Public SpeakingTED EvaluationBy Jeff Phelps

Will Wright“Spore: Birth of a Game”

Will Wright is…

Co- founder of the game company Maxis and creator of Sim City, The Sims, and of course Spore. He also created a multitude of other Sim games including Sim Earth, Sim Farm, Sim Ant, and my favorite Sim Tower.

Thesis

To demonstrate his game Spore and show how it is a toy designed to illicit philosophical thought.

Capturing The Audience

Will captured his audience first by showing off his “cyborg” arm, and then used his own personal stories in order to show how he views videogames as toys.

Will maintains his engagement by demoing his game while talking about it. He also continues to mix in science with the theories behind his game.

Engaging the Audience

TED Ten CommandThe Commandment Will follows is…

Make the complex plain.

Will references many scientific theories but he always uses stories and plain speech to get across the point he was trying to make

DynamismI would give Will a 4/5 on his dynamism during the speech.

He is clearly talking about something he is excited about considering he invested 4 years into this game. He talks very plainly but at a good enough pace that it doesn’t get boring. He frequently looks down but this is only because he is playing a game while he is talking.

Garr Reynolds Tips

I think the main tip that Will really hit on was naturalness. Since he was playing a game while talking it seemed very conversational. He also included many anecdotes about himself which helped it seem more relaxed.

Nancy Duarte TipsWill was able to practice Design Not Decoration

He used very few off topic visuals and mainly just showed off his game

What I Learned

I think the most important thing I learned from watching will was how to demo a game and still talk plainly about them. I think this will be a skill that I will need to learn in order to show off my own games

Compare and Contrast

I think Sir Ken’s visuals supported his message more, however I think will was limited since he was demoing his game.

Tips For The Future

The main tip I can think of is the vast benefits of visual aides

Using personal stories helps connect you to your audience on a personal level

Don’t be afraid to use scientific terms but always explain them afterward.

Visual AidsHelp to get your point across without bogging down your presentation

They also make your presentations more entertaining to look at

Personal StoriesHelps you make a personal connection with your audience

Allows your audience to try to connect to your message on a personal level as well

Scientific Terminology

You can use scientific terminology to engage the more advanced members of your audience.

Just be sure to define it in simple terms afterward in order to keep the rest of your audience

CitationsSlide 1:http: //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Will_Wright.jpgSlide 2:http: //24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj40jaPaOn1qac05do1_500.jpgSlide 3:http: //eu.spore.com/images/content/wallpapers/wallpaper1/black1280x960.jpgSlide 4: http: //images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/4/7/0/9/5/4/Will-Wright-large.jpgSlide 5:http: //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Will_Wright_at_SXSW.jpgSlide 6:http://gamesbackgrounds.com/walls/spore_wallpaper-normal.jpgSlide 7:http://i.haymarket.net.au/news/Will_Wright_2007_ted.jpgSlide 8:http://images.vg247.com/current//2011/11/willwright1.jpgSlide 9: http://farm1.staticflickr.com/166/418262382_fde73dce5d_z.jpgSlide 10:http://daniel.lanovaz.org/Documents/Spore/Spore-Creatures-in-Lightwave-large.jpg

Citations ContinuedSlide 11:http://screenshots.en.sftcdn.net/en/scrn/71000/71930/spore-creature-editor-19.jpgSlide 12:http://megagames.com/sites/default/files/game-content-images/spore2.jpgSlide 13: http://www.thetechherald.com/media/images/201148/Will-Wright-quits-EA-for-Stupid-Fun-Club-wilwright_1.jpgSlide 14:http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2007/10/26/willwright-ea-1.jpgSlide 15:http://www.hdwallpaperspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/spore_galactic_adventures-normal.jpg