Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds

Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that plays a role in various cognitive functions. It is involved in the brain’s reward and pleasure systems and is associated with motivation, learning, and behavior reinforcement. The text highlights dopamine’s influence on both the formation and retrieval of memories. During the brain’s encoding or learning phase, dopamine release enhances the consolidation of new information into long-term memory. It helps to strengthen the connections between neurons, facilitating the storage of memories. Dopamine also plays a role in memory retrieval. Studies have shown that increased dopamine levels improve memory retrieval by enhancing attention and focus. It helps prioritize and select relevant information from memory, allowing for efficient recall.

The eager nonverbal type of body language is characterized by openness, attentiveness, and enthusiasm. It reinforces positive engagement and indicates a genuine interest in the conversation or activity. Its three components are animated and open movements, outwardly projected hand movements, and a forward-leaning body position. All gestures should remain within one’s “power sphere,” the circular space between one’s eyes, belly button, and outstretched arms. Eager nonverbal physical cues are most persuasive when they align with a speaker’s delivery and a multisensory presentation.

An emotionally charged event is a situation that elicits strong emotional responses from individuals involved in or witnessing it. It is an event that has the potential to evoke intense feelings, such as joy, excitement, anger, fear, sadness, or surprise. Emotionally charged events can have profound effects on individuals. Emotions experienced during these events can also influence thoughts, behaviors, and decision-making. Furthermore, emotionally charged events can have a lasting impact on memory and create vivid recollections. The intense emotional arousal of these events can enhance memory consolidation and contribute to long-lasting, emotionally charged memories.

The Flynn Effect refers to the observed phenomenon of an increase in average intelligence quotient (IQ) scores over time. This means that individuals today would score significantly higher on IQ tests compared to their counterparts from previous generations. One prominent explanation is that the increased scores reflect improvements in abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills resulting from greater access to education. Changes in educational methods, cultural shifts, and the influence of media and technology have also been cited as potential contributing factors.

Mood contagion refers to the phenomenon in which one person’s emotions or moods can transfer to others in social interactions. It is how individuals’ emotional states synchronize with those around them. When we interact with others, we tend to pick up on their emotional cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and verbal cues, which can impact our emotional states. Mood contagion can occur both consciously and unconsciously and have positive and negative consequences. On the positive side, it can foster emotional connection and empathy, enhance social bonding, and promote cooperative behavior. However, it can also spread negative emotions, such as stress, anxiety, or sadness, within a social group, which may harm individuals’ wellbeing.

The power sphere is a term relevant to body language. It is an imaginary circle that reaches from eye height to the belly button vertically and from one outstretched hand to another horizontally. Gestures that fall outside this range are seen to be less confident, so speakers should keep gestures inside to appear more authoritative.