Discovering the Magic of TED Talks

 

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TED or Technology, Entertainment, Design is a platform that posts talks online under the motto ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ launched by Richard Saul Wurman on 23rd February 1984 as a conference.

TED talks initially focused on technology and entertainment but over the course of time, it has directed towards various other aspects like activism, crowd-sourcing, global issues, goal-setting, humanity, invention, leadership, marketing, motivation, personal growth, suicidal thoughts, social change, sustainability, vulnerability and world cultures among others.

Why TED Talks Are Popular?

The main characteristic which makes TED Talks popular is transparency. In the words of Mark Zuckerberg, 'By giving people the power to share, we’re making the world more transparent.' There are always three parts of a story, your story, their story and the real story, after all, stories are data with a soul.

All the speakers who are invited to the said platform have unique stories about their struggles, dreams and inhibitions. These traits make the address more relatable to the audience.

Who Can Give TED Talks?

There is no restriction for you to be competent to give a TED Talk. You can be a 12-year-old App Developer Thomas Suarez or a 92-year-old freedom fighter, nurse and Japanese tourist guide Rama Khandwala.

The thing that matters is what comes out of these speakers, the stories of their rejection, experiences, inspirations, aspirations, how they embraced risk and fear, their success and downfalls, communicated in the most humorous and cleverest way possible. 

Spare a moment to reflect on the famous quote by Ferris Bueller states, 'Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.'

How TED Talks Touch Lives?

TED Talks are inspirational speeches given by experts of various fields in an attempt to change lives for good. These strike a conversation between a person’s mind and soul in a way that the person accepts his vulnerabilities and learns to live the hard way in the most beautiful way possible.

As mentioned in the TED Talk given by Brene Brown, The Power of Vulnerability- 'You are imperfect, most in-debt, obese, depressed, addicted, you are wired for struggle but you are worthy of love and belonging. The thing that makes you vulnerable, makes you beautiful.'

What Goes in Conducting TED Talks?

A talented team consisting of promotion heads, digital creators, technical masters, admin heads, logistics, photographers, marketers, speakers’ curators, post-production controllers works enormously hard to make this event a success. 

These talks may be streamed live online and are available free on the digital platform anywhere in the world, as the team behind such sessions is fully equipped with all that is needed for such a grand happening.

TED Talks and Creativity

The TED Talk was given by Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, ‘Embrace Transparency’ which was the real story behind making ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold’ was sold to EMC2 for $7100 even before it was conducted. In this talk, Spurlock spoke about how important it is to have your personal brand and how after abandoning all of their outdoor advertising from billboards to flyers, the Sao Paolo City in Brazil made marketers more creative. As Pablo Picasso has rightly said, 'Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working'.

TED Talks and Personal Growth

TED Talks throw light on various real-life crisis that a person faces all through his life and motivate people to live to their fullest as it is rightly said- ‘It’s not the years in your life, it’s the life in your years.'

While giving TED Talks, the speakers often take a dig at their own struggles, how they managed to rise up when they were at their lowest, to overcome the challenges they had to face as destiny had planned. These little excerpts that changed their lives for better often plays a massive role in the personal growth of those who follow these talks regularly. 

The speakers may introduce themselves in the way they have to in their own professional fields. Many times, art professionals or geniuses are questioned about their career choices, while engineers or other professionals are not. The words of these speakers often give you the courage to embrace failures in order to be successful, irrespective of the career you choose.

TED Talks are conducted all over the world in large theatres, open grounds or even as independently organized events called TEDx in association with schools, colleges or other institutions with the sole motto of inspiring lives through short 15-18 minutes stretched vocalizations.

To conclude TED Talks often arise in you a sense of worthiness, which helps you to become a better communicator and a phenomenal story-teller.

Written by - Saee Wagh

Edited by - Maryam Salim