Analyzing a TED Talk

In February 2009, at the TED Talk Conference in Long Beach, CA, Jacqueline Novogratz delivered a talk titled “An Escape From Poverty,” in order to relate a personal story about an approach to solving poverty. Novogratz is the founder of a business called Acumen, which seeks a bottom-up approach to poverty through investing in specific early-stage organizations that bring essential services to the world’s poor. Her audience likely knew her background and expected a talk on the issue of poverty, but her personal stories presented it in a new and unprecedented light.

    Novogratz addresses the topic of poverty, an area she clearly feels strong passion for. She relates her personal experience with people in poverty through a single story, about a young woman named Jane who lives in Nairobi, Kenya. Novogratz begins the story with by setting up the physical context, the Methari Valley slums, and describing the population with phrases such as “over half a million people live crammed in these little tin shacks.” Moving into her stride, she relates Jane’s dreams, and how, through an individual loan, she began her own business and work her way up from the bottom. This story of Jane serves as the centerpoint of Novogratz’s talk, and is indeed its strongest element. She makes direct eye contact with the audience, and keeps a gentle yet undeniably intentional mood. Her movements remain within the “power sphere,” adding to the directness of her presentation.

Novogratz uses direct movements to enhance her story.

Novogratz incorporates several elements of novelty within the story. She starts her speech by describing poverty not as a specific income level, but “a condition about choice.” At the end of the story, she reveals that Jane still lives in the slums, despite the success of her business. It is a subtle “jaw-dropping moment,” as an ending that defies a typical “Cinderella” story and reinforces Novogratz’s definition of poverty. There is very little humor in the speech, only a light story told about Novogratz telling the African children that “Obama is my brother too.” Yet Novogratz consistently maintains a gentle tone that keeps the presentation relatively light.

Unfortunately the greatest weakness of Novogratz’s speech is the brevity of it. She speaks for almost eight minutes, much shorter than the recommended eighteen. Though this is likely due to her speech revolving around a personal story, it does make her content seem a bit lacking. The speech is impactful, however, through skillful use of media elements, such as photos of specific areas in the story. Despite the shortness of her talk, she uses photos, as well as a powerful story, to make it memorable. Improvement on this talk should focus on lengthening it, and expanding the content. Ideas within Novogratz’s story could be connected to worldwide events, instead of remaining limited in the Methari Valley slums. Expanding the content and relating it to poverty on a broader scale would most improve this talk.

Novogratz's image of the Methari Valley slums

           This TED talk has a strong link to my service organization, Step by Step, through single motherhood and poverty. The woman in Novogratz’s story was both the daughter of a single mother and a single mother herself, revealing how poverty had specifically impacted her through this. Despite its shortness, Novogratz’s speech revealed a specific story about an impoverished individual, which is an effective tool for raising awareness and empathy. Through my service I have learned the value of seeing not just the broad issue of poverty, but the names and stories of individuals bound by it, and Novogratz’s talk enhanced the value of this for me.