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TEDxBITSGoa Speaker Toolkit

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Sarthak Pranit
Sarthak Pranit

This document provides guidance for speakers presenting at TEDxBITSGoa on developing a successful presentation. It encourages speakers to prepare thoroughly by developing focused content told through personal stories and examples. Speakers are advised to rehearse their talks within strict time limits, making their ideas accessible through emotional connection and plain language rather than complex abstractions. The document outlines technical specifications for presentation slides and encourages speakers to craft clear, visually engaging slides following best practices for text, backgrounds and images.

1 of 11
Speaker Toolkit Guide to pulling off a successful presentation at TEDxBITSGoa
Congratulations! We are thrilled that you and your ideas will be a part of TEDxBITSGoa : This is my Story. We were overwhelmed with the variety of choices we came across. The number of unheard stories in India is an unending plethora. Ultimately, we invited you because we believe in your ability to communicate the richness, importance and relevance of your story to an interdisciplinary audience, and we find that your story strikes at the heart of TED¡¯s overall mission: you¡¯ve got an idea worth spreading. You will be presenting to a select and high profile audience ranging from students, corporate officials, non-profit officials, educationists and from abroad as your talk will be accessible online and in podcast form, and may even end up on TED.com where most talks are viewed at least 100,000 times, and some even have several million views. Take a minute to think about that. Don¡¯t worry though. The team behind TEDxBITSGoa is here to offer full support, and we¡¯ve built tools and a timeline to help you develop the best talk of your young lives. You should never hesitate to approach us with any of your concerns or feedback; we¡¯re learning too. We aren¡¯t your boss, we¡¯re your ally. The success of TEDxBITSGoa depends on our collective ability to bring out the best in everyone. In this package, you¡¯ll find a short background guide to TED and TEDxBITSGoa, preparation tips, the TEDx Commandments, event specifications, and technological specifications. For promotional purposes, please keep in mind that this event is independently organized under a license from TED. It is not TED but TEDx. Please do not make that confusion when you¡¯re spreading your exciting news. Congratulations once again! Sincerely, Sarthak Pranit, Curator | TEDxBITSGoa Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 1
Table of contents Welcome¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­................. Background¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Our theme¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. Preparation¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ TEDx commandments¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­... Technical Specifications¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Event Specifications¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 2
Background TED and TEDxBITSGoa Our secret dream is to help to make Portugal a better place for all. If you¡¯ve made it this far, you probably have a good sense of what TED and TEDxBITSGoa are. We¡¯ll skip most of the background, but to summarize, TED is an event based on the mantra of ¡°ideas worth spreading¡±. Similarly, TEDxBITSGoa aims to bring forth the experiences of people of different walks of life. It aims at sharing those stories that have lost themselves in the hustle on the present day, stories that deserve to be listened to. If you¡¯re eager to know more, brush up on some history at: ¡ö TED: http://www.ted.com ¡ö TEDx: www.ted.com/tedx ¡ö TEDxBITSGoa: www.tedxbitsgoa.com Quick facts about ¡ö TEDxBITSGoa: ¡ö TEDxBITSGoa is one of the first instances of a TEDx event in India organized by an educational institution. ¡ö Our project began on the fall of 2009 with a small group of Undergradutes trying to bring about a certain change in the perception of the students regarding talks. Our first TEDx event was held under the theme ¡°Inspiring Innovation¡± ¡ö Our team has expanded to include more than 20 volunteers who assist us immensely with our planning. ¡ö We made it an immediate priority to focus on the stories of Incredible India and its people, projects and ideas. While we¡¯ve brought in some exciting people from the faculty and alumni network, our focus is on you. ¡ö TED has provided us with the operating license. This event is thus independently organized without their supervision or financial assistance. ¡ö Our vision is to bring about a change in the monotonous perspective of the common Indian and inculcate inspiration, due to which we wanted to share your story with the audience. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 3
