My
reflection blog this week is to reflect on the TedX Talk video “The Secret structure of Great Talks” by
Nancy Duarte. The video is about how presenters create a simple structure to
tell a story, but allows the audience to take the idea and make it grow. An
example Duarte shared is the typical presentation structure created by Aristotle,
includes a beginning, middle and the end. She identified the Aristotle
structure is broken because it defines the presenter as the hero and the real
hero is the audience. (Duarte, The Secret Structure of Great Talks, 2011)
Duarte
identified three well known presentations that many of us can identify with and
she points out how the presenters use a “what is” to a “what could be” approach
to allow the audience to develop their own idea of the future state. The first
example is Martin Luther’s Kings “I have a dream” speech, which was about
bringing a country together to rid adversity and racism. The next example is
Steve Job’s “I-Phone launch” speech, which was designed to pull the company
together as a team to promote a new revolutionary product. The third speech is
President Lincolns’ “Gettysburg address” which was and is still very important
historical speech in our country, which was used to unite the people. (Duarte, The
Secret Structure of Great Talks, 2011)
Each
of these speeches began with the current state of the country or an
organization, however the presenters quickly moved to where they would like to
see happen next. Whether it was a new revolutionary product to hit the market
or the unity of people, there was a transition on how the information was
presented. They did not use the typical Aristotle approach of getting in and
getting out, they worked on the compassion the audience of making the change
idea, theirs. Duarte suggested the presenters need to “make the status quo
unappealing”, which is exactly what the presenters in these speeches did. It
remind me of how we use words or comments that tug on our emotions for personal
buy-in to the idea, and if you are a softy at heart like me, it works. (Duarte, The
Secret Structure of Great Talks, 2011)
Usage
I
would have to honestly admit that I already use this type of approach, especially
in my role as Executive Vice President of the Leadership Association. On an
average, I teach two courses a month on leadership skills, and in my training I
provide lots of personal examples or I will request examples from the audience.
These examples are aligned to allow the audience to experience a story and hopefully
gain an idea or concept that they can use in their own careers. An example is
recently I was sharing how I returned to college at the age of 34, with only
having 40 hours of college, and nine years later I am working on my fifth
higher level degree. I shared the challenges, set-backs, emotions of dealing
with work and family, but finished with the rewarding benefits. My approach was
to identify the current reality that life is full of obstacles, but with a
mentor my aspirations, desires, and motivation allowed me to realize the sky
was the limit and nothing was going to stop me. I was not there to promote
college, but motivation and desire is within you the person, and the rest is
cosmetic.
A week later, an hourly
employee stopped me as I was walking into the building to work. She was moved
by my personal story and wanted to go to college, but did not know where to
start. The young lady is in her 50s and has never attended college. I was
emotionally moved when she asked me to be her mentor through the process. This
is one of the most aspiring events to occur recently, especially since hourly
employees don’t always appreciate the salary.
Conclusion
I enjoyed
the video “The Secret
structure of Great Talks” by Nancy Duarte. As presenters we can all tell stories
to motivate the audience to grow to another idea or state. One of the reasons I
liked her examples is it removed the “complacency” of the status quo. If you
give the same ole type of presentations, the audience gets used to it, and it
can become “boring.” In the end, Duarte
suggests that you structure your presentations like you are telling a story. (Duarte, Structure Your Presentation Like a Story,
2012)
Duarte,
N. (2011). The Secret Structure of Great Talks. Retrieved from TedX Talks:
http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks
Duarte, N. (2012, October 31). Structure
Your Presentation Like a Story. Retrieved from
Harvard Business Review:
https://hbr.org/2012/10/structure-your-presentation-li
