How to Explain Your Idea Without Sounding Like a TED Talk

How to Explain Your Idea Without Sounding Like a TED Talk

Many founders don’t struggle with having an idea. They struggle with explaining it. Somewhere between the first pitch deck, the elevator pitch, and the hundredth explanation to friends, the idea starts to sound bigger, louder and more complicated than it actually is. Slides multiply, buzzwords sneak in, and suddenly the explanation feels more like a performance than a conversation. This is where many entrepreneurial ideas lose their clarity not because they are weak but because they are buried under storytelling techniques borrowed from keynote stages and TED Talks. But entrepreneurship is not a show. And convincing others is not about sounding impressive.

In the understanding of the Stiftung Entrepreneurship and the conceptual entrepreneurship approach developed by Prof. Günter Faltin, a good idea doesn’t need drama. It needs structure, logic, and a clear contribution to solving a real problem. The goal is not to inspire applause, it is to create understanding. If people understand your idea, they can engage with it, challenge it, support it, or improve it. If they don’t, even the most passionate delivery won’t help.

So how do you explain your idea clearly, credibly, and without turning it into a mini TED Talk?

Start With the Problem. Not With Yourself

A common mistake: “I’ve always been passionate about innovation, sustainability, and changing the world…”

That may be true but it’s not the point. In the Faltin approach, entrepreneurship starts with a real, concrete problem that exists independently of you.

Instead of: “We are building a disruptive platform for…”

Try: “Right now, people struggle with XY and existing solutions don’t really solve it because…”

If your listener doesn’t recognize the problem within the first 30 seconds, you’ve already lost them. Clarity beats charisma.

Describe the Concept, Not the Vision

TED Talks love visions: “Imagine a world where…”

Entrepreneurship needs concepts:

• What exactly happens?

• Who does what?

• Where is the value created?

Prof. Faltin emphasizes conceptual entrepreneurship the idea itself must be strong before execution, scaling or funding even enter the conversation.

A simple test: If you remove words like innovative, revolutionary, game-changing does your idea still make sense? If not, it’s not clear enough yet.

Use Everyday Language (Yes, Really)

If you need five English buzzwords to explain one sentence, your idea isn’t clearer. it’s hiding.

Good ideas can be explained:

• without slides

• without metaphors

• without hype

Try explaining your idea as if you were talking to:

• a friend at dinner

• your neighbor

• someone who is curious but not impressed by jargon

If they can repeat your idea correctly afterward, you’re on the right track.

Show Value Creation, Not Ego

Entrepreneurship, in the sense of the Stiftung Entrepreneurship, is not about self-realization first, it’s about value creation for others.

Instead of: “This is my vision and my mission…”

Focus on:

• Who benefits?

• Why is this better than existing solutions?

• What changes for people if this works?

When value is clear, enthusiasm follows naturally.  You don’t have to force it.

Let the Idea Do the Work

TED Talks rely on performance. Entrepreneurial ideas rely on substance. You don’t need to sound inspiring. You need to sound understandable. Prof. Faltin often puts it simply: A good entrepreneurial idea explains itself. If you feel the urge to oversell, dramatize, or “pitch harder,” pause and simplify instead.

In Short: Explain, Don’t Perform

Explaining your idea well is not a communication trick, it is a test of the idea itself. If an idea can only survive through excitement, slogans, or performance, it is not ready yet. In conceptual entrepreneurship, clarity is not the final step. It is the starting point.

When you strip away the buzzwords, the vision statements, and the dramatic framing, what remains should still be understandable:

• a real problem

• a plausible solution

• and a clear form of value creation

This kind of explanation does not seek admiration. It invites dialogue. And dialogue is where entrepreneurship actually begins, in questions, in feedback, in critical thinking and in the willingness to refine the concept further. You don’t need to sound visionary to build something meaningful. You need to be precise. In the end, the best entrepreneurial ideas don’t sound like TED Talks. They sound like something that makes sense and makes people want to think along. That is not less powerful. It is far more sustainable.

Sooo if you’d like to test your idea without turning it into a motivational monologue, here’s a good place to start:

Join the Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition 2026. No stage voice required just your idea, your logic and your willingness to think it through. Get feedback, sharpen your concept, and see whether it holds up beyond buzzwords and hype.

Sign up for CEC 2026 and let your idea speak for itself.