Our Theme This is my story Believe it or not, it took us weeks to come up with a theme. In the end, while travelling through the Mumbai local, pondering over the more-than-six-million stories that go unheard in the city every day, we arrived at something broad but, pertinent to a TEDx event. Our theme, ¡°This is my story¡±, means that we expect each TEDxTalk (a) to be experience-oriented; (b) to have an emotional as well as logical angle; and above all (c) to be motivating for our audience. Quite simply, ideas in a story empower. A good idea properly leveraged and properly presented in a story, can have an immense effect on our future. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 4
Preparation Your TEDxBITSGoa Talk ? Setting out: Let¡¯s set one thing straight: TED presenters might make their TEDTalks look effortless, but there are hours of thinking, preparing, practicing, slide revision, and memorization involved behind each spectacular Talk. We expect the same level of commitment from you. ? Developing your content: Your TEDxTalk should be focused and sharp. It should go deep rather than broad. It should include visuals that develop your ideas, rather than distract from your purpose. It can include unique aspects of your personal experience or projects, but these examples should be powerful, illuminating and succinct. There is absolutely no toleration for corporate, political, or religious plugs from stage. That is an abuse of the TEDx platform. ? Timing: TEDTalks don¡¯t run longer than 18 minutes. At TEDxBITSGoa, however, some talks will be even shorter. Everybody¡¯s case will be a bit different, but presenters should expect to fit their presentation into 8, 12, or 18 minutes. We will be very strict on presentation times. (Follow the training guide for further details) Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 5
The TED Commandments¡­¡­.deciphered!! 1. Dream big. Strive to create the best talk you have ever given. 2. Show us the real you. Share your passions, your dreams¡­and also your fears. Be vulnerable. Speak or failure as well as success. 3. Make the complex plain. Don¡¯t try to dazzle intellectually. Don¡¯t speak in abstractions. Explain! Give examples. Tell stories. Be specific. 4. Connect with people¡¯s emotions. Make us laugh! Make us cry! 5. Don¡¯t flaunt your ego. Don¡¯t boast. It¡¯s the surest way to switch everyone off. 6. No selling from the stage! Unless we have specifically asked you to, do not talk about your company or organization. And don¡¯t even think about pitching your products or services or asking for funding from stage. 7. Feel free to comment on other speakers, to praise or to criticize. Controversy energizes! Enthusiastic endorsement is powerful! 8. If possible, don¡¯t read your talk. Notes are fine. But if the choice is between reading or rambling, then read! 9. You must end your talk on time. Doing otherwise is to steal time from the people that follow you. We won¡¯t allow it. 10. Rehearse your talk in front of a trusted friend¡­for timing, for clarity, for impact. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 6| Page
Technical Specifications Things to keep in mind while formulating your slides Your Powerpoint, Keynote, or PDF presentation (only supported formats) will be run off our laptops and projected onto a screen behind you, unless you require something different for your presentation. Please refer to these specs as guidelines. ? Image Size Please design your presentation to fit within any of the following specifications: ? WIDESCREEN HD (16:9 aspect ratio) : 1920x1080 (hi res) ? WIDESCREEN HD (16:9 aspect ratio) : 1280x720 (low res) ? SQUARESCREEN (4:3 aspect ratio) : 1024x768 (hi res) ? SQUARESCREEN (4:3 aspect ratio) : 800x600 (low res) ? Title Safe Please keep a 10%-20% margin (from the slide border) around your text, much as you would when typing on a piece of paper. This ensures that everyone will be able to read your slides. ? Text Size You rarely need more than six lines of text on a slide. Often, only a line or two will do. Think of text as an image. ºÝºÝߣ image size Minimum Font Size 1024 x 768 28 pts 800 x 600 24 pts 1920 x 1080 (wide) 40 pts 1280 x 720 (wide) 28 pts ? Text Clarity Sans-serif fonts (like Helvetica) are easier to read at a distance than serif fonts (like Times New Roman). To avoid last-minute glitches with your presentation onsite, try to use fonts that are widely available like Arial, or Times New Roman. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 7| Page
