The TED talk experience

In April this year i was invited to give a TED talk at the closing session of the TEDxSummit in Doha, Qatar about a project from Frugal Digital (a research track we run at CIID on innovation for “base of the pyramid” using simple, improvised low cost technologies . It was one of the highlights of this years speaking sessions for me. Ofcourse i have seen countless TED talks online and have always enjoyed the intellectual stimulus and energy of these talks. Little did i think about the people and production team behind such amazing talks. In simple words the experience at Doha was an real eye opener – just the sheer scale, efficiency and professionalism that goes behind “Ideas worth spreading” is an experience worth learning from. I was made to rehearse over and over, time everything, double check all the technical details etc. My talk had compounded issues due to the fact that i wanted to demo one of the projects live. One of the biggest take aways for me from this experience was that even the most natural speakers (incl the legendary Hans Rosling who spoke in the event) actually spent a lot of time on rehearsals and perfecting the “natural” flow. Though my talk was fairly linear – atleast from a story telling point of view, all the little tips and suggestions from Bruno & Jim Stolze made the impact even more powerful. This combination of amazing speakers, precisie choreography and excellent production makes TED what it is but by far this has also been the most responsive audience i have encountered – so involved and enthusiastic ! View it here – http://on.ted.com/Vinay