TED Talks Slideshow

By Francesca Bedford

TED Talks:David Christian, Big History

David Christianis an American historian trained in Russian history. He created an interdisciplinary approach called “Big History.”

He uses the sciences, social sciences, and the humanities to teach a course that starts at the Big Bang and carries on all the way to the present day. He coined the term Big History and is president of the International Big History Association. He is working with Bill Gates to bring Big History classes to high school classrooms.

David Christian ContinuedMr. Christian was born in Brooklyn, NY to English and American parents.

He grew up in both Africa and England.He earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from Oxford University.

He has written several books on the topics of Russian history, the Soviet Union, and the Russian peasantry.

His Thesis:In his TED Talk The History of Our World in 18 Minutes:

In a world ruled by the second law of thermodynamics, or the law of Entropy, how is it possible to generate the sort of complexity we see in

the world today?

How Mr. Christian caught the audience’s attention:He started out his introduction with a reversed video of something that people do everyday – the beating of eggs to make into scrambled eggs.

How Mr. Christian kept his audience’s attention:

He was engaging and had an obvious fascination in his topic of choice, thus allowing us to find our own fascination in what he was saying.

Mr. Christian best follows the TED Commandments III and IV with a similar passion.

The passion that he has is obvious – it’s practically palpable. He also tells a story – our story. The story of the world in less than 18 minutes and

where we all, as humans, and as a species, fit into it.

I rate Mr. Christian’s dynamism at a 4/5He is thoroughly engaging as a speaker and has an infectious passion for what he was speaking about. He also spoke conversationally and without

reading from a script or from notes. He is now, however, the most animated speaker that I have ever seen. He pretty much sticks to the

centre of the stage and moves very, very little.

Mr. Christian’s slides were simple yet effective. They were not distracting and they conveyed a message quickly and efficiently. They were not

distracting and they certainly aided in Mr. Christian’s speech.He followed both speech and slide conventions presented by Garr

Reynolds and Nancy Duarte.

What I learned about delivery from Mr. Christian:

Be engaging. Speak about a topic that means a lot to and fascinates you and let your passion be obvious to the audience. Be conversational – it

will put the audience at ease. Delivery will feel much more natural without using a script or any notes, which can be easy when you are

talking about something you know well and a lot about.

In Comparison to Sir Ken Robinson:Both men, Mr. Christian and Sir Robinson, are very engaging speakers. They both are deeply invested in their topics of choice and each have a palpable passion for their subjects. They both use simple, yet effective

slides that certainly aid in their TED talks. They both speak conversationally and put the audience at ease.

They are incredibly similar speakers.

Where they differ:

Sir Ken Robinson is, by leaps and bounds, much more dynamic than Mr. Christian. Perhaps because Sir Robinson makes his speeches in an effort to spearhead a movement whereas Mr. Christian is simply teaching us history.

Tips on Speech Delivery

• Be passionate.• SHOW that passion!• Look at your audience.• Show your excitement to be

there talking to them.

Photo Citations • http://ibhanet.blogspot.com/2011/04/david-christians-ted-presentation-now.html• http://goldspirit.hu/tudomany-es-fantazia• http://intentionalfutures.com/work/ted-2011• http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/professors/professor_detail.aspx?pid=349• http://compass-summit.com/advisors/• http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/history-but-with-a-bang-20120217-1tecw.html• http://www.thegatesnotes.com/All• http://www.ted.com/talks/david_christian_big_history.html• http://awc.alumni.mq.edu.au/s/1404/index.aspx?sid=1404&gid=1&pgid=516#LL2• http://www.timlonghurst.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/tedcommandments.jpg• http://myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=K_Robinson_dnhs_US_2013• http://www.discoverthegift.com/sir-ken-robinson• http://futbolsistemico.com/en• http://ohlidia.com/tag/passion-fruit-caramel-sauce/