How did one talk get over 90 million views?*

Every few years a talk gets posted that is so remarkable that people love it so much they want to share it. In 2015 Tim Urban delivered one of those talks. Urban is the co-founder of Wait But Why, a site he’s run since 2013 that generates millions of page views a month. 

Urban does a lot of things brilliantly in Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator. These are four that we can all learn from. 

1. He blends humility and humour

It’s takes thirty-three seconds to fall in love with Urban as a speaker. Two sentences in to is 2015 TED talk he projects a chart that shows how most college students spread their paper-writing workload over time. “So, you know -- you get started maybe a little slowly, but you get enough done in the first week that, with some heavier days later on, everything gets done, things stay civil,” he says, opening his arms and bowing his head down before the Vancouver audience.

In an ideal world, Urban’s study strategy would have followed a similarly measured format. “That would be the plan,” he explains. “I would have it all ready to go, but then, actually, the paper would come along, and then I would kind of do this…” Here, he drops his head with a hint of shame, pointing at a second projected chart. On that chart, all the paper writing work has moved to the day-before-deadline column. The audience laughs. How could they not? From his manner down to his jeans and crew-tee, Urban’s blend of humility and humor is refreshing. 

2. He makes us think, “That sounds like me”

Urban’s careful construction of a universal struggle is irresistible. As he talks, he repeatedly evokes a “That sounds like me” response from his listeners. The best speakers do. At the 4:12 mark, for example, he uses personable and relatable examples of the ways we all get sidetracked. "Let's read the entire Wikipedia page of the Nancy Kerrigan/ Tonya Harding scandal, because I just remembered that that happened,” he says. “Then we're going to go over to the fridge, to see if there's anything new in there since 10 minutes ago.” Sounds about right. 

3. He uses specific and concrete language to make his points

Equally important to notice is the specificity and concreteness of Urban’s descriptions. He doesn’t simply say “we get distracted watching videos.” No, he says, “We're going to go on a YouTube spiral that starts with videos of Richard Feynman talking about magnets and ends much, much later with us watching interviews with Justin Bieber's mom.” By using such concrete, even endearingly idiosyncratic scenarios, Urban ensures that even them more disciplined and focussed in the audience can identify with his experiences. 

4. He uses constructs and personas to give life to his insights

Once Urban’s pulled us in to the shared problem, he presents insights using constructs that he illustrates and names. 

Like The Dark Playground: “It's where leisure activities happen at times when leisure activities are not supposed to be happening. The fun you have in the Dark Playground isn't actually fun, because it's completely unearned, and the air is filled with guilt, dread, anxiety, self-hatred -- all of those good procrastinator feelings.” 

Urban outlines two kinds of procrastination: deadline and non-deadline. A persona he calls “The Panic Monster” solves the former. The latter is more complicated; left unaddressed, non-deadline procrastination can make you feel like a spectator in your own life and frustrated you haven’t achieved your dreams.

If you dream of giving a talk that will capture and move a crowd, consider following Urban’s lead and apply the four lessons from his terrific talk. And give yourself a deadline.

* Combined views from TED.com and YouTube.com

Talk Deconstruction: Bryan Stevenson

Uploaded by ZeitgeistMinds on 2015-10-20.

Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, social justice activist and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. He has gained international acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and minorities in the criminal justice system. Bryan is an inspiring person and an intelligent, engaging speaker who has a lot to teach us.

In this talk, given as part of the Zeitgeist Minds series, he does a lot of remarkable things.

Here are five key aspects of Bryan’s talk that you might find instructive and inspiring:

1. The Structure. His structure is simple and clear, making it easy to understand and remember his talk. At the start, he uses compelling statistics to establish the size of the problem and why we should care about inequality and injustice. Then he clearly outlines the four key things the audience can do to curb the troubling trends and change the world: (1) get proximate to the problem; (2) change the narrative; (3) be hopeful; and (4) do uncomfortable things. He then closes with a powerful call to action, reminding the audience that “your work and worth can only be measured by your battle wounds”.
    

