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Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize–Winning Wish

At the beginning of this chapter, we discussed celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s TED speech, in which he presented his wish to educate children about food (Oliver, 2010). Let’s consider his speech in light of what we’ve learned in this chapter.

  • Oliver has done his share of informative speaking: as a celebrity chef and star of Food Revolution, he gives regular cooking demonstrations that are designed to teach techniques and provide information about food. But this speech, and much of the speaking he does as an activist, is persuasive in nature—he wants to teach people to use the information he provides to change their lives and improve their health, as well as the health of the public at large.
  • Oliver organizes his speech with a problem-cause-solution pattern. First, he identifies the problem, offering startling statistics and compelling personal stories. He then details the causes behind the problem before moving on to solutions, such as giving people the proper information and tools to change their eating behavior and take charge of their lives. He ends with his “wish,” his purpose for speaking, hoping to motivate his audience to make it a reality.
  • Oliver successfully uses presentation aids during his speech: photos of people who are dying from obesity-related diseases, a graphic detailing deaths from diet-related illnesses like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and for maximum impact, a wheelbarrow filled with sugar cubes to demonstrate the amount of sugar an average child consumes in five years by drinking just two containers of chocolate milk per day.
  • Oliver considers his audience when he speaks. He knows that the crowd at his TED speech is receptive to his message; they gave him the award, after all. His message is therefore directed at broad solutions at the institutional level—changes he knows the TED audience can help enact. When speaking to individuals who are less educated about or interested in food and nutrition, he would likely focus on change at the personal level.