Mind of Jacka: The Change You Seek to Make

They get important information across in a short amount of time, and TED does an excellent job of finding fascinating and relevant topics. If you can’t find something that interests you in their collection of presentations, you’re not looking.

How do they pull this off? Well, for one thing, they have developed “The TED Commandments,” 10 rules that no speaker is ever allowed to break. Here, for your dining and dancing pleasure, are those commandments.

(Not a presenter? Don’t change that dial. We’ll be talking to you in a few seconds.)

1. Thou shalt not simply trot out thy usual shtick.
2. Thou shalt dream a great dream, or show forth a wondrous new thing, or share something thou hast never shared before.
3. Thou shalt reveal thy curiosity and thy passion.
4. Thou shalt tell a story.
5. Thou shalt freely comment on the utterances of other speakers for the sake of blessed connection and exquisite controversy.
6. Thou shalt not flaunt thine ego. Be thou vulnerable. Speak of thy failure as well as thy success.
7. Thou shalt not sell from the stage: neither thy company, thy goods, thy writings, nor thy desperate need for funding; lest thou be cast aside into outer darkness.
8. Thou shalt remember all the while: laughter is good.
9. Thou shalt not read thy speech.
10. Thou shalt not steal the time of them that follow thee.

That’s a pretty nifty list, isn’t it? And when you think back to good (and bad) speakers you’ve heard in the past, you can see how these commandments were (and were not) applied in those presentations.

But now, let’s get back to those of you who don’t make presentations.

First, there is always a chance that, in the future, you may wind up somewhere near a podium pontificating on some subject. If you find yourself in that situation, then having these in your back pocket isn’t a bad thing.

But let’s look at them again. This time, think in terms of any time you have to talk in front of others — leading a meeting, conducting an interview, presenting findings to the client, being interviewed, defending why internal audit should be allowed to review an area, explaining to your boss why you need to extend the due date of the report, explaining to your boss why you need a raise, any communication where you have a point to make and you want someone to listen to and act on that point.

As you think in those terms, the commandments take on new, interesting applications. A few seem particularly resonant.

• Don’t read what you have to say — know what it is you want to say.
• Don’t steal the time of others — don’t run a presentation/meeting/discussion longer than it needs to be and don’t start late. (That last one gets me riled up in no time at all.)
• Reveal your curiosity and passion — if you don’t have curiosity or passion regarding what it is you want to say, then it probably doesn’t need to be said.

But the big one is “dream a great dream, show forth a wondrous thing, or share something never shared before.” Ultimately, any communication — presentation, meeting, discussion — should be about trying to cause change. And change cannot occur unless there is a dream, a wondrous thing, a passion that drives the person trying to create that change.

The TED Commandments are pretty inclusive. But I can’t help myself. The walls of my office are covered with yellow/white/red/whatever-color-I-can-find sticky notes with quotes that I find pertinent to various situations. On my right (as I type this) are a few that I feel every presenter should consider before opening their mouths. These include:

• Cui bono (who benefits)?
• What’s it for?
• Are you helping?
• Why should anyone care?
• What’s your agenda; what do you want to change?

So, the next time you give a presentation on something like “The Tax Ramifications of Ram Taxes on Ramifacability of Taxation in a Ram-like Tax Structure,” keep all these in mind — the who, what, why, etc. that will take that presentation to a new level while causing those in attendance to actually pay attention.

But, also, think of these any time you are in front of anyone about to spew knowledge. As internal auditors we should be working to create effective change — to make things better. And to accomplish that change we need to know who will benefit, realize what it is for, recognize who we will be helping, be able to articulate why they should care, and understand our agenda.

And I’ve left what I think is the most important quote until the end. From Tom Peters: “Never ever, ever, ever give a presentation unless you are literally desperate to make your point !!!!!!!!!!!!” (All those “evers” and exclamation points are courtesy of Mr. Peters.)

Change requires passion and, yes, desperation. And, if you are not desperate to make your point, then seriously question why you are even opening your mouth.

Put these all together — the TED Commandments, my random quotes, and Tom Peters — and you have the foundation for assurance that you know what you want to say, that it has value, and it will help make change.

Think about this if you are in front of a crowd.

Think about this if you are in a meeting.

Think about this in a conversation.

And, one last thing, think about this when you are writing a report.