2. Storytelling. For each of the four solutions Bryan outlines, he tells one major story to illustrate the importance of the solution and the impact it can have. It’s not enough to state the facts or to posit solutions. It’s easy to think that the magnitude of the data points will carry the day, yet numbers alone fail to humanize your ideas. Providing examples and telling stories makes your subject real, relatable and moving. Bryan uses stories masterfully to engage his audience and facilitate understanding and action.
    

3. Lack of Slides or Notes. Bryan doesn’t use notes or a single slide, proving that you can speak powerfully without any visual aids or prompts, particularly when you have a clear structure supported by stories.
    

4. Use of Language. Bryan has a tremendous command of the English language. His factual content and the case he makes for more equal justice is made almost lyrical by his rich use of language and beautiful turns of phrase.
    

5. Delivery. Bryan is a calm, confident speaker. He doesn’t move around much on stage and his gestures are understated and natural. He uses a conversational tone of voice and uses a lot of eye contact to make his content, concepts and call to action accessible.

You can watch his presentation here. You may want to watch his talk straight through and then take a look at the deconstruction so you can appreciate the whole and then the specific aspects that make it remarkable. Or you can steal some glances at the commentary below as you watch through the first time in the player above.

00:25	Bryan shares some confronting statistics about incarceration in America to establish the problem that needs to be addressed.
4:10	He tells a personal story to underscore the importance of “getting proximate to a problem” so meaningful action can be taken and relevant solutions can be put in place. Because a group of lawyers came into his community and forced the school board to open public schools to African American children, he went to high school and was able to go onto college.
06:18	Bryan tells a story about a 14 year-old boy who was placed in an adult prison while he awaited trial. This child was brutally and repeatedly assaulted and wept for an hour when recounting his experience. Bryan extrapolates from this story to highlight the fear and despair experienced by the 10,000 children who are under the age of 18 and serving time in adults jails and prisons across the United States.
09:11	He asks a confronting and powerful questions such as who is responsible for this? If you don’t feel moved at this point in his talk, you might want to check your vital signs.
11:22	Bryan uses evocative language to outline the importance of changing the narrative about race in America: “We are all burdened by the legacy of racial inequality that has never been addressed. We are all infected by this disease, this narrative of racial difference that our parents and our grandparents did not address. We were silent when we should have been speaking. And because of that, it bothers and burdens all of us.”
14:06	Reflecting on the history of civil rights in the United States Bryan says: "For decades, we humiliated people of colour. For decades we burdened and we battered and we excluded people. For decades we told people you’re not good enough to go to school with the rest of us, you’re not good enough to vote.” He makes effective use of repetition, using the phrase “for decades” over and over again to emphasize the intractable and persistent nature of race narrative in the US.
15:25	Again, using powerful language, Bryan provides sobering comparisons to South Africa and Germany to support his assertion that a different kind of conversation about race and slavery is required in the United States. South Africa and Germany confronted the impact of apartheid and the holocaust with truth and reconciliation and physical, visible reminders of these dark chapters in their history. In the US, he suggests, people look for ways to exit conversations about race, rather than ways to mark and discuss and resolve the history so a new future can take shape.
16:09	Bryan makes repeated use of the phrase “I am persuaded” and in doing so he invites the audience to consider whether or not they are also persuaded which allows listeners to decide for themselves.
17:05	To illustrate the importance of staying hopeful, Bryan tells a story about a prison guard who didn’t believe he was a lawyer and forced him submit to a strip search before allowing him to see his client. After hearing Bryan present his client’s case in court, this guard changed his mind and told Bryan to keep fighting for justice.
22:12	In the final minutes of his talk, Bryan again uses powerful language to provoke and prompt us into action: “We have to do uncomfortable things. You do not create justice by only doing comfortable and convenient things."

Bryan’s talk works because he lays out his structure clearly at the beginning and continues to come back to the four things that will help us create positive change. He captivates and compels his audience through stories, examples and evocative language that connect with the intellect and emotions of his audience.

This one is worth watching twice.

Jane ni Dhulchaointigh: A Speech Deconstruction

About this presentation Inventor Jane ni Dhulchaointigh recounts the roller coaster journey from having a crazy idea about being able to hack everyday objects to the creation and launch of Sugru, an incredible self-setting rubber. Or, as Jane puts it: the six-year process of going from "hmm" to "yay" via "eureka" and "wow."

