Today’s TED 2013 share is Sugata Mitra’s Build a School in the Cloud. Mitra is this year’s TED Prize winner and for good reason. His use of cloud computing in providing an enriched and dynamic learning environment for students in India is inspiring. The model of collaborative education, Self Organized Learning Environments (SOLE) empowers students to collaborate and take control of their learning journeys. Check out the talk below and enjoy this nugget of inspiration from TED!
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Tag Archives: TED
TED Conference 2013: #illustaTED
I am stoked to spend today continuing the PCP reboot with some video editing, audio recording, and deck creation. I’ll also be spending my day following the progress of TED 2013. As I cannot afford to attend, I’ll be living vicariously through some of my favorite folks. One trend I’ll be following on Twitter is #illustraTED from Duarte design. This year, the Duarte team will be illustrating inspiring and amazing talks the whole week long! Check out @duarte and @nancyduarte on Twitter and enjoy this unique take on the TED experience. For more on this year’s conference, visit the TED blog!
I am nerding out to the max over the incredible blend of voices featured this year. I am also excited to see young inventor Richard Turine‘s talk. I’ll leave you with a fresh talk from Bruce Feiler, who believes agile programming can help grow a stronger family.
Which TED talks are you looking forward to most?
Rhetoric Lessons from TED
The three cornerstones of public speaking, credibility, emotion, and logic, have been drilled into countless students of both written and oratory rhetoric. This is done with good reason. Aristotle, a man whose insights permeate philosophy, literature, and the arts, knew his stuff. He codified the very science and art of persuasion, while also engaging in one of the first forms of psychological analysis of the human mind’s response to the rhetorical appeals. Aristotle brings light to three important aspects of the human psyche; these directly relate to a speaker’s ability to most effectively persuade a given audience in a specific situation:
We trust speakers who we judge as credible, and trust is a relative term based on a series of variables. This is ethos.
We demand sound, unbiased, and clear evidence placed into a logical organization and pattern. This is logos.
We are only persuaded when we are led to feel something, to perceive the problem emotionally. This is pathos.
Earlier this week, Alex Rister of Creating Communication shared this excellent video with her readers that helps further explain just how important each of these are in our age of information overload. Conor Neill, the creator of this excellent new TED-ED resource, asserts that it’s the balance and interplay between all three of these areas that leads to true persuasion.
Rhetoric in Action
Susan Cain Photo Credit: jurvetson via Compfight cc; Jill Bolte Taylor Photo Credit: cr8it via Compfight cc; Amy Cuddy Photo Credit: poptech via Compfight cc
One way to tap into the power of rhetoric is to study how great speakers apply the three appeals, ethos, pathos, and logos. Let’s take a look at how three TED presenters put rhetorical theory into practice in their presentations.
Susan Cain’s “The Power of Introverts”: Improve ethos through shared experience
Cain does a masterful job of developing her ethos, which is a blend of trustworthiness, similarity, reputation, and authority (Dlugan 2010), by drawing on personal stories–her experience being an introvert at “ROWDIE” camp, her choice to write a book and her determination to share her suitcase of ideas with the world. These personal stories build her reputation and authority. But, what really lends her complete credibility is her use of similarity. Cain connects her stories to our shared experiences, our culture of character, our culture of personality, our workplaces, our schools. She draws from the world’s most respected introverts, Abraham Lincoln, Ghandi, in describing the power of introverts. Cain places all of her audience in the problem her big idea helps to solve–we have big problems in the world; we need to value the power of introspection, solitude, and self-reflection on the human experience.
