For Public Speaking. By Michael Sauer. Pong copyright Atari. Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy XIV copyright Square Enix

1. MICHAEL SAUER
PUBLIC SPEAKING
TED TALK EVALUATION
SLIDESHOW

2. DAVID PERRY:
ARE VIDEO GAMES
BETTER THAN LIFE?

3. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
I chose David Perry’s TED presentation: “Are Video Games Better Than
Life?”
The presentation can be found here: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/
david_perry_on_videogames.html
This presentation is a few years old, but the message still holds to this day.
David’s thesis is, now that video games are becoming more realistic and
emotional, do some people find more experiences and emotional dilemmas
in video games than they do in the real world? Are virtual worlds more
engaging and more fun to experience than the real world?

4. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
David kept the attention of his audience by using slides with pictures and
examples, as well as making them laugh.
He also used a video that a student created about how video games affect
his life.

5. EXAMPLES
THEN AND NOW:

6. PONG - 1972

7. F I N A L FA N TA S Y X I V - 2 0 1 2

8. SO REAL, IT’S UNREAL.
Graphical capabilities are so great, and developers have gone
to new lengths to make their fictitious game characters so
believable and relatable, that people believe they’re real.
Some say this is harmful, others say there’s nothing wrong
with it. Since they’re created by real people, and based off
real people’s personalities and beliefs, in a sense, these
manifestations of the mind are as real as keeping a loved one
alive in your heart after they pass on. The exist inside your
heart and mind. And with the progress of these games and
worlds over only the past 30 years, who knows what the
future will bring. Maybe a place where you can meet these
fictitious characters, where they can breath, react, interact,
and remember you? Maybe some day, technology will truly
bring these “people” to life.

9. Below and in the following slides are photos of a clothing company called Prada who
used characters from Final Fantasy XIII to model and advertise their new clothes.

13. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
David follows the third TED commandment best, which is: “Make the
complex plain.” Meaning, he didn’t try to make himself sound incredibly
intelligent. He used stories and examples with common vocabulary skills.
He shared a lot of pictures of past and present video games to convey his
message.

14. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
Although David got his point across, he deserves a 3 at most as far as
“dynamism” goes because a lot of his talk was a student’s video.
He also read from his slides word for word.

15. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
I’ve learned that delivery is key to a great presentation. Without a strong
delivery, your audience can easily lose interest and decide to not pay
attention to your presentation.

16. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
Ken Robinson definitely has more speaking experience than David Perry.
Judging from age and technique, I’d say Ken has done more presentations
than David.
In Ken’s first presentation, he doesn’t use any slides at all, and he keeps his
audience’s attention throughout the entire presentation. I believe this is
because through his story telling, preparedness, and believe it or not, his
accent, people were very intrigued with what he had to say. Of course, a lot
of what he had to say was very believable.

17. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
David’s presentation was captivating, but not as much as Ken’s. David’s
presentation had slides for the audience to see, but I feel that David wasn’t
as prepared as Ken seemed to be. Unlike Ken, David seemed to read
directly from the slides, which the TED Commandments specifically say not
to do. That, I feel, is one of the biggest differences between David and Ken’s
presentations.

18. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
Also, Ken’s thesis may have a larger impact on an audience overall than
David’s.
Why? Because many people are more prone to believe that education issues
in the real world are much more of a problem than people being
emotionally affected by video games.
This can certainly be up for debate. Of course, they both have a huge impact
on society today, and both brought valid points to the table. The structures
of education today are certainly outdated if you believe what Ken said, and
certain video games do seem like they could have an impact on the way
people act in the real world, like David points out. Whether it be crimes, or
acts of valor.

19. ARE VIDEO GAMES BETTER THAN LIFE?
Based on my TED talk, I’d like to give some pointers to classmates.
Good ways to keep your audience entertained: humor, intimacy, and
engaging stories.
Eye contact.
Visual appeal, like David’s video and pictures, or Ken’s “Changing
Education Paradigms” RSA Animate video.

20. THANK YOU!