How to Listen to a TED Talk – Tips for English Speaking

As you might know, TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment, Design”. These are a maximum of 18-minute talks which are given by experts, achievers, and geniuses who have excelled in life. TED Talks are viewed across the globe by people of all ages. They have a wide appeal because of the diverse range of topics the speakers speak on. Also, even though these talks are pretty expensive to watch live but are available for free online. With the advent of online coaching and online learning, TED Talks are a powerful tool that every educator should be adopting in their classrooms. People who want to improve their English or want to learn how to speak fluently in English for free, online, should surely tune into these talks. Even so, there are not many students and teachers who use these TED Talks in their English language courses to enhance their knowledge. We are unsure of why that is because we have 5 fantastic reasons why every teacher and student should learn English by over a million TED Talks available for free online.

1. Learn Pronunciation for Free

Like we mentioned, all TED Talks are completely free and are available on the website and YouTube. This makes this TED Talks a democratic tool that everyone can utilize. You don’t need to pay, subscribe or register for these talks. You can just log on to www.ted.com and watch talks in over 110 languages. So, the first tip is that when you are watching these talks you should focus on the words that are being pronounced. The words are enunciated very crisply and clearly and paying close attention to this will definitely help you improve your pronunciation. Speak them out-aloud once you hear them, exercise your tongue with new words, and practice them in conversations.

2. Learn a Global Vocabulary

TED Talks are given by speakers from across the globe. It is a platform shared by people from across countries and gives you a global perspective of any issue or subject under the sun. This global outlook is extremely helpful for students to get exposure to different thought processes without even traveling anywhere. Not only can you learn about unheard of towns and cities and learn from all over the world but you are also exposed to words like “obituaries”, “lachesism,” and “sonder”, to name a few. Watch this talk to know what these words mean:

3. Learn to Speak Succinctly

TED Talks are a perfect way to study how to give powerful speeches in a matter of minutes. Several public speaking instructors revert to TED Talks when they need to explain the power of an empathetic presentation. By listening to these talks students can understand how to land a punch in their words, flesh out the details, and deliver a presentation that captures the audience’s attention. Watch a TED Talk, any TED Talk, and figure out what makes the talk stand out. You can then implement your learnings in your talks and learn how to speak well!

4. Write about Diverse Topics

From racism to rivers, from AI to art, from culture to cars, TED Talks cover a truly diverse range of subjects. You can learn about extremely unconventional themes and explore subjects beyond your conventional topics. You get to learn, much like a lecture, about careers, issues, and themes you might never have been introduced to before. This knowledge is a treasure trove when you have to write essays or speak impromptu on topics you might be unfamiliar with otherwise. In English competency exams like IELTS, you are asked to write essays and these TED Talks can help you generate content quickly. Always make notes when listening to a talk, note down not everything but at least the key ideas so that you can go over them and have pointers in your head when facing “out-of-the-box” topics. The TED Speakers choose quite quirky and out-of-the-box topics. Watch this TED Talk by Lux Narayan and you’ll get what we mean.

5. Learn Storytelling

One thing which these TED Talks are NOT that is boring. These are shot like docu-series and movies giving you a cinematic experience. Even though you are learning, you are laughing, clapping, and crying in the talk. The speakers have extremely important issues to discuss and they make sure you listen to them with rapt attention. Listening to these talks, notice how they capture your attention and implement that in your speech, especially when giving presentations. These speakers curate their speech in a way that includes slides, props, or just modulate their voice to give you an engaging experience. You can easily and interactively learn how to give immensely entertaining speeches. This will really help you ace interviews, score in the IELTS Speaking section, or give presentations at work and in-class in English. You can learn how to be a stellar storyteller by listening to the maestros. If you are looking for English speaking courses online Yuno Learning offers you a one-stop solution. Our trained instructors follow an interactive and engaging curriculum so that students of all ages can improve their spoken and written English with ease. All the courses are online in a live classroom format where you see your peers and instructors. To know more about our English speaking courses visit us here.