Jill Bolte Taylor’s “A Stroke of Insight”: Improve pathos by showing you care
Bolte Taylor’s talk was one of the first I watched and one of the first I shared with my students. Reception to this talk is always mixed–some students completely dig Taylor’s big idea–that we can choose to step into a right-hemisphere state of mind where we view ourselves as part of a collective universal being. Other students find Taylor’s message to be too “touchy-feely.” Regardless of reception, one cannot help but be impacted by Taylor’s delivery. As a neuroanatomist, we expect Taylor to be cold, detached, scientific. This perception is reinforced by her matter of fact explanation of the human brain while holding an actual human brain. But, Bolte Taylor jarrs the audience’s perceptions by channeling the power of pathos. The experience of having a stroke is conveyed through emotive and physical storytelling. Taylor weaves in beautiful metaphors and invites her audience to experience the stroke that led her to her shareable idea. It’s her willingness to let the audience see her vulnerability, her acceptance of death, her realization that life is not really about me but about we that leads to true persuasion.
Amy Cuddy, “Body language”: Improve logos by visualizing evidence
The content of Cuddy’s TED talk on body language is useful in considering the impact what we do not say when we present can have on an audience’s perceptions and their willingness to accept a message. But, when we move beyond content to analyze the structure and delivery of this message, an important lesson about how to integrate examples and evidence emerges. Cuddy sets the tone for the presentation by calling attention to the body, by asking her audience to become aware of their bodies. Immediately, the audience is put into the mindframe of the presentation’s big idea–that body language does more than just reflect mood; body language can change and shape our minds and in turn our behavior. She then tells the story that led to this big idea, interweaving testimony, examples, and case studies paired with video, images, and simple data display. As a viewer, I found myself hypersensitive to my posture and body language for the duration of the speech: I mimicked the power poses; I recalled the many times I’d noticed myself and others displaying the non-verbal behavior Cuddy describes and displays. Cuddy’s rich examples bring her logic to life and help her achieve her goal–to persuade her audience to “fake it til you become it”, to use body language as a means for personal growth and change.
Note that these speakers all used the three appeals together. Rhetorical appeals do not exist in a vacuum; they work with each other. I like to think of a strong argument as the Starship Enterprise–Star Trek the series and the Enterprise as a ship work because of the interplay between Spock (logos), McCoy (ethos), and Kirk (pathos). Without these three, the Enterprise crew cannot function; without these three, there would be no Trek. Tap into the three rhetorical appeals and bring your big idea to life in a way that will truly move your audience to action.
Melissa Marshall wants you to talk nerdy to her
Two of the biggest barriers to fresh speech are jargon and complex language. We often fall back on big words either because we want to appear “smart” (or we think our audience expects it), because they are a natural part of our vocabularies, or because they are a natural part of our discipline. However, according to Scott Schwertly of Ethos 3, a presentation design firm, what set Steve Jobs apart as a communicator was not his ability to use tech speak, but his ability to communicate at a level that was understandable and impacting to everyone (Schwertly, How to Be an Online Presentation God Webinar). TEDster Melissa Marshall, fellow communications teacher shares her experiences teaching engineers how to communicate their ideas to a general audience. These lessons are not only simple and applicable to science folks, but they are delivered in an engaging and dynamic way. Check out Marshall’s equation to incredible and meaningful interactions below:
Talk of the Day: Lisa Kristine bears witness to modern slavery
In a presentation that beautifully executes Jim Endicott’s “three-legged stool” and Nancy Duarte’s presentation ecosystem, Lisa Kristine weaves a haunting story paired with beautiful, moving imagery of modern slavery in the developing world at TEDxMaui. This is a must-watch TED talk!
Kristine works with the organization Free the Slaves. Learn more about this organization committed to eliminating slavery around the world here.
What great TED talks have you seen recently?
Why TED matters, why TED works
As I round out this month’s batch of TED speeches, I am reminded of what draws me to TED in the first place. Yes, the ideas are brilliant and worth sharing, but if they were delivered in the same way many meetings, lectures, and “workshops” are, their power would be diminished greatly. No one would listen.
Alex Rister wrote an awesome post introducing novice presenters to s0me basic best practices when working to create a presentation that is memorable and impacting. One suggestion Alex has is that presenters watch TED talks in addition to practicing as often and in as many ways as possible, to develop their delivery prowess:
This is what sets TEDsters apart; one can tell they appreciate the wonderful moments of resonance they experience, and they want to create similar moments of their own. TEDsters practice because other TEDsters practiced before them. Practice is essential–even when you know your message, you live it, you are it. Practice is key. This is one primary purpose of making TED such a big part of the classroom experience. Students are inspired to know there is a forum for world-changing ideas out there that is not driven by money, power, or a select few.
