TED Talks are some of the best speeches I watch. The speakers are innovators and leaders, dreamers and doers. The talks are recorded at the annual TED Conference and many of them are available to download free from ted.com.
Recently, I discovered one of the reasons the speeches are so good… TED’s organisers send upcoming speakers a stone tablet, engraved with the ‘TED Commandments”. Amy Tan in her TED Talk described the arrival of the TED Commandments as “something that creates a near-death experience; but near-death is good for creativity…”.
So I went in search of the TED Commandments. Thankfully Sue Pelletier points out that Rives was good enough to post a photo of the TED Commandments on his blog, shopliftwindchimes (scroll to 20 Feb). But you don’t need to settle for a photo, because I’ve typed them below:
- Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
- Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
- Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
- Thou Shalt Tell a Story
- Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Skae of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
- Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
- Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desparate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
- Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
- Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
- Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee
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24 responses so far ↓
1 Justin // May 21, 2008 at 9:03 am
Amen!
2 Great Presentation Tips! | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... // May 13, 2009 at 10:21 am
[...] I’m going to reprint the first five here, but, since he did the work to find them, I figure it’s only fair that you should have to visit his blog to find the last five. [...]
3 not particularly bitter pills « the rigorous m // May 13, 2009 at 2:07 pm
[...] The TED commandments – rules every speaker needs to know. (Tim Longhurst) [...]
4 Ian Kath // May 14, 2009 at 11:07 am
Since watching my first TED lecture from Hans Rosling I’ve been hooked consuming a couple of hundred of them.
What constantly surprises me is the quality of the talks both from the personal presentation to the use of graphics when necessary.
All presenters should study the minority of the average and the majority of the brilliant at TED to learn what works. This list is the skeleton that these talks are built on, a great start.
Sometimes it just a heart felt story.
5 Eduardo Buys // May 16, 2009 at 9:30 am
Tim,
see in my brazilian blog some information about TED, click and see the photo with your link.
I’ll visit better your blog later.
BRgds,
Edu
6 Bookmarks added by Alex Horstmann on May 12th | BlobFisk.com // May 17, 2009 at 3:07 am
[...] The TED Commandments - rules every speaker needs to knowI discovered one of the reasons the speeches are so good… TED’s organisers send upcoming speakers a stone tablet, engraved with the ‘TED Commandments”. Amy Tan in her TED Talk described the arrival of the TED Commandments as “something that creates a near-death experience; but near-death is good for creativity…”. [...]
7 Librarian by Day » The TED Commandments // May 19, 2009 at 1:23 am
[...] by Rives, transcribed by Tim Longhurst. Via Garr [...]
8 TEDtalks Ten Commandments for Presenters | www.nickhodge.com // May 19, 2009 at 1:18 pm
[...] Please read, take note and follow. There are a variety of web published sources for these commandments; Laurel Papworth and Tim Longhurst. [...]
9 Better presentations. « Rhondda’s Reflections – wandering around the Web // May 20, 2009 at 6:42 pm
[...] by the TED organisers. I went in search of these and found a post, from this time last year, on Tim Longhurst’s blog that discussed just these commandments. He had written them out and put in a few links to find [...]
10 Jake // May 21, 2009 at 9:13 am
the Skae of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
Sake?
On a more substantive note, I wish this: “Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good” were given to every public speaker.
11 Michael E. Rubin // May 21, 2009 at 11:09 am
This is terrific! I’ve organized conferences and recruited speakers for large events before, and I wish I had had this list to distribute.
You’d be surprised how many people willingly violate #7. They don’t get that you actually add get MORE value in return by talking LESS about yourself/company/service. It just makes you look amateur.
Respectfully, I would also like to suggest adding an Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt respect the moderator and not attempt to flout speaker rules just to make you look like a “rebel.” It makes thine self appear as an ass.
…Michael
—
Michael E. Rubin
merubin@gmail.com // 847-370-3421 // twitter: merubin
12 Rules every speaker needs to know » Michael Ewens // May 21, 2009 at 1:13 pm
[...] Rules every speaker needs to knowAmazon Mechanical Turk Best PracticesVisualizing Bayes’ theoremFormer Barney Frank staffer now top [...]
13 The TED Commandments – rules every speaker needs to know « Webtrails // May 21, 2009 at 4:35 pm
[...] via The TED Commandments – rules every speaker needs to know. [...]
14 Vince Stevenson // May 21, 2009 at 8:38 pm
There is some really good advice in here for speakers of all standards. Personally, I’m somewhat turned off by really good speakers who begin to showboat. Please - I have better things to do with my time. Rgds Vince
15 The Great Geek Manual » Link Round-Up: May 22, 2009 // May 23, 2009 at 3:03 pm
[...] The TED Commandments - Rules every speaker needs to know - One of the reasons the speeches are so good is that TED’s organizers send upcoming speakers a stone tablet, engraved with the “TED Commandments”. Amy Tan in her TED Talk described the arrival of the TED Commandments as “something that creates a near-death experience; but near-death is good for creativity…” [...]
16 Kobie // May 24, 2009 at 3:45 am
Great ideas but I’m lost (practicing #6-be vulnerable
on TED #9 “Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech. ”
No practicing or just no note cards or what?
Thanks in advance
17 The Best Sources Of Advice For Making Good Presentations | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... // May 25, 2009 at 3:38 pm
[...] The TED Commandments - rules every speaker needs to know [...]
18 Dave’s Whiteboard » Blog Archive » Commandments (not just for TED) // May 27, 2009 at 9:37 pm
[...] the TED talks. I’m just going to repost the image she used (”by Rives, transcribed by Tim Longhurst. Via Garr Reynolds“) and the text she [...]
19 If you only look at one website « Mark Hobbs // May 28, 2009 at 7:24 am
[...] are so good – a lot of this is the speakers, but I also found out (via Presentation Zen and Tim Longhurst’s blog) the Ten Commandments of Ted [...]
20 Dave’s Whiteboard » Blog Archive » The TED Commandments // May 29, 2009 at 9:50 pm
[...] at the TED talks. I’m just going to re-post the image she used (by Rives, transcribed by Tim Longhurst via Garr Reynolds) and the text she [...]
21 The TED Commandments « A blog about the art and the science of marketing research. // May 30, 2009 at 7:48 am
[...] I’ve watched my share of TED Talks, and I’m always amazed by the consistent quality of the presentations. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a dud. This may explain why…The TED Commandments. [...]
22 Cat Tech » Blog Archive » On a liberal education // Jun 3, 2009 at 3:40 am
[...] compelling alternative to the specialization of most universities.She breaks one of the cardinal rules of TED, “Thou shalt not read,” but given the extraordinary content, I hope you will forgive her. [...]
23 The Best Teacher Resources For “TED Talks” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... // Jun 4, 2009 at 5:06 am
[...] Longhurst uncovered The TED Commandments - rules every speaker needs to know. They’re the list of ten presentation rules that are given to each TED speaker, and they’re [...]
24 Andew B. Watt // Jun 4, 2009 at 10:22 pm
This is wonderful. Thank you… I’m stealing this for my rhetoric class.
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