John Guydon was interviewed by Senior Investigative Reporter for The Epoch Times Joshua Philipp on his Crossroads podcast (episode 73, January 22, on iTunes Podcasts).
I liked Guydon’s message so I watched his short but powerful speech.
Since I’m a Toastmaster, I jotted down speaker notes from his Ted Talk.
Body language
- He doesn’t move around because of the stage spot he had to remain on, but his legs are spread to own the space, and his face and upper body are animated.
- Makes eye contact, head on a swivel, as he addresses different parts of the darkened room
- Uses gestures to separate and punctuate ideas
Speaking style
- Short pauses to let ideas sink in
- Uses personal stories
- Clear voice
- Pacing
Visual aids
- Simple
- To underline his points
- Photos of friends and family to add veracity, poignancy, and meaning to stories
- Video clips of people to show how their experiences were different, hear their voices directly
Organization
- Started with childhood and Santa
- Then high-achieving friend
- Airplane experience
- People interviewed for his documentary
- What he learned
- Four steps
- Documentary
- Laid out like a story with beginning, middle, end
His message was a hit because it was strong, clear, personal, stories as examples, and not emotional. Good example of a confident, practiced speaker, with a well-organized speech.
Screenshot from John Guydon’s TedxTalk at Wiley College.
Thought Ripples by Wendi 