Tag Archive for 'TED TALK'

Speech Analysis by The One Minute Presenter on Simon Sinek TED speech: Start with Why

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

Simon Sinek started his working life in advertising and now helps people find their inspiration in life – their purpose – so that they can create platforms to inspire and attract like-minded people. In his own words, “I try to find, celebrate and teach leaders how to build platforms that will inspire others. “

I was referred to Simon’s talk by Paul Dunn of Buy One Give One. Many thanks to Paul. As Paul observes “what Simon really does is to give ‘labels’ to things we know to be true and therefore it resonates even more.

You can watch the video of Simon’s speech at TED.com here.

Here is my breakdown of the speech. The things that are great about the speech are:

  • Excellent demonstration of vocal quality and variety

  • Simple visual is the foundation of the presentation’s content

  • Frequent use of taglines that are repeated through the presentation

  • Calm when adjusting to a technical failure

  • Gestures that add impact to certain words and messages

  • Connecting questions are a relaxed way to engage the audience’s attention

  • Use a big idea to frame his whole presentation’s message

  • Use of examples to make the point clearer

The areas that could be improved include:

  • Anecdotes not that convincing

  • Poor visual on second chart; diffusion of innovation

The things that are great about the speech are:

Excellent demonstration of vocal quality and variety

Simon has a great voice and this is his main speaking asset. Some examples of good usage:

0405-0430 When introducing the Apple example of the Golden Circle.

1300-1315 Explaining his key tagline “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”

1350-1450 – Explaining why tivo is a commercial failure.

Simple visual is the foundation of the presentation’s content

Simon’s three concentric circles make up his Golden Circle. It’s a simple visual to explain the Why-How-What formula behind his idea. Easy to remember, demonstrate and pass on. Contrast this with his second chart [see improvement below].

Frequent use of taglines that are repeated through the presentation

0430 Simon uses a tagline – a phrase that captures one of his key messages. And he uses it at least six times through his 18 minute presentation. “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. The first time he introduces this tagline, he repeats it to highlight its importance. This same tagline was used at 0535, 1055, 1308, 1330, 1510 usually before or after an anecdote

Calm when adjusting to a technical failure

0515 The microphone was giving off white noise. Simon demonstrated a textbook perfect way of how to handle a technical malfunction. He paused to take the new microphone from the tech guy. And then kept going without skipping a beat. Perfect.

Gestures that add impact to certain words and messages

Although Simon is not a high energy speaker in terms of leaping around the stage, he does employ a range of gestures that add energy to his presentation. Some examples:

0550 “here’s the best part

1625 “zero” [this would have been more effective if he was not holding a pen]

1645 “made by a higher authority”

Connecting questions are a relaxed way to engage the audience’s attention

Simon uses questions throughout his presentation. For example his opening question: How do you explain when others are able to achieve something that defy all the assumptions?” These connecting questions prompt the audience to engage with the topic. When someone asks a question, the natural response is to think of a possible answer. Simon continues to using a questioning-style in the opening through “why” questions: For example, Why is Apple so innovative?”

Use a big idea to frame his whole presentation’s message

Sets up his big idea by arousing curiosity. Simon mentions his own personal discovery and how it changed his way of operating and he then made it into a big idea by saying that there was a pattern [from which we could learn]. The big idea:

0150 “They all think, act and communicate in exactly the same way and it’s the complete opposite to everyone else.”

Use of examples to make the point clearer

Let me give you an example…”

0330 If Apple were like everyone else…

0410 How Apple challenge the status quo

Other good points:

Humble delivery style shown when he says,

0155 “all I did was codify it and it’s ..the world’s simplest idea”

Humour was used sparingly but unveiled some thoughtful insights

Simon used humour in a couple of places.

1130 illustration of a laggard; “the only reason they buy touch tone phone is because you can’t buy rotary phones”

1705 “I have a dream versus I have a plan”

Close

1720 “There are leaders and there are those who lead”

Leaders have power. Those who lead inspire us.

Areas that could have been improved:

Anecdotes not that convincing

Simon used the rule of three to arrange his anecdotes. Although Apple was a good choice, I would have hoped for more contemporary examples than Martin Luther King and the Wright Brothers.

Warwick’s coaching tip:

Choosing good anecdotes is a balance of selecting examples the audience can relate to and finding fresh insights and stories the audience have not heard many times before.

Poor visual on second chart; diffusion of innovation

While the Golden Circle was very clear and easy to read, this chart – if you weren’t familiar with was not clear. The numbers were not clearly written.

Warwick’s coaching tip:

Consider pre-drawing visuals to save time with your back to the audience and also to guarantee clearer drawing. Sometimes you may wish to build up a visual – as with Simon’s Golden Circle – when you don’t wish the audience to jump ahead or get overloaded.

Conclusion

This a steady paced, easy to understand presentation with a simple powerful visual that has many different applications. With stellar vocal variety and a clear message, this is a very good presentation whose main point can be easily passed along. I would rate this a 8 out of 10.

About the Author

Warwick J Fahy

Warwick helps C-level executives, working in multinational companies based in Greater China, who struggle to get their point across and influence their key stakeholders. Warwick helps the executive project their message with confidence allowing them to express their opinions powerfully and gain respect from senior managers even when under pressure.Learn more about who Warwick helps here.

Warwick is the author of “The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world”.

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