TED Talks

Over the last several years, TED Talks have taken the country by storm. This form of “edutainment” is transforming the face of rhetoric and the dissemination of information. TED Talks are an important rhetorical development for a few reasons. 

TED Talks differ from regular speeches in their audience-centered focus. The goal of a speech is to spread knowledge about a topic. Although this is the end goal of a TED Talk as well, TED Talks first seek to engage the audience as one of the goals. With this goal in mind, speakers are far more concerned about captivating the audience’s interest than they would be in a speech. One example of how TED Talks seek to engage the audience is by expurgating the stage and speaker of obstacles. The speaker moves around the stage rather than leaning on a podium, which opens up the speaker to the room. The speaker does not hold notes and makes eye contact with the audience instead.

Why is all this important? It makes information readily available to anyone and everyone. Contrary to speeches where the usual audience consists of scholars or people interested in that particular subject, TED Talks seek to engage the masses. Beyond the style of rhetoric, TED Talks are also usually posted on www.ted.com, making them available to anyone on the planet. 

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