Video

The secret structure of great talks

TED (TEDxEast) Free Intermediate

Duarte studies presentations for a living, and this talk (using the Jobs iPhone launch as one of her two case studies) shows the actual shape underneath a talk or demo that moves an audience: repeated contrast between what is and what could be. It gives you a structure to storyboard a demo against, rather than just 'be more like Steve Jobs' as advice. Eighteen minutes, and you will start seeing the pattern in every good demo you watch afterward.

  • Great talks move back and forth between 'what is' (the pain) and 'what could be' (the outcome)
  • A clear structure, not raw charisma, is what makes a talk or demo resonate
  • End on the new bliss, the world the buyer gets once the pain is gone
Open on ted.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. When my product is technical and I am selling to non-technical buyers, how do I demo it without confusing them?

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