? Background A simple, elegant background behind your text should be used to complement and enhance the readability of your words. If using a dark or black background, you may want to make the text bold. ? Graphs, Graphics and Photos Use high-resolution pictures and graphics. Full-quality photos from a digital camera will look better than images pulled off the web. You must properly license all images for TED¡¯s use in worldwide video and web distribution. You can grab images from the web (flickr.com, and others) but they should be licensed under Creative Commons or from the author for use. For data graphs or charts, be sure to follow the minimum font size guidelines on the previous page for all text, including labels on x- and y-axes and data points. ? Five presentations featuring clean, crisp, effective design that worked live at TED, and also online. ? John Doerr - Profit and Salvation in Greentech (2007) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/128 ? Al Gore - 15 Ways to Avert a Climate Crisis (2006) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1 ? Larry Lessig - Creativity and the Law (2007) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187 ? Erin McKean - Redefining the Dictionary (2007) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/161 ? Rives - 4 a.m. (2007) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/148 ? Rives ¨C John Hodgman¡¯s (from Apple¡¯s advertisements) talks about his strange story in the Algarve (2008) http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hodgman_s_brief_digression.html Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 8| Page
Event Specification February 12th, 2012 is the day! TEDxBITSGoa begins at 10:00 a.m. sharp on 12th February, 2012 in Auditorium, BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa Campus, Goa and will run until 8:30 p.m. We will have generous 30-minute coffee- breaks between each session. There will be between three and five presenters in each presentation block. Following the last session, there will be a Dinner open to selected participants that will run about 90 minutes. We expect you to stay for the whole conference and dinner, unless there are extenuating circumstances beyond your control. We also expect that you are prepared to converse with audience members about the Talks during the breaks. During the event, you will be seated in the audience and will enter the stage from the floor. TED Audiences are just as diverse and experienced as the presenters, and we want to make TEDxBITSGoa a relaxing environment where everyone feels comfortable exchanging ideas. Schedule of the day (can be subjected to change) 9:30 - 10:00 Introduction 10:00 - 11:30 First session 11:30 - 12:00 Morning Coffee-break 12:00 - 13:30 Second session 13:30 - 15:00 Lunch 15:00 - 16:30 Third Session 16:30 - 17:00 Afternoon Coffee-break 17:00 - 18:30 Fourth Session 19:30 - 21:00 TEDxBITSGoa Dinner Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 9| Page
This TEDx event is independently organized. This independent TEDx event is operated under a license from TED. TEDxBITSGoa is an initiative of students of BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa Campus. Email: sarthak@tedxbitsgoa.com www.tedxbitsgoa.com Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 10 | Page

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TEDxBITSGoa Speaker Toolkit

  • 1. Speaker Toolkit Guide to pulling off a successful presentation at TEDxBITSGoa
  • 2. Congratulations! We are thrilled that you and your ideas will be a part of TEDxBITSGoa : This is my Story. We were overwhelmed with the variety of choices we came across. The number of unheard stories in India is an unending plethora. Ultimately, we invited you because we believe in your ability to communicate the richness, importance and relevance of your story to an interdisciplinary audience, and we find that your story strikes at the heart of TED¡¯s overall mission: you¡¯ve got an idea worth spreading. You will be presenting to a select and high profile audience ranging from students, corporate officials, non-profit officials, educationists and from abroad as your talk will be accessible online and in podcast form, and may even end up on TED.com where most talks are viewed at least 100,000 times, and some even have several million views. Take a minute to think about that. Don¡¯t worry though. The team behind TEDxBITSGoa is here to offer full support, and we¡¯ve built tools and a timeline to help you develop the best talk of your young lives. You should never hesitate to approach us with any of your concerns or feedback; we¡¯re learning too. We aren¡¯t your boss, we¡¯re your ally. The success of TEDxBITSGoa depends on our collective ability to bring out the best in everyone. In this package, you¡¯ll find a short background guide to TED and TEDxBITSGoa, preparation tips, the TEDx Commandments, event specifications, and technological specifications. For promotional purposes, please keep in mind that this event is independently organized under a license from TED. It is not TED but TEDx. Please do not make that confusion when you¡¯re spreading your exciting news. Congratulations once again! Sincerely, Sarthak Pranit, Curator | TEDxBITSGoa Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 1
