What happens when a dream you’ve held since childhood doesn’t come true? As Lisa Bu adjusted to a new life in the United States, she turned to books to expand her mind and create a new path for herself. She shares her unique approach to reading in this lovely, personal talk about the magic of books.
Category Archives: TedTalks
What reading slowly taught me about writing
Reading slowly with her finger running beneath the words has led Jacqueline Woodson to a life of writing books to be savoured. In a lyrical talk, she invites us to slow down and appreciate stories that take us places we never thought we’d go and introduce us to people we never thought we’d meet.
Play is more than just fun
A pioneer in research on play, Dr. Stuart Brown says humour, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age. This Ted Talk is an oldie but a goodie and watching it will make you want to play a little more.
What ping pong taught me about life
Growing up in England, Pico Iyer was taught that the point of a game was to win. We’ve found a charming and profound ted talk where Pico explores what regular games of ping-pong in his neighborhood in Japan have revealed about the riddle of winning and shows why not knowing who’s won can feel like the ultimate victory.
How we can eat our landscapes
What should a community do with its unused land?
Perhaps plant food.
With energy and humour, Pam Warhurst shares the story of how she and a growing team of volunteers came together to turn plots of unused land into communal vegetable gardens, and to change the narrative of food in their community.
The puzzle of motivation
Science knows something that businesses don’t. In this highly popular Ted Talk career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don’t: Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. Be sure to listen for illuminating stories, and maybe, a way forward.
The happy secret to better work
We believe we should work hard in order to be happy, but could we be thinking about things backwards? In this fast-moving and very funny talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that, actually, happiness inspires us to be more productive.
Learning from dirty jobs
Mike Rowe, the host of “Dirty Jobs,” tells some compelling (and horrifying) real-life job stories. Listen to the end for his insights and observations about the nature of hard work, and how it’s been unjustifiably degraded in society today.
How to design a library that makes kids want to read
When Michael Bierut was tapped to design a logo for public school libraries, he had no idea that he was embarking on a year long passion project. In this often hilarious talk, he recalls his obsessive quest to bring energy, learning, art and graphics into these magical spaces where school librarians can inspire new generations of readers and thinkers. We love this Ted Talk.
One Dad’s mission to rebuild bonds between kids and their fathers
As a father of four, Dwight Stitt believes that family connection is everything. In this heartfelt ted talk, Stitt shares his own hardships of fatherhood in the wake of divorce. Determined to maintain strong bonds with his children, he imparts a collection of lessons that he hopes will keep all dads connected to their children.