I got a link in my Twitter stream pointing to The TED presentation commandments which is a great list of ten commandments in order to make a great presentation.

The TED Commandments

  1. Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick.
  2. Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before.
  3. Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion.
  4. Thou Shalt Tell a Story.
  5. Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy.
  6. Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
  7. Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
  8. Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
  9. Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
  10. Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee.

Presentation Zen

That post lead me to Making presentations in the TED style at Presentation Zen. The TED commandments are here too but the best part is the reviews of some TED speakers. It says:

There is not one best way to speak at a TED conference, there are many different ways. But what the good presentations have in common is that they were created carefully and thoughtfully with the audience in mind and were delivered with passion, clarity, brevity, and always with “the story” of it (whatever it is) in mind. So let the list of 10 above be your general guide. In addition, take a look at some of the TED presentations below. They all follow a different style but were effective and memorable in their own way.

Go to Presentation Zen, read reviews and learn more about what works (and not).

My comments

The TED commandments are great and useful for any speaker. The presentations listed at Presentation Zen are great examples to learn from. In addition, take a look at some of my favourites:
• Elizabeth Gilbert: A different way to think about creative genius.
• Benjamin Zander on music and passion
• Matthew Childs: Hang in there! 9 life lessons from rock climbing.

This was originally posted at Forty Plus Two, another blog of mine.