Ted Talks Persuade the World, But How?

TED Talks are notably one of the most famous forms of public speaking in the professional and educational world. TED Talks says, “Scientists, researchers, technologists, business leaders, artists, designers, and other world experts take the TED stage to present “Ideas Worth Spreading”: valuable new knowledge and innovative research in their fields.” TED Talks are not all the same but, do share the same tactics and a basic outline. Some tactics they use are making eye contact with the audience, speaking confidently, and using attention grabbers. They use a common outline that follows using an attention grabber, providing the main point, then providing sub-points, and finally concluding the speech. This is comparable to the basic persuasive essay everyone had to write in their high school English class. In fact, there are many speeches and essays in the world that follow the persuasive outline used in most Ted Talks. According to Fawkes, “It is difficult to conceive of organizational communication which does not contain some persuasive content, if only in the selection of material for the particular public.” (Fawkes, 2007, p.316)  How do these individuals transform such a basic outline into some of the best presentations known to our society? We will be discussing how these popular Ted Talks manage to persuade and inspire their audiences time after time.

To begin a Ted Talk, almost everyone starts with an attention grabber. What is an attention grabber? According to Merriam-Webster attention-grabbing is, “demanding notice especially by being prominent or outlandish.” (Merriam-Webster, 2021) The words that should be highlighted in Merriam-Webster’s definition are demanding notice. Without the attention of their audience, a Ted Talk can not be effective because the goal is to captivate and persuade your audience. For example, Sir Ken Robinson gave a Ted Talk about School and Education killing creativity. He began his Ted Talk by addressing his audience and saying Good Morning and asking how they have been as if they are having a conversation. This encourages the crowd to pay attention and to respond. Shortly after he says it has been a great day and then jokingly says he is leaving which catches the audience off guard. This is a perfect example of an attention grabber, not only did he involve the crowd but, he caught them off guard and gained their attention. Not only did he catch them off guard, but he also used humor to reach his audience. According to Joosr, “Our brains love humor, which is why utilizing humor is a great approach for lowering others’ defenses and making them more receptive to new thoughts and ideas.” (Joosr, 2015, p.1) Although, be careful to not overuse humor and lose the interest of the crowd. Humor should be used only as means to regain the attention of the audience. Why does the speaker need the audience’s attention? They could continue their speech without an attention grabber but, to be effective in terms of persuasion, they need the audience’s full attention. Once you have their attention they are more receptive to learning new things which can include the presenter’s main point.

The main point or purpose is why you are speaking with your audience. Why does the presenter want the people listening to think about their speech? Following Sir Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk he wants the crowd to realize that education plays a large role in destroying creativity. He began by talking about education and creativity. Sir Ken Robinson states, “My contention is that creativity now, is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” He then begins to speak about his main point and bolster it with examples of his children’s projects or experiences in school.

 Joosr states, “Brain-imaging studies have proven that stories stimulate the brain, engage it deeply, and cause the brains of the storyteller and their audience to sync together. This increases the chances of the audience agreeing with the viewpoint of the speaker.” (Joosr, 2015, p.1) Throughout his explanation of the main point, he speaks smoothly and slowly so the audience can understand everything he is saying. Psychology Today claims, “Projecting confidence helps people gain credibility, make a strong first impression, deal with pressure, and tackle personal and professional challenges.” (Psychology Today, 2021) Therefore, being confident helps to persuade the audience because they feel you are a credible source. When the presenter continues along their outline, their sub-points will be listened to more intently because they have respect for the speaker.

