Analysis of a (Very Short) Speech by Hans Rosling

Hans Rosling is a Swedish doctor, statistician, public speaker and Professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He is also one of the best known presenters at TED.

Hans Rosling
Hans Rosling

Rosling has a passion and a gift for making complicated data interesting and understandable for his audiences. As Rosling modestly says, “Having the data is not enough; I have to show it in ways people both enjoy and understand.” TED is less restrained in its praise for Rosling:

In Hans Rosling’s hands, data sings. Global trends in health and economics come to vivid life. And the big picture of global development—with some surprisingly good news—snaps into sharp focus.

Rosling’s most famous TED Talk is the one he gave in 2006. But in 2012, at the TEDx Doha Conference, Rosling gave an impromptu presentation during an interview. Billed as the “shortest TED Talk ever given”, it is only 45 seconds. And yet, there is much to be learned from the presentation perspective.

What I liked

  • It is simple. Rosling conveys a single idea.
  • He has an effective opening: “X means unknown, but the world is pretty [well] known. It’s seven billion people.”
  • He uses props effectively. (Notice the absence of PowerPoint!)
  • He told a story. True, it was a general story about the world at large, but it was a story nonetheless.
  • He used parallelism when comparing the different groups of people. In other words, he used the same metric (transportation) to demonstrate the relative differences in wealth (i.e., from being able to save money for trip by plane every year to only being able to save money to buy a pair of shoes).
  • He concluded by posing a question and signaling the challenge to come: Are the world’s rich people prepared to integrate in a world with 10 billion people.

Rosling’s talk has generated some criticism from people who say that there will always be poverty. I think that they miss the point.
First, Rosling gives the entire talk in 45 seconds, so there simply is not enough time to delve into the myriad of complex issues related to the subject.

Second, Rosling is talking about general trends based on his years of study and undoubted expertise in the field of health and global development. There will always be instances of poverty in all nations, but that does not mean that things cannot improve significantly.

Substantive issues aside, Rosling’s talk contains some useful lessons that we can incorporate into our own presentations.

Photo courtesy of David Shankbone 

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest
mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

  1. It is true that when you have an important concept, presenting other concepts takes away the important focus. Simple is often better.

  2. TED is right when they say Rosling makes the “data sing.” His 200 countries, 200 years clip on the BBC was incredible. Some might not look at that presentation and call it “simple”, but if you really think about it, it was just a man and a graph (albeit a dynamic one).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

4 × 5 =

Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International