The Power of Delivery: Insights from TEDxMarshallU

The tagline for TED is “Ideas Worth Spreading.”

Some of the TED Talks online have been life changing to me and culture shaping for the world. As a huge fan of TED Talks, I was excited to get to attend Marshall University’s TEDx event last week. While the faculty, students, and staff all did an amazing job putting on the event, one thing stood out to me. While all of the talks at TEDx MarshallU were based on brilliant ideas, only a handful felt like ideas that were truly worth spreading.

So, what was the big difference between the talks and ideas that were truly compelling verses the ones that were just good?

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t the ideas themselves.

Let’s start here: I refuse to judge anyone who had the cajones to get up on a TED stage and be vulnerable enough to share their ideas on stage. Every speaker’s idea was captivating. It was a night full of brilliant individuals sharing brilliant ideas. As someone who has struggled mightily at times speaking in front of crowds, I know how difficult it is…especially when you don’t do it often. So, I’m not going to speak to any individual or individual talk. EVERY SPEAKER DID FANTASTIC.

But, I do think the insights I took away from the evening are worth me writing down for my future self.

So, if what set the compelling ideas apart wasn’t just the idea itself, what was it?

Maybe it was the speaker?

Maybe the more credentials the speaker had, the more influential their talk? Was it those with impressive resumes who stood out? Or, maybe more predictably, was it their good looks and charisma that stole the show?

Honestly, no.

Some of my favorite talks by the end of the night were from people I was slightly dreading listening to after flipping through the night’s program.

Maybe it was my interests?

We’ve all been in situations where we’ve been into a topic, but everyone around us is fighting to keep their eye lids open. Maybe the ideas that were compelling to me were those that were of particular interest to me. The ones that “hit home” with what I like to think and talk about, those that matched up with more core values.

Again, no. One of the talks I agreed with most wholeheartedly wasn’t my favorite. Others, I didn’t find particularly interesting, but I did find them compelling.

So, what made some of the ideas captivating?

In a word: delivery.

While we would love to say that ideas rise and fall on their own accord. It’s just not true. As I sat and watched several TED Talks, the things that made the most compelling talks were the presentation and delivery.

It was the speaker’s delivery, despite their charm, that made them more relatable.

It was their delivery that caused you to lean in to be interested in a topic.

It was delivery of the idea, not the ideas themselves, that set apart the great ones from the merely good ones.

To be clear, all of the ideas themselves were brilliant, articulate, fascinating ideas, but it was the delivery of the idea that made the idea what it was.

How you deliver your message matters.

Whether you’re talking about a TED Talk, an advertising campaign, or leading people at work or in your home, how you say what you say matters just as much as what you say. It’s the difference between good communication and great communication, between good leadership and great leadership.

Maybe in the future I’ll talk about what makes particular delivery techniques effective, but, for now, it’s enough to know that I need to think about how I say what I say just as much as what I say.