Sub-points are used to enhance the overall message or main point of the presentation. They should always point back to the main point and in Sir Ken Robinson’s speech, he follows this guide. One of his sub-point was that every educational system in America teaches the same things to its students. They have very basic standards for education and do not branch off the required subjects like Math, English, Science, and History. The sub-point helps him bolster his statement that schools and education are killing creativity in individuals. While he is providing these sub-points to his audience he maintains eye contact with his audience. “Making eye contact with your audience establishes a relationship between you and them, and creates a sense that you’re all sharing something…if you come out smiling warmly, the eye contact will create a feeling of trust and intimacy, and encourage them to feel happy and excited about watching you speak.” (Joosr, 2016, p.1) Establishing a relationship with the audience causes them to be more receptive to the information the speaker will be sharing. Persuasion and propaganda thrive when the intended audience can connect with the individual sharing. As Bernays claims, “There is no detail too trivial to influence the public in a favorable or unfavorable sense.” While sharing his sub-points he continues to use stories about his family and their experiences with education. Throughout each step of the basic outline, using different persuasive techniques is recommended to provide continuity for the audience. The speaker has presented their ideas and won over the crowd, but it is not over yet. To seal the deal on their presentation they have to conclude their speech.

The conclusion of a speaker’s speech is arguably the most integral part of a presentation. They gave the audience some entertainment with their attention grabber, provided the purpose of their speech with the main point, and provided reasons why in their sub-points. To successfully end their speech they need to sell their idea to the audience. The speaker needs to both make a call to action and reinforce the main point made during their speech. Sir Ken Robinson states, “What Ted celebrates is the gift of the human imagination, we have to be careful now that we use this gift wisely and that we avert some of the scenarios we talked about. And the only way we will do it is by seeing our creative capacities for the richness they are and seeing our children for the hope that they are.” He makes an emotional appeal to his topic and tries to touch the hearts of his audience. He refers to his audience as “we” making a sense of togetherness which helps to persuade the crowd into aligning with his beliefs. This is very standard practice for the most powerful and successful Ted Talks. In order for the idea and the speech to resonate with the audience, they have to end the speech well. A strong ending makes a speech more impactful than its counterpart, a weak ending. If a speaker were to end things with, “okay that is it, thank you for listening.” it would not resonate with the audience. They do not address the audience or catch their attention and make the whole speech, less memorable. That would not persuade the listeners to fight for creativity. Following the outline and concluding the essay with a call to action would provide the best results in terms of persuasion.

Following an outline that most people use for persuasion is the key to success. What is the saying? “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” The outline provides a sturdy base for some of the most powerful and successful Ted Talks known today. The key to persuasion is being consistent and using your resources to influence the audience. Start with the attention grabber, lead into the main point, provide sub-points, and finally conclude your speech. While you are following your outline throw in some tips and tricks like making eye contact, speaking confidently, and using more attention grabbers. The simplicity of the outline means that anyone can do it, you just have to do so confidently. At the end of the day, these persuasive Ted Talks are successful because they create resonance with their audience. They make the person listening feel involved and inspired. Anyone can follow along and analyze a Ted Talk given by a professional and it will show the same basic outline each time. One basic outline has created hundreds of intricate ideas and more to come in the future.

Ted Talks: Briefs Changing Our World For Better and For Worse

TED Talks are something so sophisticated, yet simple. Informative, yet controversial at times. Short in length, but powerful in information and delivery. They cover a variety of topics from medicine to engineering to sports to human trafficking. Truly, there is not much off limits when it comes to TED Talks. We have seen TED Talks from some of the most influential people in the world and virtually no names off the street who have a powerful message and something unique to say.

TED Talks most definitely have a purpose and serve a purpose in our world today. It sheds the light on a collection of issues and topics in a much simpler and shorter way than sitting in a class or reading an entire novel for hours at a time to retrieve information. The model started as a conference in 1984 and has been held annually since. However, the model has expanded and many conferences and forms of Ted are now hosted including podcasts, shows, and various other forms of media which allow information to be shared and stories to be told.

Photo from Wikipedia.org

While each medium TED uses is effective in its own right, the short brief system speaking to an audience seems to be the first thing people think of when it comes to TED. Oftentimes, people will also think of the terms persuasion and propaganda when it comes to TED, with persuasion being a more likely fit.

