Our culture is obsessed with happiness, but what if there’s a more fulfilling path? Emily Smith offers four pillars of a meaningful life in this Ted talk.
Category Archives: TedTalks
Three anti-social skills to improve your writing
You need social skills to have a conversation in real life but they’re quite different from the skills you need to write good dialogue. Educator Nadia Kalman suggests a few “anti-social skills,” like eavesdropping and muttering to yourself, that can help you write an effective dialogue for your next story in this animated Ted Ed lesson. Click to watch.
Why books are here to stay
Despite the rise of e-books, physical books aren’t going anywhere. Graphic designer Chip Kidd shares why their design is so lasting in this short, but fun, Ted Talk.
How to shift your mindset and choose your future
This Ted Talk is super inspiring. When it comes to big life problems, we often stand at a crossroads: either believe we’re powerless against great change, or we rise to meet the challenge. In an urgent call to action, political strategist Tom Rivett-Carnac makes the case for adopting a mindset of “stubborn optimism” to confront climate change, or whatever crisis may come our way, and sustain the action needed to build a regenerative future. As he puts it: “Stubborn optimism can fill our lives with meaning and purpose.” Click below to watch.
Why we must confront hard historical truths
In this thoughtful Ted Talk Hasan Kwame Jeffries emphasises the need to weave historical context, no matter how painful, into our understanding of modern society so we can disrupt the continuum of inequality massively affecting marginalised communities. Sometimes to move forward society must look back and confront the difficult history that has shaped widespread injustice.
Lead like the great conductors
A conductor faces the ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word. In this charming Ted talk Itay Talgam demonstrates unique styles illustrating crucial lessons for all leaders.
How to lead a conversation between people who disagree
In a world deeply divided, how do we have hard conversations with nuance, curiosity, respect? Veteran reporter Eve Pearlman introduces “dialogue journalism” in this #tedtalk which is a project where journalists go to the heart of social and political divides to support discussions between people who disagree.
Questions no one knows the answers to
In one of the most viewed Ted talks, TED curator Chris Anderson shares his obsession with questions that no one (yet) knows the answers to. We love how this Ted Talk really gets us thinking. It’s a must watch.
How much does a video weigh?
What color is a mirror? How much does a video weigh? Michael Stevens, creator of the popular educational YouTube channel Vsauce, spends his day asking quirky questions like these. In this talk he shows how asking the right, seemingly silly, questions can make incredibly effective lessons.
The pursuit of ignorance
What does real scientific work look like? As neuroscientist Stuart Firestein jokes: It looks a lot less like the scientific method and a lot more like “farting around … in the dark.” We love this witty ted talk.