  • 3. Table of contents Welcome¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­................. Background¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Our theme¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. Preparation¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ TEDx commandments¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­... Technical Specifications¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Event Specifications¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 2
  • 4. Background TED and TEDxBITSGoa Our secret dream is to help to make Portugal a better place for all. If you¡¯ve made it this far, you probably have a good sense of what TED and TEDxBITSGoa are. We¡¯ll skip most of the background, but to summarize, TED is an event based on the mantra of ¡°ideas worth spreading¡±. Similarly, TEDxBITSGoa aims to bring forth the experiences of people of different walks of life. It aims at sharing those stories that have lost themselves in the hustle on the present day, stories that deserve to be listened to. If you¡¯re eager to know more, brush up on some history at: ¡ö TED: http://www.ted.com ¡ö TEDx: www.ted.com/tedx ¡ö TEDxBITSGoa: www.tedxbitsgoa.com Quick facts about ¡ö TEDxBITSGoa: ¡ö TEDxBITSGoa is one of the first instances of a TEDx event in India organized by an educational institution. ¡ö Our project began on the fall of 2009 with a small group of Undergradutes trying to bring about a certain change in the perception of the students regarding talks. Our first TEDx event was held under the theme ¡°Inspiring Innovation¡± ¡ö Our team has expanded to include more than 20 volunteers who assist us immensely with our planning. ¡ö We made it an immediate priority to focus on the stories of Incredible India and its people, projects and ideas. While we¡¯ve brought in some exciting people from the faculty and alumni network, our focus is on you. ¡ö TED has provided us with the operating license. This event is thus independently organized without their supervision or financial assistance. ¡ö Our vision is to bring about a change in the monotonous perspective of the common Indian and inculcate inspiration, due to which we wanted to share your story with the audience. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 3
  • 5. Our Theme This is my story Believe it or not, it took us weeks to come up with a theme. In the end, while travelling through the Mumbai local, pondering over the more-than-six-million stories that go unheard in the city every day, we arrived at something broad but, pertinent to a TEDx event. Our theme, ¡°This is my story¡±, means that we expect each TEDxTalk (a) to be experience-oriented; (b) to have an emotional as well as logical angle; and above all (c) to be motivating for our audience. Quite simply, ideas in a story empower. A good idea properly leveraged and properly presented in a story, can have an immense effect on our future. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 4
  • 6. Preparation Your TEDxBITSGoa Talk ? Setting out: Let¡¯s set one thing straight: TED presenters might make their TEDTalks look effortless, but there are hours of thinking, preparing, practicing, slide revision, and memorization involved behind each spectacular Talk. We expect the same level of commitment from you. ? Developing your content: Your TEDxTalk should be focused and sharp. It should go deep rather than broad. It should include visuals that develop your ideas, rather than distract from your purpose. It can include unique aspects of your personal experience or projects, but these examples should be powerful, illuminating and succinct. There is absolutely no toleration for corporate, political, or religious plugs from stage. That is an abuse of the TEDx platform. ? Timing: TEDTalks don¡¯t run longer than 18 minutes. At TEDxBITSGoa, however, some talks will be even shorter. Everybody¡¯s case will be a bit different, but presenters should expect to fit their presentation into 8, 12, or 18 minutes. We will be very strict on presentation times. (Follow the training guide for further details) Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 5
  • 7. The TED Commandments¡­¡­.deciphered!! 1. Dream big. Strive to create the best talk you have ever given. 2. Show us the real you. Share your passions, your dreams¡­and also your fears. Be vulnerable. Speak or failure as well as success. 3. Make the complex plain. Don¡¯t try to dazzle intellectually. Don¡¯t speak in abstractions. Explain! Give examples. Tell stories. Be specific. 4. Connect with people¡¯s emotions. Make us laugh! Make us cry! 5. Don¡¯t flaunt your ego. Don¡¯t boast. It¡¯s the surest way to switch everyone off. 6. No selling from the stage! Unless we have specifically asked you to, do not talk about your company or organization. And don¡¯t even think about pitching your products or services or asking for funding from stage. 7. Feel free to comment on other speakers, to praise or to criticize. Controversy energizes! Enthusiastic endorsement is powerful! 8. If possible, don¡¯t read your talk. Notes are fine. But if the choice is between reading or rambling, then read! 9. You must end your talk on time. Doing otherwise is to steal time from the people that follow you. We won¡¯t allow it. 10. Rehearse your talk in front of a trusted friend¡­for timing, for clarity, for impact. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 6| Page