“The scientific study of the process of social influence” (Cialdini, 2004) is a strong definition of exactly what persuasion is. Propaganda can be defined as “the spreading of information in support of a cause. It’s not so important whether the information is true or false or if the cause is just or not, it’s all propaganda,” (Vocabulary.com, 2021). Meaning, just because the word propaganda does have a negative connotation in many people’s eyes does not mean propaganda is only used for negative purposes.

In the case of TED, propaganda is used for true and sincere purposes. The tactics also tie into persuasion because the speaker is trying to persuade social change or a re-examination many of times of how we think about the topics or issues that are being presented in the TED Talks or using any form of the TED model.

One thing TED unquestionably stands for is trying to get rid of the people that fall into the third-person effect category. These are the people that think a lot of things in life do not affect them and become more of a bystander than taking action on something they think needs fixed. One way to change these individuals perceptions is to show how it affects them or someone close to them.

The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side, Or So We Think…

A question I think we all have been asking for the last two years is why is everyone so negative now? Could it be the emergence of the COVID-19 Pandemic? Could it be the ongoing battles for social rights? Could it be the effects of technology and social media? It could be, it could be all of the reasons stated above. Or are we just hardwired to have negative thoughts? As Roy Sutherland said, “Life is pretty much all about perception.” (Sutherland, 2009). Do we just perceive the world in a negative light? Are we always thinking the grass is greener on the other side and it will not be?

Kendra Cherry mentioned, “In studies conducted by psychologist John Cacioppo, participants were shown pictures of either positive, negative, or neutral images. The researchers then observed electrical activity in the brain. Negative images produced a much stronger response in the cerebral cortex than did positive or neutral images.” So, the answer to our question is yes, we perceive the world negatively because that is what we want to think.

We want to think if there’s something wrong there is something better. We react more actively to negative thoughts rather than positive ones. This is why we are more likely to remember a negative or traumatizing memory from our childhood than a lot of the small happy memories. This is just human nature, unfortunately. Maybe this is a reason we are all so attracted to the idea of the underdog story or living the “American Dream”. The idea of taking a bad situation and changing it for the better. Before continuing let me define this phenomenon called Negativity Bias. Kendra Cherry states, “The negative bias is our tendency not only to register negative stimuli more readily but also to dwell on these events. Also known as positive-negative asymmetry, this negativity bias means that we feel the sting of a rebuke more powerfully than we feel the joy of praise.” If this is how we all act like humans, how does it affect our perceptions of propaganda within the United States of America?

In the last couple of years, we have been struggling as a country to play nice with one another. In fact, almost everywhere you look on social media, there is nothing but hate. Hate for other genders, sexualities, political viewpoints, cultures, and so much more. With nothing to keep the world busy during the Global Coronavirus Pandemic, people had far too much time on their hands to do nothing except think. What did the people think about in their free time? All the bad things in the world, all of the hate. Fast forward to when the world started to open its doors to socialization and business again. It is the 2020 election between Joe Biden and President Donald J. Trump. The Citizens are in an extremely volatile state and political propaganda is about to start filtering into everyday life as the Presidential candidate’s campaigns begin.

Let us take a moment to compare Joe Biden’s and Donald J. Trump’s approaches to advertising on Facebook specifically. In the first Facebook advertisement given by Joe Biden’s Victory Fund, he says, “…But I need your help to put out the darkness of the past 4 years behind us. Can you make a donation to help us move forward as a country?” As you can see Joe Biden is using the negativity bias to his benefit. He stimulates minds and catches their attention by presenting negativity and while he has your attention he comes in with a call to action. He asks the viewer to make a donation to change the “darkness” that Donald J. Trump created. This is a highly effective way to advertise and reach an audience. Because we as humans are attracted to negativity and want to change it, we resonate with his advertisement. In comparison, Donald J. Trump’s advertisement did not present an ask, it also did not use any form of negativity bias. Maybe this is why his advertisements did not perform as well as his competitors?