Instead, TEDsters follow a set of commandments; I believe these are ideas we can all live by as presenters:
- Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick.
- Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before.
- Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion.
- Thou Shalt Tell a Story.
- Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy.
- Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
- Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
- Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
- Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
- Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee.
I round out my TED experience this month with three talks: Lauren Zalaznick, who embodies the second TED commandment by claiming that television has a social conscience, that it serves as a sort of barometer for social morality; Paul Nicklen, whose moving and raw fascination with the arctic fully fulfills commandment number six; and Charlie Todd, whose study of absurdity as a necessary human experience is a truly remarkable example of commandment three–the commandment that holds TED and TEDx and TED Prize, and TED Fellows, and the millions of us TEDsters together–reveal thy curiosity and passion.
Lauren Zalaznick: The conscience of television
Think TV is just a dismissible ”boob tube”? Think again. Zalaznick gives props to Hans Rosling and using moving, living data to show our movement as a society from moral certainty to ambiguity, our shift from comfort to irreverence and social commentary.
Paul Nicklen: Tales of ice-bound wonderlands
I am a big crier, so it’s no surprise that Nicklen’s love of the arctic, but more than that his love of untouched nature, has me in tears by minute two. Nicklen combines completely immersive imagery, music, storytelling, and raw emotion in a TED talk that truly fulfills the spirit of TED–ideas worth spreading. The big idea: we are quickly losing the species we take for granted as a part of our cultural collective, and it’s the disappearing ice, the result of our actions, that is erasing these wonderlands.
Charlie Todd: The shared experience of absurdity
The kinds of things Charlie Todd does make me nervous. I find the idea of being uncomfortable in public to be…well, uncomfortable. However, I love Todd’s sense of play, his use of absurdity to help us feel comfortable with discomfort. As Todd says, there no right or wrong way to play. Play is a forgotten element in many “formal” presentations, but play is what often keeps your audience motivated enough to listen to the end!
TEDsters on Living: Sheena Iyengar, Shawn Achor, and Sarah Kay
Sheena Iyengar: How to make choosing easier
As public speaking teachers, we often talk abou the importance of eye contact. Many of us avoid eye contact because we worry about judgment and dislike being the center of attention. Sheena Iyengar develops presentations are dynamic, engaging, and interactive–she also happens to be blind. In this talk that features beautifully unified visuals, Iyengar explores the problem of choice and choice overload–this talk serves as an interesting counterpoint to Malcolm Gladwell’s spaghetti sauce talk.
Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work
Employers and companies have begun infusing play into the workspace through the use of flexible schedules, bean bag chairs, and desk decorating projects. But what is the real secret to happiness at work? What is it that actually leads to blissful productivity, creativity, and work beyond the average? Achor relays the true power play can have on creativity, work, and happiness with delightful humor, impeccable pacing, and a sense of childlike wonder and play that truly bring his message to life.
Sarah Kay: How many lives can you live?
I was first introduced to Sarah Kay during a previous iteration of the TED analysis through her first TED talk, “If I should have a daughter…”. In this inspiring TEDxEast talk, Kay takes us through multiple lives through spoken poetry. Kay uses the word and the dynamic delivery of that word to bring the experiences of the others in her mind to life.
TED Educators: John Wooden and Dave Eggers
John Wooden on true success
As an erstwhile college sports fan (I really only paid attention when I was in school), I don’t know much about the greats of college sports lore, apart from the once great Steve Spurrier. So, one must forgive my lack of know how about the late John Wooden, arguably the best college sports coach of all time. Once I watched this talk though, I realized his true impact as a coach came not from wins and championships, but from his understanding of the true meaning of success–hard work, a positive impact on the world, and always doing one’s best.