Jane ni Dhulchaointigh is not a professional speaker and that’s a big part of the reason I chose to launch this series of presentation deconstructions with her 99u talk. It’s easy for us to think that only polished presenters can have an impact. That only the very best, most experienced speakers can touch hearts, change minds and move people to their feet. Not so. And Jane is a perfect example to debunk the “perfection is power” speaking myth.

Her story on its own is inspiring: she created something of value from nothing and overcame countless obstacles to do so. But it’s her doubt-ridden confrontations with failure and her humility, ingenuity and sense of humour that make you cheer for her as a person and a speaker.

Here are three key aspects of her talk that might inspire you as they did me:

• Authenticity and Humility. One of the key strengths of Jane’s talk is how much of her whole self is on the stage. You get a strong sense that she’s being open, real, honest and vulnerable. Her humility is ever present as she tells of her repeated failures and quiet successes.

• Use of Humour. Her humour is grounded in her humility, both of which are infectious and draw you in.

• Storytelling. Jane’s entire talk is a story—the story of her journey to develop the material that would become Sugru and the story of building a business that would foster a passionate user community. She does a great job sharing the highs and lows, the turning points and what changed her trajectory along the way. She also does a brilliant job of telling the story of Sugru by sharing the stories of her customers and how they are using Sugru to improve their lives and the lives of the people they love.

You can watch her presentation here. You might want to watch her talk straight through first and then take a look at the deconstruction so you can appreciate the whole and then the bits that make it special. Or steal some glances at the commentary below as you watch the first time.

00:19	She’s wearing orange tights and pink sneakers. Definitely a stand-out even at a creative conference about making great ideas happen.
00:20	Jane starts her talk by admitting that she’d never heard of the 99u.com conference before she was invited to speak. Refreshing and honest.
00:43	Jane’s talk is full of unexpected admissions, insights and colourful language. Here she shares that “good design makes everything look easy. The truth is completely the opposite. Making stuff happen is “really f#@king difficult.” A great insight, authentically expressed that resonated with the creative audience.
2:39	In describing what Sugru is, Jane says, with humility and levity, “You can mend things with it. You can make things with it. And it has some really great physical properties: it’s dishwasher proof, waterproof, heat resistant, blahdey-blah [with a dismissive, humble hand wave]. That’s it.”
4:17	Jane talks about moving to London at 23 to study product design “with big high hopes of becoming a famous product designer...until I realized a few weeks in that I was actually a pretty sht product designer. Really sht.” Again, a refreshingly honest confession, delivered in a humourous way.
5:05	She uses her own handwriting to label the various highlights and lessons learned over the course of her discovery and development journey, making the process more personal.
6:06	Throughout her talk, Jane shares the “what if” questions that drove her process, an inspiring example of humility in creative problem solving and putting the customer at the centre of a design process, instead of the designer. (Pro tip: great presenters do the same.)
8:47	Jane talks about meeting a bunch of scientists who taught her about chemistry so she could perfect the silicone substance that would eventually become her product, Sugru. At 9:00, she talks about getting the white coat (like a scientist in a lab) and that helped her feel the part. As she shares this part of the story, she mimes putting on the white coat and does a little “joy wiggle” that is endearing and funny.
14:50	Jane shares a picture of herself, on the floor, in shock, after the online launch of Sugru exceeds all expectations and changed the business. The antithesis of the humble brag.
18:30	Jane is jumping up and down as she shares a customer letter. This spontaneous expression of pure joy is touching and hilarious and conveys the passion she has for her customers and what they’re doing with her product.
19:15	She shares a moving story of a dad who uses Sugru to fix his child’s feeding tube, a beautiful example of sharing a customer’s story to engage the audience and create emotional resonance.
20:39	Jane suggests that it’s not Sugru that’s awesome, it helps make [the customer] more awesome. Genuine humility at its best.
21:36	She recounts how a customer who wanted to participate in an epic canoe race in the Yukon was only able to do so because she modified her paddle with Sugru to accommodate the missing fingers on her left hand. Wonderful storytelling told with joy and authenticity.

Jane’s talk works because she speaks with humility, candour and colour. She has an infectious spirit that helps her form a quick bond with the audience so we’re celebrating her victories as our own.