Negativity has an impact on propaganda and can be a very effective form of catching the audience’s attention. It is a very common tactic in the persuasion and propaganda world, we just do not realize it is so effective because of the negativity bias. Maybe moving forward into the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump will run again and use some tactics that his now fellow president, Joe Biden, used to succeed in the 2020 election.

Rebranding: Out with the Old, In with the New

It takes time for a company to develop a strong brand. Developing a name, logo, and website that accurately represents the mission and values of a company is an important step in creating a memorable impression on consumers. As the market continues to evolve, companies are always looking for new ways to remain unique and relevant. If they find themselves struggling to connect with their audience or their sales have dropped, oftentimes they will try to rebrand themselves.

Third-Person Effect And It’s Appearance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The third-person effect is something that is prevalent in our lives today and has been for a very long time. With the expansion of media and opportunities to persuade and share propaganda, people can see the third-person effect taking shape in increased ways.

What this effect boils down to is certain individuals believe that the messages from the media do not apply to them, or apply less to them. These people believe the messages only apply to others around them or apply to them in a much more serious way (Salwen & Dupagne, 1999). These people believe that others will be more influenced by these messages and want less of these messages to be seen and heard because they do not think it applies to them.

“In the view of those trying to evaluate the effects of a communication, its greatest impact will not be on “me” or “you,” but on “them” the third persons. From the standpoint of a propagandist or other persuasive communicator, on the other hand, the third persons are those who are in some way concerned with the attitudes and behavior of the ostensible audience. Indeed, the propagandist may try to manipulate the behavior of these third persons by apparently seeking to influence someone else,” (Davison, 1983).

When thinking about it, I have indirectly been talking about the third-person effect all semester long. I am a person who is consistently a third-person that propagandist and media want to sway. I fall in the middle and stay out of situations and debates that do not involved me. Obviously, the two juggernauts of the political world of the United States hate this. They want everyone on their side and try to make advances on the middle.

This is exactly what Davison says in his quotes from his writing as he says they try to get to the third-person by affecting or directly reaching out someone who is in the life or the community of the third-person. Truly, it seems like the third-person can be applied to the third-parties from my opinion. There is the Green Party which wants all sorts of environmental changes in policy in the United States. There is the Libertarian Party which wants government to stop playing such a huge role in so many of our decisions and actions. There is also the Tea Party which seeks to limiting spending by the government overall. Pretty much, these are the third-person the two major parties would want to influence and change.

However, the bigger picture to be focused on is the concept itself. This idea of the third-person effect has reared its ugly head so many times over the last couple years in a variety of forms. People who are not getting the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters because they believe their health is so great, people voting for Joe Biden and his campaign who are rich just because he presented himself as nicer person than Trump and Biden’s policies would not affect them, and this idea has even come out when it comes to unemployment. They see their co-workers and others out in the world struggling and they continued to sit on unemployment instead of going to make a difference in the world.

Easily, the most traceable example takes the form of COVID-19. How many times have we heard and see people say they are not taking it because they believe it is their right and their health is just fine? There are too many to count. These people have utterly ignored if they know people who have died, if they know people who have survived and gotten super sick, and even ignored the wishes of family members, doctors, and employers to get vaccinated or take measures to lessen their chances of getting sick.

People think they are invincible when it comes to COVID-19 in some cases still, but they are not. They sit back and let the world continue to go on and they are doing nothing to prevent spread or help themselves get less sick. Some call them self-centered, but there is another argument that it is their right and if people are afraid of them, stay clear of them and take preventive measures themselves.

For reference, we will not know how many of these 87 percent of people thought they were immune to COVID-19 or it would never get them, but there is unquestionably some that thought it. It is not even a debate (Haddad, 2021). Sometimes, we are all guilty of being a third-person or a “bystander” as this could also be categorized. Some things really are much easier to let go of than others. However, when it comes to health, doing what YOU as an individual think is best should not be sacrificed unless it truly is illegal or threatens someone else’s rights.

