51. Speech Breakdown: TED Talk by Ella Al-Shamahi "The fascinating places scientists aren't exploring"
Apr 14, 2020
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Ella Al-Shamahi, a paleoanthropologist and National Geographic explorer, dives into the uncharted territories of scientific discovery. She shares gripping stories from her research in Yemen, highlighting the urgent need for exploration in politically tense environments. The conversation covers Ella's impactful presentation techniques, including the power of visuals and personal anecdotes. The hosts dissect her confident delivery and the humor woven into serious topics, demonstrating the delicate balance required in effective storytelling.
Opening a speech with a personal story effectively engages the audience and establishes the speaker's credibility, making the presentation more relatable.
The importance of confident body language and carefully integrated humor can significantly enhance or detract from the intended emotional impact of a presentation.
Deep dives
The Importance of Analyzing Presentations
Analyzing presentations is a crucial practice for improving public speaking skills. It allows presenters to observe effective techniques used by others and identify elements to either emulate or avoid. This podcast episode highlights a breakdown of a TED Talk to provide insights into what works well and what doesn’t in various presentations. Engaging in this critical dialogue promotes a deeper understanding of presentation dynamics and enhances the listener's ability to connect with their audience.
Engagement Through Personal Storytelling
The speaker opens with a compelling personal story that captures the audience's attention and outlines her journey to becoming an evolutionary biologist. This approach not only establishes her credibility but also adds a layer of vulnerability that resonates with listeners. However, the initial teetering and hesitant demeanor may detract from the strong message she wishes to convey, highlighting the need for confident body language in presentations. Nevertheless, her storytelling effectively draws in the audience by establishing a relatable narrative.
Exploring Uncharted Territories in Science
The discussion focuses on the geographical challenges faced by scientists in politically unstable regions, emphasizing those places that remain unexplored. The speaker argues for the importance of conducting research in these areas, specifically referencing the potential discoveries in Yemen and the Socotra Islands. By contrasting the dangers associated with exploration and the significant scientific knowledge that remains uncovered, the speaker underscores the urgency of supporting these frontline scientific endeavors. This point is exemplified through her personal anecdotes about previous attempts to conduct research in Yemen.
Navigating Humor Amid Serious Topics
Integrating humor into serious discussions can be a delicate balance, as demonstrated in the talk. While the speaker attempts to lighten the mood with jokes about her experiences, some humor comes off as misaligned with the gravity of subjects like famine and war. This shift in tone risks undermining the emotional weight of her message. Consequently, it's essential to ensure that humor serves to enhance, rather than distract, from the core narrative one is presenting.
In episode fifty-one of The Presentation Boss Podcast Kate and Thomas do another break down of a speech! Again they're looking at a TED Talk, this one Thomas heard on the TED Talks Daily Podcast. It is a valuable tool to listen to other presentations and think carefully about what other presenters do that you like and can emulate, or that you don't like and can leave alone.
This talk covers a lot of content and we discover a great, short message tucked into this longer TED Talk. Kate and Thomas pause as the talk plays to uncover the presentation skills and techniques that are brilliant but also make pause about some actions that they feel aren't the most powerful use of time, words or physical delivery. This is though, an insightful talk about discovery of the story of human evolution from an expert in her field.
What You'll Learn
• One of the three strongest ways to open a speech; with a short story
• How stance and posture can indicate tone and confidence of a presenter
• A powerful use of PowerPoint slides to help reduce length of the speech but increasing audience comprehension
• Why we need to make careful decisions about what to include and what to exclude from a presentation
• Getting to the point of what you want to say
• The emotional power of sharing personal stories
• Being careful of assumed knowledge
• Understanding what type of humour fits into your presentations
• Whether or not to place your audience in your stories
Mentioned In The Show
• Ella Al-Shamahi | The fascinating (and dangerous) places scientists aren't exploring
Resources and Links
• Email us: podcast@presentationboss.com.au
• The Presentation Boss Podcast: https://presentationboss.com.au/podcast/
• Kate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-norris/
• Thomas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-krafft/
• Presentation Boss on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/presentationboss/
• Presentation Boss on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/presentation-boss
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