AudienceWho is this TED talk for? The audience at the TED convention is not an acceptable answer. Each speaker is reaching out to at least one demographic or community specifically, though usually there are several. These artifacts are intended to be video productions as much as live stage performances, and they are archived for viewing well beyond the live event.

PurposeWhat is this speaker responding to? What has motivated this speaker to address this issue at this time? What is the larger context and implication of this TED talk? What does the speaker hope to gain? Is she/he/they trying to inform, persuade? What is she/he/they trying to change in the world?

SpeakerWhat is the speakers interest or relationship to the issue? How does she/he/they try to establish credibility? What is the effect of her/his/their choices, in your opinion? There are many ways to support a claim. What are the speaker’s strategies? She/he/they could use (this is not an exhaustive list):
Brief personal examples/testimony
Statistical data
Information/Opinions from expert sources
Definitions
Descriptive details in a storytelling mode or visuals projected on a screen
Logical reasoning (explaining by compare/contrast, cause/effect)
Listing/Cataloging
Figurative language or specialized diction
Shifts in tone
Modes of appealYou might consider which rhetorical appeals the speaker prioritizes, and when, and why. Appeals to emotion more than logic, logic more than emotion, ethical considerations more than logic or emotionwhat do the modes of appeal tell you, perhaps, about the assumptions that the speaker has toward the audience or towards her/his/their topic?

Organization How does the presentation operate? How has the speaker organized the content, the visuals, and the staging? And, importantly, what is the speaker leaving out or not including or not doing? These are things the speaker makes decisions about in order to elicit a desired response.

ContextHow does the speaker frame the issueand why that way? What is the social and historical context? How does the context impact the speakers choice of medium and genre? The medium does a lot to create the tone, atmosphere, or feeling for the presentation. How does the medium affect the message? Speakers giving speeches have the benefit of all of the extra verbal cues (movement on the stage, body gestures, etc.) to connect with their audiences. Films can rely on technology to place images in audiences minds that defy what actually exists in the living world. Music might be layered over the message to provide an emotional kick. Or, an online article might have a lot of images accompanying it to illustrate points. There are too many variables to consider here, but you have a source that isnt print (though perhaps print is incorporated into the performance), so pay attention to how all of the elements impact the messaging