Ted Talks: Propaganda Hidden as Education

Ted Talks are becoming one of the most interesting ways to get your opinion or research on a topic out to the general public. You have an audience, and your video is posted on the Ted Talks website for everyone to be able to see. Ted Talks are persuasive propaganda in a way that makes you not even realize you are being convinced of something. Although propaganda often has a negative connotation, it actually just means the spreading of information in support of a cause. It’s not so important whether the information is true or false or if the cause is just or not — it’s all propaganda. Ted Talks are the spreading of information, whether or not true or false, fact or opinion. So they are propaganda. But how are they so effective, and why have they blown us out of the water? What techniques are used?

How Individuality Flipped to Mass Movement and Fast; Conforming is Not Always Good

In life, as hard as we try and as much as we might want it to be this way, we are not all created equal. In the Deceleration of Independence, it states that “all men are created equal”. While this is a great thought, it is pretty much just a phrase at this point. The idea was that all men could grow up and have good careers, good jobs, heck, even become president. However, this document was written in the 1770’s when non-whites and only men really got a say in the United States.

What awful times this had to have been. However, people did not know any different. Likely, they wanted more, and thank goodness they have gotten it. Women have so many more rights, and black people are no longer viewed as just a piece of property and more money coming in. It was truly a sick way of life. It is a great thing we have moved on for so many reasons.

However, in the 1770’s, most people in the 13 colonies were concerned with a mass movement to gain independence. This then flipped in the civil war when they were feuding over the nation for various reasons. There were two mass movements of people both fighting for what they felt was right. Since, there have been other notable mass movements like the Holocaust, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the rise of communist and socialist states throughout the world.

What do all of these events have in common? They have in common that you conformed, or else. Yes, you risked your life if you felt differently. You had to be careful who was trusted and what was said in many of these situations, or your life literally could have hung in the balance.

The good news for many of us is we are free Americans who did not have to confirm to something if we did not believe in it. At least for a long time we did not have to. Beginning in 2020, labels and confirming took such grips on people for what their view was on the pandemic, the elections, economics, and other principles of life. Each major party tried to get as many people as possible to confirm to their antics, and unsurprisingly, many who were on the fence before picked a side.

Now, with a change of party, more confirming is continuing to happen, but not all of it is by choice. Whether it be by employers, family members pressure, or from the depths of social media, people are giving in and are not fighting as hard for individuality and personal liberties as they once did. Why might this be? There are a few theories and examples of why this could be happening.

Before entering into that, it is important to note that mass movements always has some agenda behind it. There is at least one person or a group of people who are trying to make sure this movement does in fact happen. W. Lance Bennett and Shanto Iyengar co-authored an article called A New Era of Minimal Effects? The Changing Foundations of Political Communication. In this article, the duo touches on mass movements. Particularly, they talk about mass movements of religion, politics, and consumer society. Unquestionably, these are three areas that persuasion and propaganda impact our lives most (W. Lance Bennett & Shanto Iyengar, 2008, p. 4-5). Additionally, they talked about government ideology and how these different forms ideals are different.

“Lippmann, who flirted with socialism under the mentoring of the great muckraking journalists, soon came to a very different understanding of the relations among press, publics, and government that landed him in the inner circle of Woodrow Wilson (and many of the succeeding presidents through Kennedy), with the perspective that popular opinion and consent had to be engineered in order to govern effectively,” (W. Lance Bennett & Shanto Iyengar, 2008, p. 9).

An Individualistic Culture With a Need to Conform

The pressure from mass media to conform to society has stripped many of us of our individuality. Americans have been consuming different forms of media for a long time. By 1940, most households were listening to the radio for an average of 4 to 5 hours a day. In 1960, households were watching television for an average of 5 hours per day, which increased to 6 hours a day by 1975. In 2016, Americans were consuming almost an average of 11 hours of media across their different devices every day.

