Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds

TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, is a nonprofit organization focusing on the power of ideas and sharing knowledge on a global scale. It grew into a worldwide phenomenon and transformed how we think about public speaking and education.

It began with a 1984 tech conference organized by Harry Marks and Richard Saul Wurman. Among the new technologies demonstrated at the original conference were the compact disk, e-books, Lucasfilm 3D graphics, and mapping coastlines through fractal geometry. After a rocky start due to the conference losing money, Marks and Wurman tried again in 1990. Then TED became an annual conference in Monterey, California.

Over the years, the conference has branched out to include various topics, including education, health, art, business, and activism. TED gained a dedicated following over the years and attracted influential speakers from all walks of life. Its popularity skyrocketed in 2006 when TED launched the TED Talks website and made its conference videos available online. The first six posted on the website were Al Gore’s “Averting the Climate Crisis,” Hans Rosling’s “The best stats you’ve ever seen,” Majora Carter’s “Greening the Ghetto,” Sir Ken Robinson’s “Do schools kill creativity?” and David Pogue’s “Simplicity sells.