Talk Like Ted

Written by: Carmine Gallo

Narrated by: Carmine Gallo

Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins

Format: Unabridged

TED talks have redefined the elements of a successful presentation and become the gold standard for public speaking around the world. TED and associated Tedx conferences are held in more than 130 countries and are being viewed at a rate of 1.5 million times a day.

These are presentations that set the world on fire, and the techniques that top TED speakers use are the same ones that will make any presentation more dynamic, fire up any team, and give anyone the confidence to overcome their fear of public speaking.

Public speaking coach and best-selling author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, Carmine Gallo has broken down the top TED talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters as well as the top researchers in the fields of psychology and communications to get their cutting-edge insights and to reveal the nine secrets of all successful TED presentations.

From “Unleashing the Master Within” and “Delivering Jaw Dropping Moments” to “Sticking to the 18-minute Rule”, Gallo provides a step-by-step method that makes it possible for anyone to create, design, and deliver a TED-style presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable.

Ideas are the true currency of the 21st century, and Gallo gives listeners a way to create presentations around the ideas that matter most to them, presentations that will energize their audiences to spread those ideas, launch new initiatives, and reach their highest goals.

My thoughts:

In my line of work, we do a lot of presentations. A lot. You’d think that with the amount of presentations we do, we’d be as good as Steve Jobs by now. Far from it.

I’m always looking for ways to improve my presentation skills and thought Talk Like TED would be an interesting book to listen to. The book was an unplanned purchase, I happened to see it featured on Audible and decided it might be worth a listen.

Overall I gave Talk Like TED a rating of 3 over 5 in Goodreads.

It was definitely an interesting book and the advice provided by Carmine Gallo was really good but it was hardly anything new. The nine points highlighted are pretty obvious and some of the advice I’ve heard before through seminars that I’ve attended and some books that I’ve read in the past.

Though the nine secrets may not be anything new, Gallo does present the points in an interesting manner. What I liked about Carmine Gallo’s book was that some of the points he provided was supported with scientific studies, research and even case studies of actual presenters at TED conferences. After every chapter, I’d take the time to watch the TED talk presenter he mentioned in his book just to learn how well they presented. Most are pretty impressive and very inspiring.

One of the first public speaking books that I read and which is my favourite till today is How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie. Some of the advice Carmine Gallo offers, echoes Dale Carnegie’s points as well but of course presented with context and case studies which is more relevant to our time.

Worth a listen if you have not read any book on public speaking.

Now… I have a major presentation this month and my challenge is to develop an effective presentation using Gallo’s techniques. Wish me luck.