To become a better communicator, learn to become a better thinker

For those of you who don’t know, I just did my second TED talk last Saturday. If you were to tell me 9 years ago, when I just watched the first TED talk ever, that I’m going to do not ONE, but TWO TED talks by 24, I would call you crazy.

For me, it’s always an honor to do a TED. And I know that it’s a dream of many people. So in this blog, I’ll share with you

• the biggest misunderstanding people have about what it means to be a “TED speaker”,

• another matrix I made about different types of public speakers, and

• a tip to become a TED speaker one day.

Back to the basics

The slogan of TEDx is “Ideas worth spreading”, so the most important part of a TED talk is always the “idea”, the “spreading” part is only secondary. In other words, as a TEDx speaker, you have to build substance before packaging.

This is misunderstood by a lot of people who think that “TEDx Speaker” is a badge of honor for public speaking skills, instead of good ideas.

Yes, being good at public speaking - having the ability to capture and retain attention, control unexpected technical issues with grace, or make beautiful slides are all beneficial for a TED speaker, but ONLY IF your key message has substance.

Substance before Skills

Let’s try to understand this with my “Public Speaker Matrix”.

On the x-axis, we have substance and on the y-axis, we have skills.

I.

With Low Substance & Low Skilled, you have the “Please Stop” kind of speaker whose presentation you wish never started. I don’t think I need to explain this type, we’ve all met one in our life.

II.

With High Substance & Low Skilled, you have the “Shy Scientist”. These speakers have the coolest ideas and insights, but were never taught how to present them properly. Give them the right training, they will easily move to the “Genius” and blow everyone’s mind.

III.

With Low Substance & High Skilled, you have the “Rambling Expert” - this is the type that I hate the most.

While at least “Please Stop” speakers are usually aware that they’re bad speakers, “Rambling Experts” think that they’re great speakers just because they are good at capturing attention and thinking fast on their feet.

They think that they can come to any meeting or presentation without prep work. They love to speak up just for the sake of speaking, without contributing any good ideas. “I’m blessing everyone with my voice” - the Rambling Expert thinks. These people can go on for 45 minutes without providing any meaningful insight, except for their lack of substance.

I hate them because I was one of them. Now, I’ve learned to shut up when I have nothing valuable to add.

IV.

Lastly, with High Substance & High Skilled, you’ll see the best public speakers - “The Genius”.

These people have incredible ideas, and all the necessary skills to deliver them. They’ll hook you in, make you laugh (or cry), teach you something new, and pin a message to your head - one so powerful that kept you thinking about for days or even years after the event has ended.

These are the speakers that you wish can stay on stage longer. These are the speakers that if they show up to speak at an event, you know that you’re in it for a good time AND will surely learn something cool. These are the speakers that you will Google their work right after their talks.

“Where do I get more of these?” - you ask.

After 7 years of public speaking experience, I’ve learned this important lesson:

Skills capture the moment.
Substance influences the future.

Good techniques capture the moment. People will always pay attention to speakers with good techniques.

But good content influences the future. People will continue to think about what the speakers say, long after the event has ended.

That’s the difference between a comedy show and a TEDx.

The goal of a comedy show is to make people laugh and feel good IN THE MOMENT.

The goal of a TEDx is to make people think hard and circulate the ideas being shared BEYOND THE MOMENT.

“Genius Speakers” excel both IN the moment and BEYOND it.

They make the audience care, make them remember, and make them think.

The best of both worlds

Great comedy shows like Trevor Noah’s “Son Of Patricia” or Daniel Sloss’s “Jigsaw” didn’t stop at making people laugh, they went on to make people think about the problems that were raised in the show via the lens of comedy.

Great TED talks like “Inside the Mind of a master procrastinator” by Tim Urban or “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” by Sir Ken Robinson didn’t only have great substance, but they were also delivered in such smart and comedic manners that the audience felt good AND thought hard about their ideas.

In order to become a better speaker, writer, or communicator of any sort, you MUST improve both your thinking and your techniques - your substance and your skills.

Outside of a comedy show, people are not going to listen to your 45-minute rambling even if you’re the funniest person on this planet.

Outside of academia, people are not going to pay attention to your substance-packed presentation if you cannot control the room and make them care.

Can I focus on one only?

If you only focus on improving your skills, you’ll learn to capture attention, but not to influence thoughts.

And the reality is that you will not retain the attention of really smart people, who are expecting good ideas, with skills only.

If you only focus on improving your substance, you’re bound to present your big ideas to a super disengaged crowd, wasting everyone’s time and energy.

Improving both is hard, but extremely crucial if you want to become a better communicator. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you only need either substance or skills to influence people.

So, if you want to become a TEDx speaker, sharpen your thinking first, come up with a few good ideas, and then a lot of people can help you package them (contact me).

Don’t become a Rambling Expert.

Don’t limit yourself to a Shy Scientist.

Aim for The Genius.

—

“Skills before Substance” is why I think most public speaking or writing courses you enroll in will not make you an exceptionally better communicator. These courses address the problem of techniques, not the problem of thinking.

So you might come out speaking very eloquently or writing beautiful sentences, but not necessarily communicating high-quality ideas, in a logical flow that makes the audience THINK.

In my blogging course “Writing On The Net”, I spend 80% of the time teaching people my thinking and writing system. That means if you join me, 80% of the time, you’ll learn how I read, how I take notes, how I structure my writing, and how I use qualitative methods to improve my writing.

I always think I’m a mediocre writer, but a decent thinker. And

Tuấn Mon

- my co-instructor - is really an exceptional thinker.

If learning how to think better via writing is something you’re interested in, join us in our 5th cohort with 40% off (deal ends 26/11).

I’ll see you there, genius-to-be!