The best TED talks make you think, leave you inspired, and very often make you laugh too. We have been watching Ted's conversations evolve and grow for the past 15 years and have come to treasure the nuggets of wisdom they impart.
But if you're just discovering Ted Talks for the first time, or feel like you've missed a lot over the years, we want to help you dive headlong into the heady lecture series with a roundup of our absolute favorites. : What you will find below is a collection of personal picks from the TechRadar team that we think best exemplifies what a Ted Talk can be.
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How to get control of your free time by Laura Vanderkam
There is some irony in watching a YouTube video on how to save time, but Laura Vanderkam's talk is worth 10 minutes of your life. It's all based on the basic idea that shaving 5 minutes here and there from your favorite activities will not give you more control over your life, but rather you should set priorities for yourself and then create a timeline around those priorities.
The hilarious example Vanderkam offers is that instead of skipping commercials to save eight minutes on every half-hour of TV you watch, maybe you could watch a little less TV and do more with your time. The message is simple, effective, and engaging, all the hallmarks of a good TED chat.
What makes a good life? Lessons from Robert Waldinger's longest study on happiness
“Good relationships keep us healthier and happier. Period. "Those are the results of a landmark study of happiness by more than four generations of researchers in the past 75 years, tracking hundreds of participants and measuring every facet of their lives.
This talk by Ted takes a while to get to the juicy details, but the story of this supernatural study on happiness illustrates the efforts researchers have gone through to obtain this invaluable information that shows us what makes people happy at the end of their lives. The results seem simple, almost infuriating, but the lesson here is that anyone can be happy with the right relationships in their lives.
It turns out that the players are quite impressive. They are committed to saving virtual worlds, and with the right skills and focus, they could also save the physical world. McGonigal, game developer and author, has spent years creating different apps and games that use in-game rewards to drive players to solve real-world problems.
The chat, which is a bit long in 20 minutes, guides the audience through their previous experiences creating these games and the research data it uses to engage players before diving into Superbetter, the app it developed for everyone. those who play it live better, more complete lives.
The art of asking about Amanda Palmer
Former street musician turned successful musician Amanda Palmer has a key lesson for everyone: don't be afraid to ask. Society places an inherent shame on those who ask, whether it's financial aid or security, emotional help, or even basic requests like where to find something, when in fact asking for help is one of the best things we can do. Asking, Palmer says, is inherently human and powerful, allowing us to create connections and take advantage of those connections to do more. That was evident when she wanted to raise funds for her band's next CD, asking for $ 100,000 and raising more than a million dollars.
The point here is that the next time you look down on someone by asking, look at them compassionately instead and make a connection, because in the long run that's more powerful, more effective, and, well, more human.
The first 20 hours: how to learn something by Josh Kaufman
Have you ever heard the old adage about the need to spend 10,000 hours to learn a skill? Good news, it's wrong. As a result, the research from which the factoid is extracted was studying experts in their respective fields, and not, for example, the average trombonist.
In this talk, new father Josh Kaufman shows us how long it takes to learn a skill, which, by the way, is only around 20 hours. Now, sure, 20 hours of practice won't make you the next Bobby Fischer, but it will be enough time to teach you the basics and, most importantly, how to correct yourself when you've done something wrong. If you've ever felt like the ship has sailed to learn a new language, play an instrument, or learn a new skill, this talk is for you.
Everything You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong By Johann Hari
Journalist and author Johann Hari (Lost Connections, Chasing the Scream) offers a broad overview of addiction in this 14-minute talk, whether it's addiction to hard drugs, alcohol, or endless updates on our smartphones.
We tend to think of addiction as a problem caused by the substance itself. We say phones are addictive or heroin is addictive, but Hari advocates a more nuanced understanding, one that sees how social circumstances affect our propensity for addiction and the difference strong ties to those around us can make.
The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown
With over 47 million views, Brené Brown's Ted Talk about the power of vulnerability is one of the most viewed Ted Talks of all time, and for good reason.
In this 20-minute presentation, Brown shares what he has learned about the nature of shame and how our fear of vulnerability prevents us from being able to fully embrace each other. As a researcher trained to "control and predict" phenomena, she shares her difficulty in accepting the idea that living fully is giving up trying to "control and predict" at all.
An incredibly powerful talk that shows you, rather than simply tells you, what it means to be vulnerable and explores what a world that embraces vulnerability could be like.
Knowing the Enemy: A Feminist Embraces the Men's Rights Movement by Cassie Jaye
What filmmaker Cassie Jaye does here that is so special is that she guides us through an immense period of growth in her life, thought for thought. At one point, a strict feminist, Jaye started a documentary about the Men's Rights movement asking for recognition of certain specific problems men face, a movement she thought went against the central points of feminism.
What he learned in more than a hundred hours from interviews with men's rights activists is that these men wanted no less rights for women, but some of the same care and dedication to some of the problems that affect men like Veterans care, suicide, disproportionate parenting control, length of prison terms and others that have a real good impact on men's lives. The evolution of Jaye's thoughts and the admission of her own preconceived notions is fascinating from start to finish.
If you don't have time for the great documentary, but almost two hours, Free Solo, check out this 10-minute Ted Talk by legendary climber Alex Honnold, who did something that many deemed impossible, or at least incredibly dangerous. – When he climbed El Capitan, a steep rock in Yosemite National Park without ropes.
Honnold's Ted Talk offers an excellent overview of climbing as well as his previous experiences. Hearing Honnold describe certain parts of the walk is legitimately sweat-inducing, and his post-climbing experiences are hilarious and comforting. Worth seeing.
This is what happens when you reply to James Veitch spam
Not all of Ted's conversations have to be risky ventures at the core of who we are. In fact, they can also be fun and lighthearted. There is no better example of this type of talk than the one given by James Veitch (yes, there is more than one) in which he takes annoying but easily ignorable situations like unsubscribing from an email chain and turning them into absurdly funny combinations of wit verbal. between two fully committed individuals. If you need to laugh after all this deep introspection, Veitch's conversations are the best option.
BONUS: Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale
OK, although technically not a Ted Talk, it has the spirit of one and includes Bobby McFerrin, who really does sell himself.
Just try not to sing, it's impossible not to.