Inspiration: Jane Fonda on Life’s third act

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inspiration, Jane Fonda, life's third act, TED, TED.com, TEDxWomen

At TEDxWomen, Jane Fonda discusses life’s third act: the three decades at the end of life.

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Fonda stands behind a podium and reads from notes; as we know, these are both no-nos because the podium and notes are two barriers between speaker and audience.  Still, she does things very well.  Her speaking voice was her greatest delivery strength.  What did you think about Fonda’s message, her content?  I found it interesting and well supported with proof from science and proof from others (stories, quotations).  Fonda does tailor this to women, and I loved her inspirational conclusion to girls and women.  What great TED Talks have you seen lately?

Inspiration: Deb Roy on The birth of a word

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Deb Roy, inspiration, TED, TED Talks, TED.com, the birth of a word

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For the next 10 days, I am dedicating my Twitter to My Top 10 Favorite Things From 2011.  Today, I posted The Best TED Talk I Watched in 2011: Shea Hembrey’s How I became 100 artists.  I asked my Twitter followers which 2011 TEDs were their favorites.

Matthew R. Dyer of Columbus, Ohio, Tweeted this:

Of course, since I’d never seen or heard of “The Birth of a Word,” I immediately watched all 19 spellbinding minutes of Deb Roy’s talk.  It’s a must-watch.

What was your favorite TED Talk of 2011?

Inspiration: Howard’s Broken Legal System

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four ways to fix a broken legal system, inspiration, law school bubble, lawyers, legal system, Philip K. Howard, TED, TED.com

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Philip K. Howard offers four ways to fix our broken legal system in this 2010 TED Talk.  He explains that the work of doctors and teachers “has been paralyzed by fear of [law]suits” (Source).  His argument is that we should make legal decisions based on their effects on society as a whole as opposed to on the individual.  My favorite line comes at 16:45 where Howard says we must make judgments “based on EVERYBODY… not just on the disgruntled person.  You can’t run a society by the lowest common denominator” (Source).

Unfortunately, with the sheer volume of lawyers running around, we’ll never get to Howard’s idealistic legal utopia.  Daily Infographic explains The Law School Bubble in greater detail:

Inspiration: Simon Sinek on How Great Leaders Inspire Action

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how great leaders inspire action, inspiration, Simon Sinek, TED, TED Talks, TED.com

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Inspiration: Jason Fried on Why Work Doesn’t Happen At Work

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inspiration, Jason Fried, TED, TED Talks, TED.com, work doesn't happen at work

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At TEDxMidwest, Jason Fried presented “Why work doesn’t happen at work.”  He compares a work day to sleeping (Source).  His tremendous ideas really do allow us to redefine what work is and where work takes place.  The real problems, Fried says, are the M&Ms: managers and meetings.

I can only do work at home when I’m by myself.  I read 8 books at a time on presentation at home in total silence.  I create slideshows at home while listening to music.  I practice my delivery with my PhotoBooth camera sitting on the living room couch.  Home.  Alone.

Thankfully, I teach.  While I’m at work, I’m communicating all of this information I’ve prepared at home in the classroom setting.  Unfortunately, I am also required to conduct office hours.  I say “unfortunately” because I must physically be present in an office.  I can’t help students while sitting in a chair in an office miles away from them.  I can’t prepare for my next class because people constantly interrupt my creative process by talking to me or each other.  I most certainly don’t grade.  Grade in the office?  Impossible.  No Talk Thursday, as Fried proposes, would be AMAZING in my line of work.

Jason Fried is the founder of 37signals.  Follow him on Twitter here.  He is the co-author of Rework, a book about succeeding in the workplace.  Read Fried’s TED biography here.

What is the culture of your office?

Inspiration: Malcolm Gladwell

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choices, inspiration, Malcolm Gladwell, TED, TED Talks, TED.com

First of all, who rocks an afro better than Malcolm Gladwell?  I love his hair, and I love his ability to tell a good story.  ”Malcolm Gladwell on Spaghetti Sauce” was one of the first TED speeches I ever watched, and I wanted to share the magic of it with you here:

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Do you agree that more choices make us less happy?

Inspiration: Pamela Meyer on Liespotting

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how to spot a liar, liespotting, Pamela Meyer, TED, TED Talks, TED.com

One assignment my students have been doing for the past year is watching, analyzing, and presenting on one TED Talk.  The instructions are to dissect how the TED speaker captures the attention of the audience and keeps the audience engaged.  Students are also asked to determine which of the TED Commandments the TED presenter best follows and to give their fellow classmates some delivery tips based only upon the Talk they watched.

Today, a student presented on Pamela Meyer: How to spot a liar.  I was intrigued.

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Meyer discusses liespotting.  This is important in our everyday lives, but the bigger picture here is the importance of nonverbal communication – in life and in our speeches.  Her speech is interesting and applicable to all of our lives.

Inspiration: Béatrice Coron’s “Stories cut from paper”

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art, art from paper, artist, Béatrice Coron, storytelling, TED, TED.com, visual storytelling

While browsing TED early this morning as I often do, I found this magnificent TED Talk by Béatrice Coron, but I couldn’t find it on YouTube to share it with you.  Luckily, one hour ago, the TED Talks Director just posted it on YouTube.  (You read my mind, Ted Talks Director!)

Coron creates intricate, creative, visual stories by cutting paper.  For example, she creates “mindscapes” or “Freudian cities” from other people’s memories and history.

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Amazing!

Inspiration: Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity

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creativity, Elizabeth Gilbert, muse, TED, TED Talks, TED.com

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, delivers a remarkable TED Talk on creativity.  Watch it here:

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While I did not like her book, her TED Talk is funny, thoughtful, and engaging.  After her successful text, Elizabeth Gilbert says people treated her as if she were “doomed” and talked about the pressure of creativity after a bestselling book.  The “fear-based” reactions to being an artist are what stops the creative process, and I love Gilbert’s idea that we all have a genius living inside of us instead of the idea that we ourselves are geniuses.  It takes the pressure off of the creative process.

Inspiration: Shea Hembrey

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art, inspiration, Shea Hembrey, TED, TED Talks, TED.com

Shea Hembrey is absolutely amazing.  The stories he tells at the beginning of his TED Talk remind me so much of my childhood that I was immediately sucked into this presentation.  Hembrey is a charming speaker.  His accent is precious, his delivery is quirky, and his art is insane.  He becomes 100 different artists to create art through a variety of mediums.  For example, he “is” Kay Overstreet at 6:23 and creates Frost, and this receives applause and laughter from the audience because it is such a crazy talented concept.  You have got to watch this.

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I love being challenged, and I think artists like Hembrey are what take creativity and imagination to the next level.