How to Deliver a TED Talk: Secrets of the World's Most Inspiring Presentations, revised and expanded new edition, with a foreword by Richard St. John

CHAPTER 14

Creating Inspiring Slides

TIP 83: Give your talk without slides.

When most people think about TED Talks, they conjure images of elegant, image-rich slide design. While that is certainly true, the best choice you can make in a presentation is to have no slides at all. In fact, 4 of the 10 most viewed TED presenters did not use slides, including Sir Ken Robinson,¹ record holder for the highest viewed talk.

One of the main themes of this book is that great speakers drop the pretense, forget all the rules, and use simple and authentic conversational language. You do not prepare slides to speak to friends and family, so try not to use them when you present. As a speaker, you should remove anything that can be construed as a physical or ...