I've been listening to TED Talks for a couple of years now, and am continually impressed at the quality of some of these speakers. So impressed, in fact, that I end up spouting TED knowledge in random conversations that I have both at work and at home. This resulted in some coworkers asking me, "what is it?" As I shared with them, I thought I'd share with those of you who do not know as well.TED started as a conference revolving around Technology, Entertainment, and Design. (Get it? TED?) It's scope has expanded since then, pushing the boundaries of each category. They bring together groupings of extremely intelligent people and champion good ideas. Best of all, many of these presentations are recorded, and are provided on the TED website for our viewing/listening pleasure (I often simply listen to the videos while working).
It's great fun to find speakers that you know ( "Hey, I read his book!") and listen to their knowledge and ideas. Each talk is short, often between 5 and 20 minutes. As a result, they're pretty concise. If you don't like a particular presentation, you haven't lost much.
Here are some of my favorites:
Malcolm Gladwell
Spaghetti Sauce
Okay, fine. I'd list anything by Malcolm Gladwell, but this presentation underscores the fundamentals of choice and marketing in ways you may not have though about.
Chip Kidd
Designing books is no laughing matter. Ok, it is.
An often funny take on book covers, design principles, and our habit of judging by appearances.
Rory Sutherland
Perspective is Everything
Economics, perspective, ideals. This is a fascinating talk about what we think without thinking.
Richard St. John
8 Secrets of Success
A quick summary of that to which people have attributed their success.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. You can start with these, but feel free to explore the site. Listen and learn, then apply some of these thoughts to your own life.
