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)

 

References

 

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