Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds

Three of the ideas you’ll keep

The Clif summary of Talk Like TED pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first three.

1. Lead with passion: identify what makes your heart sing, then connect your topic to that purpose so your conviction becomes contagious.
2. Tell personal stories, roughly two-thirds of the best TED talks are stories, because narrative syncs the speaker's and listener's brains and makes ideas stick.
3. Rehearse so relentlessly that delivery feels like a relaxed conversation; use natural gestures and vocal variety, never a robotic recital of bullet points.

The other 4 — and the full 8-minute summary — are in the app.

What’s inside: 10 chapters

The whole summary runs about 8 minutes, read or listened to.

1. The TED Commandments: Emotional, Novel, Memorable
2. Secret 1: Unleash the Master Within (Passion)
3. Secret 2: Master the Art of Storytelling
4. Secret 3: Have a Conversation
5. Secret 4: Teach Me Something New
6. Secret 5: Deliver Jaw-Dropping Moments
7. Secret 6: Lighten Up
8. Secret 7: Stick to the 18-Minute Rule
9. Secret 8: Paint a Mental Picture with Multisensory Experiences
10. Secret 9: Stay in Your Lane