisasimportantineducationasliteracy,andweshouldtreatitwiththesamestatus.)EloraHardy–buildingfrombambooisbeautiful.(Video:Itisgrowingallaroundus,it'sstrong,it'selegant,it'searthquake-resistant.)ChimamandaAdichie–peoplearemorethanasingleidentity.(Video:Thesinglestorycreatesstereotypes,andtheproblemwithstereotypesisnotthattheyareuntrue,butthattheyareincomplete.)Yourmindisteemingwithideas,andnotjustrandomly.They'recarefullylinkedtogether.Collectivelytheyformanamazinglycomplexstructurethatisyourpersonalworldview.It'syourbrain'soperatingsystem.It'showyounavigatetheworld.Anditisbuiltupoutofmillionsofindividualideas.So,forexample,ifonelittlecomponentofyourworldviewistheideathatkittensareadorable,thenwhenyouseethis,you'llreactlikethis.Butifanothercomponentofyourworldviewistheideathatleopardsaredangerous,thenwhenyouseethis,you'llreactalittlebitdifferently.So,it'sprettyobviouswhytheideasthatmakeupyourworldviewarecrucial.Youneedthemtobeasreliableaspossible–aguide,tothescarybutwonderfulrealworldoutthere.Now,differentpeople'sworldviewscanbedramaticallydifferent.Forexample,howdoesyourworldviewreactwhenyouseethisimage:(Video:Whatdoyouthinkwhenyoulookatme?Awomanoffaith,anexpert,maybeevenasister?Oroppressed,brainwashed,aterrorist?)Whateveryouranswer,therearemillionsofpeopleouttherewhowouldreactverydifferently.Sothat'swhyideasreallymatter.Ifcommunicatedproperly,they'recapableofchanging,forever,howsomeonethinksabouttheworld,andshapingtheiractionsbothnowandwellintothefuture.Ideasarethemostpowerfulforceshapinghumanculture.Soifyouacceptthatyournumberonetaskasaspeakeristobuildanideainsidethemindsofyouraudience,herearefourguidelinesforhowyoushouldgoaboutthattask:One,limityourtalktojustonemajoridea.Ideasarecomplexthings;youneedtoslashbackyourcontentsothatyoucanfocusonthesingleideayouaremostpassionateabout,andgiveyourselfachancetoexplainthatonethingproperly.Youhavetogivecontext,shareexamples,makeitvivid.Sopickoneidea,andmakeitthethrough-linerunningthroughyourentiretalk,sothateverythingyousaylinksbacktoitinsomeway.Two,giveyourlistenersareasontocare.Beforeyoucanstartbuildingthingsinsidethemindsofyouraudience,youhavetogettheirpermissiontowelcomeyouin.Andthemaintooltoachievethat?Curiosity.Stiryouraudience'scuriosity.Useintriguing,provocativequestionstoidentifywhysomethingdoesn'tmakesenseandneedsexplaining.Ifyoucanrevealadisconnectioninsomeone'sworldview,they'llfeeltheneedtobridgethatknowledgegap.Andonceyou'vesparkedthatdesire,itwillbesomucheasiertostartbuildingyouridea.Three,buildyouridea,piecebypiece,outofconceptsthatyouraudiencealreadyunderstands.Youusethepoweroflanguagetoweavetogetherconceptsthatalreadyexistinyourlisteners'minds–butnotyourlanguage,theirlanguage.Youstartwheretheyare.Thespeakersoftenforgetthatmanyofthetermsandconceptstheylivewitharecompletelyunfamiliartotheiraudiences.Now,metaphorscanplayacrucialroleinshowinghowthepiecesfittogether,becausetheyrevealthedesiredshapeofthepattern,basedonanideathatthelisteneralreadyunderstands.Forexample,whenJenniferKahn