Dave Eggers’ wish: Once upon a school
One of my favorite facets of TED is the TED prize, which is awarded each year to one idea that would benefit from the kind of exposure and support the TED organization has the ability to offer. Dave Eggers recounts the story of 826 Valencia, an after school program that pairs writers with students in a unique tutoring experiment. Eggers’ enthusiasm, humility, and passion for helping others inspires the superteacher in me to do more.
February’s TED Roundup: Malcolm Gladwell, Scott Rickard, and David Blaine
Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce
I love Malcolm Gladwell’s subdued, matter of fact, brilliantly witty storytelling. In this TED talk, Gladwell explores the tale of Howard Moskowitz, who revolutionized the spaghetti sauce industry by honing in on one important idea–there is no perfect spaghetti sauce, there are only perfect spaghetti sauces–in other words, people want choice, but they may not even be aware that they want a choice that is lacking. People crave variety; our ability to choose makes us happy. Diversity is the human experience, and nowhere is this clearer than in our food and taste choices.
Scott Rickard: The beautiful math behind the ugliest music
One of the first TED talks we watch in class is Benjamin Zander’s talk on classical music. Through this talk, I’ve gained an appreciation of the complexities of classical music–the flawless combination of tone/mood and mathematics. What would music without pattern sound and look like? Would it still be pleasing? Beautiful? Is random ugly? Scott Rickard explores this idea in his TEDxMIA talk.
David Blaine: How I held my breath for 17 minutes
Okay, I admit it, I am a magic skeptic; I assume there’s some false angle, mirrors, a trap door, a mystery cubicle. However, for David Blaine, anything is possible, even surviving without air for 17 minutes. I am fascinated by Blaine’s passion for the impossible, for pushing his body to the absolute limit of human experience and beyond. Thankfully, his TED talk allows me to live this experience without the whole thread of bodily harm or death thing.
Final TED Roundup
So, I made these last night. I promise pics of my actual brownies being devoured later. I used the sugar from a bite of these little wonders to fuel my TED explorations. I’m off to school, but here’s a recap of today’s chosen speakers. I can’t wait to TED it up in class today!
Steven Johnson, “Where good ideas come from”
This talk validates my love of coffee, chaos, and collaborative thinking. Thanks Kevin Savage!
Jill Bolte Taylor, “A stroke of insight”
This is my favorite TED talk in terms of fulfilling the TED spirit of spreading worthy ideas (Benjamin Zander is my favorite in terms of delivery and energy). My favorite moment is the audience’s reaction to Taylor explaining how the brain works with a real human brain. One audience member yells out “Yess!” Great choice, Nikki Barber.
Thandie Newton, “Embracing otherness, embracing myself”
Newton is known for her beauty, but her eloquence and humility are far more admirable. Can’t wait to hear Jessica Cabrera’s analysis!
Kathryn Schulz, “Don’t regret regret”
Regret is a part of the human experience. Schulz argues that we embrace it as opposed to running from it. Brittany Egersett will break this talk down for her classmates.
Rory Sutherland, “Sweat the small stuff”
Mike Poveda chose this charming ad man who makes economics accessible through humor that reveals simple truths.
Kate Hartman, “The art of wearable communication”
This is a fitting choice for the awesome Audrey Peart. I want one of those inflatable hearts…
Sir Ken Robinson, “Schools kill creativity”
This is a must-watch talk if you consider yourself a TEDster. Robinson’s talk is fresh and thought-provoking every time. Thanks to Gernon Tait for sharing this talk with the class!
John Hodgman, “Aliens, love…where are they?”
Of course love and science fiction go hand in hand. I am curious to hear Ben Greger’s take on this talk.
Daniel Goldstein, “Battle between present/future self”
Okay, okay, I definitely need to start saving more. Thanks to birthday boy Eric Merrell for this talk!
J.J. Abrams, “The mystery box”
Jorge Rutmann chose this excellent, energetic, and inspiring talk from Abrams, whose energy is infectious.
While I may never be able to afford the 75oo it takes to go to TED or the 3500 it costs to attend TEDActive or TEDGlobal, each month feels like a mini-TED, and I truly love introducing people to these spreadable ideas.