Social Media Politicians

Social media is extremely popular in the United States of America. If you do not have social media or use it daily you may fall behind on the newest trends and viral videos. What else on it other than trends and viral videos? Social media can often be littered with political memes, ads, and most of all, opinions. In the 2020 election politics were almost unavoidable on all your favorite social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, and YouTube aided politicians and political parties in their campaigns. Each political candidate has their own public profile on multiple social media platforms. Not only, do they have profiles but they use them frequently to gain the attention of potential new supporters or followers. Donald Trump’s infamous tweets on Twitter often caught the attention of citizens of the United States of America. Most of his tweets involved controversial issues or some felt he was often disrespectful to others. Joe Biden was often faced with critics from citizens as well. Although he was not criticized for the same things Donald J Trump was, he had his own hate from the country. People thought Joe Biden was being untrue with his actions and interests in the United States. You can often find people commenting negative opinions of the current president’s posts and updates. Although there are some drawbacks to using social media as a form of marketing for their campaign, there are also positives to using social media. Social media helps to spread propaganda to a group of people almost instantaneously. If used well, a person or business can profit from social media for years. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok also allow for individuals to reach younger generations and even those who will be capable of voting in upcoming elections. “Optimists have seen social media platforms as an expression of the liberalizing ethos of the internet: tools for empowering citizens, enabling economic opportunities, increasing freedom of expression, spreading liberal ideas, and providing an alternative communication platform for dissident,” said Scheffler and Miller. Some examples of posts from former President Donald J. Trump and current President Joe Biden include:

Former President Donald J. Trump: Trump is one of most known social media users out of most politicians. He tends to receive large amounts of hate from those who feel he was not a proper president. In fact, he upset the country so much that he is no longer allowed to participate in the use of social media platforms. After confirming his lack of proper information, social media platform CEOs decide to remove him from their applications. The reasoning is his spread of misinformation for the last four years of his presidency or his overall impact through the elections.

Current President Joe Biden: Joe often keeps his social media clean of personal information and makes it his experience as a politician. He also has high-quality photos for all of his posts which means he has the interaction planned ahead of time. Joe Biden uses his social media very statistically and they make sure to keep his image professional.

Even though Joe Biden won the presidential election in the year 2020, both presidents used social media to promote their social media effectively. Their followers supported their campaigns wholeheartedly and often made their own versions of propaganda to bolster their chosen candidate’s campaign. Their followers often boosted their campaigns by repeating the candidate’s values and stances on controversial topics. They also created fan edits of their candidates almost as if they were entertainment celebrities like Charli Damelio. Here are some examples of fan or follower produced videos:

@joebiden.fan.page

don’t forget the pic of him and obama running with the pride flag, that’s my favorite🥰 #fyp #foryoupage

♬ Glorious (feat. Skylar Grey) – Macklemore

@donald_trump_fanpage_

#greenscreenvideo #greenscreen

♬ original sound – Lit Fly Guy

If you are Democrat or Republican, a supporter of Democrats or Republicans, you may have run across some of these videos. Even if they are not noted as propaganda they are a form of propaganda because it has the goal to get you to vote for a certain candidate. Keep in mind that social media is used by all ages and some of the people using social media to pass along information could be much younger than the voting age. “both practitioners and scholars of political communication seem behind the curve of social and technological change that has already swept popular culture.” said Bennet and Lyengar. Bennet and Lyengar is incorrect in the sense that people do not know how to use but he is correct that it is has swept popular culture. Do you think social media should be as popular as it is and involved in politics or removed completely?

Sleeping On The Facts

The 2020 election will go down in history as one of the most divided elections this country has ever seen. The propaganda being shown, the opinions and their severity, the candidates, and their childish campaigning. The 2020 election was, for lack of better terms, absolutely insane. I think what made it most insane, though, was the sort of delay in impact of the propaganda the candidates were shoving down our throats. We saw something called “the sleeper effect” come into play.