Somehow I was fortunate enough to be able to do a Ted-X talk for my Re-Genre project. This works pretty well for me because I applied to speak at Ted X in January. Although I'm not sure if I will be selected yet, I feel very grateful that I had the opportunity to try to take a practice shot at it. I watched several videos on how to give a ted-x speech and I feel that I will take skills out of this project that improve my speaking skills either way. I've learned about different inflection/ ways to project your voice intentionally to add emotion to your speech. I was always naturally good at it, but I learned how to take it to the next level. Furthermore, I've always struggled with hand motions. I've often had a habit of "throwing my hands" like a rapper, where almost every word I am speaking with my hands. (I am of course Italian, it isn't my fault, it's in my culture) However, after watching some of these videos I learned how to use your hands at impactful moments so as to help use body language emphasize your point. Body language makes up somewhere between 80-93% of communication. That means words are only a lousy 7%. People decide what they think of you from how you present yourself, how you make them feel. It is often said that an audience will not remember what you said, but rather, the way you make them feel.
The Ted-X talks also do an incredible job of utilizing all 3 types of appeal (Ethos, Pathos, Logos)
The most impressive part of this though is that Ted-X is a master of focusing on the Pathos. it has taught me how to shape my Ethos and Logos in a manner that best appeals to someones Pathos. Again, the Pathos is the most important because a speech is really about how people feel afterwards. One must use their Ethos to build credibility and Logos to deliver a powerful message. The Ted-X guides teach you how to use the boring parts of Logos, like statistics, and make sense of them in a way that not only makes it easy to understand, but also easy to visualize and internalize. The Greeks felt that the ability to be a good speaker was one of the greatest God-Given abilities one could be given. If you look at who society values most highly today, this seems to have remained true through the years. However, Ted-X and the other top speakers of the world know that the ability to be a talented public speaker comes from practice, just like an instrument, you must be honed and constantly considering your every movement and projection.
I really like what you're learning about gesture, which you might recall is one of the five "modes" of communication, and one that we often ignore. It's also really interesting that pathos seems a central persuasion strategy for the genre. I would have guessed that ethos would matter most!
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