How to present to keep your audience’s attention | Mark Robinson | TEDxEindhoven

383,775

5,909 0

Published 2016-08-04

“How to present to keep your audience’s attention” is a question that Mark knows how to answer. He has gone from believing that it was impossible for him to speak in public to someone who gets great reviews whenever he speaks at conferences. Presentation skills are of course key to a TEDx event which is why Mark Robinson was invited for TEDxEindhoven. The city of Eindhoven is full of engineers giving technical presentations every day. Being an engineer himself, Mark has experienced a few too many boring presentations. Presentation skills are learnable, Mark himself is proof of that. In this talk Mark explains his journey, shares his best tips, shows how not to present and tells us why it is so important to captivate your audience.

Mark Robinson has worked at a number of companies in the region including ASML, DAF, FEI, Océ, Philips & Ziggo via Sioux, Topic and his present company, TMC, where he has worked since 2011. Mark’s roles have included software developer, software tester, team lead, wiki champion and software consultant specialising in “3-days scans” using Agile, Lean and Test Process Improvement methodologies.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

All Comments (21)

@zakialbum6692 2 years ago

In order to keep audience engaged there are two techniques 1) Ask questions to audience in between 2) Tell stories o Ask and answer questions o Address What is the problem – opportunity to tell first story – tell how you encountered this problem , and why is it important to me /us . And what’s in it for me ( audience)? o What’s the cause of problem- second story o What are possible solutions – What we tried and what is the chosen solution Thank you for sharing this Mark . You are awesome
@dkhartman1 3 years ago

This is the most 'meta' TED Talk I've studied. His awareness of how he's using the techniques he's talking about--and his ability to point them out--is remarkable.
@TheModernAsianMan 5 years ago

Super informative & valuable. This guy, whether by coincidence or by intention has one of the most dull voices yet succeeds in keeping the listeners attention using the techniques that he has mentioned. AMAZING.
@sonyaberkenpas5071 3 years ago

Although this ted talk doesn’t have as many views as others, it is MOST definitely one of the best ones I’ve watched (and I watch a lot of them!).
@affansiddhiqui3739 4 years ago

This ted talk is underrated !
@sonyaberkenpas5071 4 years ago

As an educator, I love how he modeled his techniques throughout the presentation. It was very informative and valuable. Thank you!
@jeffk6548 3 years ago

I accidentally left during the last minute of the video and came back just because of how much I was enjoying it. I'm Happy I did because how to conclude the presentation was a nugget of gold.
@derpett9999 5 months ago

I love this presentation so much! I thought he was going to be dull simply because of his low voice and little movement, but the way that he uses his own techniques to make it interesting is so great! His techniques gave his presentation such livelihood without needing to implement bold moves or an exciting tone. Thank you so much for the tips and the examples of them!
@muazuamin770 3 years ago

I'm still watching this again and again. This video inspire me.
@GabrielaRamos-fy1bs 1 year ago

👏👏👏👏👏 what an amazing presentation. Still coming back over and over again 2023. Thank you so much for this.
@JustinEverman 4 years ago

Mark excellent talk and it's very spot-on. I especially love the biblical tie-in with questions and stories.
@dannievanosch1419 4 years ago

Amazing TED talk, but the best advice I can give everybody is to follow the course of Mark Robinson. In only one day you can become a confident and expert speaker!
@EddyVinck 2 years ago

Watching this again as I prepare for the Powerful Presentations training in a couple weeks. I'm looking forward to it!
@niekyvanvlerken161 2 years ago

Mark, besides enormous humor, your message is clear, straight and very usefull. A must have for speakers.
@mbairekamau30 2 years ago

Mark Robinson's voice is so calming, his content is educative, his humour lights up a dull moment. Did you notice that too?
@Ruudrad 3 years ago

Well Mark, this obviously worked! Having seen the video years ago, I was able to reproduce the topics learnt when the occasion for this was there! Not only did I apply it successfully at presentations, clearly it was memorized as well! Anecdote: when I talked for 45 minutes on compliance (how boring can it get) the manager told in the round table: now you see how you can do a great presentation, without slides! When it was my turn, I responded: "well Steph, next time I will try even better! I'll do the presentation 'without words'". Which introduces the third technique place some subtle humor here and there. You applied that as well!
@QuickShareable 4 years ago

One of the great Ted talks that inspires me. Thank you Mark!
@namarasarah229 4 years ago

Am glad to have found this today. Thank you sir.
@celinevanaalst-yourvoicepo4363 4 years ago

Thank you Mark Robinson for this video, this is really valuable for everyone who needs to present. You are great!
@johnrobinson4755 7 years ago

I keep watching this and it gets better and better!! So any presentation can be funny and interesting but SO many are not!!