At Ethos3, it’s our job to study what is succeeding on the presentation front. So, in our next few blogs, we’re doing a year-in-review. We’ll be looking at a specific set of presentations: the 5 most popular TED Talks of 2022 as determined by the number of views. We’ll unpack the presentations for patterns in design, delivery, and content. We want to see what these speakers did to reach over 2 million views each.
Today, we’re breaking down the presentation design in these wildly popular talks. What did these 5 speakers show on the screen? How did that affect their success? And what can we learn from them?
1. “How a ‘Hi Level’ mindset helps you realize your potential.” Cordae.
Cordae’s presentation design was simple and impactful. He used the screens for two purposes only: to illuminate his main points and to show people. The main points were shown as white words on a black screen, so his deck had high contrast. The other slides he used showed people: his mom, his middle school self, etc.
The Takeaway: We love Cordae’s limited use of slides. In fact, his example gives us an easy guidebook for beginning presenters. If you aren’t sure what to put in your presentation, feature the two things Cordae does: main points and people.
2. “Why having fun is the secret to a healthier life,” Catherine Price.
Price’s presentation design was surprisingly similar to Cordae’s, which may point to guidance from the folks at TED. She used white words on black slides to reinforce her main points. And she showed pictures of what it looked like to truly have fun. She also used a screenshot of a dictionary page and a Venn Diagram to help her illustrate the three components of true fun.
The Takeaway: One of the best parts of Price’s slide deck was the series of pictures that show people having fun. She could have tried to explain these same events and scenes with just words, but it wouldn’t have had the same impact. Use pictures where words fall short.
3. “How to discover your authentic self–at any age,” Bevy Smith.
Smith’s presentation does not make use of media.
The Takeaway: While we think every presentation can be enhanced with a great slide deck, Smith reminds us of this simple lesson: Don’t add things just to add them. Every single element of your presentation should serve a specific purpose. Less can often be more.
4. “We can make COVID-19 the last pandemic,” Bill Gates.
Of the top 5, Gates’ Ted Talk has the most extensive slide deck and the most attractive presentation design. Right from the beginning he displays pictures of ancient Rome, and then uses a slide to reinforce his title. Our favorite slide in the deck (shown below) is a simple, high contrast, split screen with an image and a statistic. It shows the number of U.S. firefighters.
Gates is also the only speaker of the top 5 to show a short video clip with audio and to show data via a chart. He also uses an anagram on a slide, but generally, we see very limited words on Gates’ slide deck.
The Takeaway: Gates’ slide deck is our favorite because it is simple and impactful. He uses attractive fonts in a larger size than the other presenters. He also makes use of video and data visualizations. His presentation shows us how a speaker and slide deck can work in tandem to powerfully communicate a message.
5. “’A seat at the table’ isn’t the solution for gender equity,” Lilly Singh.
Singh begins with a strong personal narrative without showing anything on the screen. Her slide deck starts when she seeks to offer proof of what she’s saying. When she says that girls want a seat at the table, her presentation media layers headlines and posts on the slide behind her. She also plays silent video clips of her comedy videos behind her at one point, bringing dynamic movement to her slide deck.
The Takeaway: You can use your slide deck like Singh does, as a “back up choir” to your solo act. Instead of having to verbally walk through proof, you can let your slides back you up. And bringing in proof or examples of what you are talking about in animated layers adds both credibility and depth to your presentation.
These popular TED Talks can help us design better slide decks and presentation media. So let’s review what we learned: highlight what is important, keep slides simple, use high contrast, and use your slides to back up what you are saying.
In our next blog we’ll be looking at the speakers’ delivery styles. In the meantime, get in touch with one of our experts to see how Ethos3 can help take your presentation design to the next level.
