To see a  TED video (and you really should!) go to http://www.ted.com/. I learned from Laura Drane that TED speakers are sent ten presentation guidelines, which give a high standard to live up to, but for anyone who speaks in public, they are completely worth working at getting as close to as possible. The one that I most struggle with is "Thou shalt not read thy speech".  I give two or three speeches every week, it is currently impossible for me to give fresh, challenging content and also to go notes-free every time. But I have worked over the last few years to do one of three things: a) give a notes-free speech/sermon whenever possible, b) at other times to use crib notes or headlines for my outline but not a full script, c) when I do read from a script, edit it to sound like spoken, not written English, rehearse it out loud beforehand, and deliver it with my head up, making eye contact, etc. My critics tell me I am getting better at this. I would like to be as good as Louise Fresco.  

Anyway, here are the TED commandments:  

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 forthe Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy.

6. Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thyFailure 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.