  • 8. Technical Specifications Things to keep in mind while formulating your slides Your Powerpoint, Keynote, or PDF presentation (only supported formats) will be run off our laptops and projected onto a screen behind you, unless you require something different for your presentation. Please refer to these specs as guidelines. ? Image Size Please design your presentation to fit within any of the following specifications: ? WIDESCREEN HD (16:9 aspect ratio) : 1920x1080 (hi res) ? WIDESCREEN HD (16:9 aspect ratio) : 1280x720 (low res) ? SQUARESCREEN (4:3 aspect ratio) : 1024x768 (hi res) ? SQUARESCREEN (4:3 aspect ratio) : 800x600 (low res) ? Title Safe Please keep a 10%-20% margin (from the slide border) around your text, much as you would when typing on a piece of paper. This ensures that everyone will be able to read your slides. ? Text Size You rarely need more than six lines of text on a slide. Often, only a line or two will do. Think of text as an image. ºÝºÝߣ image size Minimum Font Size 1024 x 768 28 pts 800 x 600 24 pts 1920 x 1080 (wide) 40 pts 1280 x 720 (wide) 28 pts ? Text Clarity Sans-serif fonts (like Helvetica) are easier to read at a distance than serif fonts (like Times New Roman). To avoid last-minute glitches with your presentation onsite, try to use fonts that are widely available like Arial, or Times New Roman. Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 7| Page
  • 9. ? Background A simple, elegant background behind your text should be used to complement and enhance the readability of your words. If using a dark or black background, you may want to make the text bold. ? Graphs, Graphics and Photos Use high-resolution pictures and graphics. Full-quality photos from a digital camera will look better than images pulled off the web. You must properly license all images for TED¡¯s use in worldwide video and web distribution. You can grab images from the web (flickr.com, and others) but they should be licensed under Creative Commons or from the author for use. For data graphs or charts, be sure to follow the minimum font size guidelines on the previous page for all text, including labels on x- and y-axes and data points. ? Five presentations featuring clean, crisp, effective design that worked live at TED, and also online. ? John Doerr - Profit and Salvation in Greentech (2007) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/128 ? Al Gore - 15 Ways to Avert a Climate Crisis (2006) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1 ? Larry Lessig - Creativity and the Law (2007) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187 ? Erin McKean - Redefining the Dictionary (2007) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/161 ? Rives - 4 a.m. (2007) http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/148 ? Rives ¨C John Hodgman¡¯s (from Apple¡¯s advertisements) talks about his strange story in the Algarve (2008) http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hodgman_s_brief_digression.html Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 8| Page
  • 10. Event Specification February 12th, 2012 is the day! TEDxBITSGoa begins at 10:00 a.m. sharp on 12th February, 2012 in Auditorium, BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa Campus, Goa and will run until 8:30 p.m. We will have generous 30-minute coffee- breaks between each session. There will be between three and five presenters in each presentation block. Following the last session, there will be a Dinner open to selected participants that will run about 90 minutes. We expect you to stay for the whole conference and dinner, unless there are extenuating circumstances beyond your control. We also expect that you are prepared to converse with audience members about the Talks during the breaks. During the event, you will be seated in the audience and will enter the stage from the floor. TED Audiences are just as diverse and experienced as the presenters, and we want to make TEDxBITSGoa a relaxing environment where everyone feels comfortable exchanging ideas. Schedule of the day (can be subjected to change) 9:30 - 10:00 Introduction 10:00 - 11:30 First session 11:30 - 12:00 Morning Coffee-break 12:00 - 13:30 Second session 13:30 - 15:00 Lunch 15:00 - 16:30 Third Session 16:30 - 17:00 Afternoon Coffee-break 17:00 - 18:30 Fourth Session 19:30 - 21:00 TEDxBITSGoa Dinner Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 9| Page
  • 11. This TEDx event is independently organized. This independent TEDx event is operated under a license from TED. TEDxBITSGoa is an initiative of students of BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa Campus. Email: sarthak@tedxbitsgoa.com www.tedxbitsgoa.com Speaker Toolkit | TEDxBITSGoa 10 | Page