Storytelling Tips from a Trending TED Talk

In June of last year, Christopher Soghoian delivered an 8-minute TED Talk, which is currently trending, about what he referred to as the “digital security divide.” Throughout his brief speech, Christopher displayed a variety of presentation storytelling skills. If you haven’t already, watch his TED Talk below:

His tone is serious and formal. His even keel tone allows him to come across as credible and convincing. Christopher does not stumble over his words. You can tell that he is obviously talking about an issue that he is passionate about. Do you want to present your presentation story like Christopher? Here are a few notes to remember from his TED Talk:

Set the Scene

Christopher could have come right out and let his audience know the viewpoint he would be presenting from during the speech. He could have opened his presentation by saying what he actually said at about 4 minutes in:

“We must remember that surveillance is a tool. It’s a tool used by those in power against those who have no power.”

Source: Your smartphone is a civil rights issue by Christopher Soghoian

Instead, he opens his TED Talk by positioning the overall narrative in a specific place and time. By setting up the context and providing some background to his topic, he is priming his audience to hear his controversial stance. This is a great storytelling approach to use when you are presenting about a matter riled in conflict.

Protagonist vs. Antagonist

By 2:40, Christopher establishes a story with conflict. His transition to introducing the antagonist was succinct and simple.

“Two smartphones from two of the biggest companies in the world; one that protects data by default, and one that doesn’t.”

Source: Your smartphone is a civil rights issue by Christopher Soghoian

While Christopher doesn’t necessarily position one smartphone as “good” and the other as “evil,” he does place the two at odds – creating tension and moving the narrative forward.

Well-crafted Sentences

If you examine the transcript of his TED Talk speech closely, you’ll find that he prepared for his presentation. How will you know this? Take a look at his sentence structure. For example, let’s analyze the following excerpt:

“That is, there is now increasingly a gap between the privacy and security of the rich, who can afford devices that secure their data by default, and of the poor, whose devices do very little to protect them by default.”

Source: Your smartphone is a civil rights issue by Christopher Soghoian

Christopher repeats the words “by default” and “devices” in the sentence above. In almost every sentence where he discusses the impact of the security issues on the poor, he employs repetition. This is his way of signaling to his audience that those particular points are the most important to remember.

Interested in checking out our many other TED Talk reviews? Review the following links.

How an Interesting Topic Can Draw in an Audience: The Dead Malls TED Talk

Get Inspired by this Young Presenters TED Talk

Matter Over Mind: Carrie Poppy’s Storytelling Tactic

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