Robert Cialdini had a problem. “Teaching at a University is a great job”, he writes “but there are inherent difficulties”. Some difficulties are common to both the lecture theatre and the boardroom: How do you get people to devote their full attention to the lecture or presentation material so that they understand the concepts involved? How do you get them to concentrate for 45 minutes? Other difficulties are restricted to the college lecture theatre: how do I prevent students from perving, passing notes to one another and packing up early in anticipation of another lecture? (Come to think of it, those things happen in some boardrooms as well) In search of a solution to these difficul
Ever wondered how TED maintains such a consistently high standard of public speaking? How even some of the most complex topics are conveyed with such piercing clarity? For most TED alumni, It didn't come naturally... At a recent sustainability summit in Johannesburg I was struck by how many speakers, many of them global experts in their fields, left the audience either in a state of complete indifference to their subject or indeed, so confused as to be moderately hostile towards them. It’s was a shame when you consider the importance of their work. While no self respecting speaker sets out to alienate or confuse an audience it often happens despite his best efforts. An explanation as to
