I came across this interesting TED talk about Education and how some of its flaws could be responsible for killing creativity in the youth of today. This is a talk that I believe is a must watch for all students for many reasons which I discuss below.
1. It's hilarious! Sir Robinson is a seasoned speaker and this talk is a live testimony to that. Regardless of who you are or what you do, some day someone is going to ask you to explain something. This could be what you do, what you have been doing or what you want to be doing or just about anything else. You will, then, have to stand up and talk about it. I don't want to call it public speaking because it might not necessarily be a talk in front of "public" but at that point, you will need a bag full of communication skills to make a lasting impression. And Sir Robinson definitely has his bags full. His subtle use of humour sets the relaxed tone of the presentation, keeps the audience engaged and interested and never lets the well thought out message of the presentation sound cheesy.
Only after going through the presentation twice did I realize that he never used any slides! Nope, not a single one. In today's tech savvy age, exceeding importance is being given to use of technology in talks and presentations. This talk demonstrates that there is no substitute for straight up communication skills to keep the audience engaged. I am not professing that we abandon technology altogether from presentations and talks, just simply portraying the importance of eloquence with or without use of technology.
2. He encourages people to find their passion. In the presentation, Sir Robinson refers to his upcoming book "Epiphany". As it turns out, the book is no longer upcoming and is out already but with a different name, The Element: How finding your passion changes everything. I have read most of the book and it re-iterates many points being made in this talk. He discusses the same Gillian Lynne's story from the talk, albeit in more detail and goes at length about the importance of being in the element. Gillian Lynne's was dancing, Shakespeare's was writing, Ewa Laurance's (another example from the book) was playing pool. Have you found yours? I believe, to find it, is more like a process than one big Aha! moment. More details on that in later posts.
3. He lays groundwork for a larger problem that The Element addresses in further detail. One of the most interesting topics from the book, as I recall, was Sir Robinson asking his audience to rate themselves individually on how intelligent they thought they were on a scale of 1-10. He goes on to say that most people grade themselves around 6-8, some go as far as 9 and some go as low as 1-2. However, not many ask the question they should be asking. The question of how to you define intelligence? The topic concludes by saying that the right question to ask is not "How intelligent are you?" but "How are you intelligent?". He believes that human race's is as diverse as it comes and we all have a natural inclination towards something that puts us in our zone. The quest is to find this thing and to keep working on it.
I found this talk very intriguing and wanted to share it with my readers. Spend some time today (whether you are a student or a parent or anyone else!) to think about what is it that puts you in the zone? We aren't just talking about the good times with friends or family, or the sunshine, or the summer but that thing that makes time fly by, that thing that you would work on even if no one was paying you. What is it?
1. It's hilarious! Sir Robinson is a seasoned speaker and this talk is a live testimony to that. Regardless of who you are or what you do, some day someone is going to ask you to explain something. This could be what you do, what you have been doing or what you want to be doing or just about anything else. You will, then, have to stand up and talk about it. I don't want to call it public speaking because it might not necessarily be a talk in front of "public" but at that point, you will need a bag full of communication skills to make a lasting impression. And Sir Robinson definitely has his bags full. His subtle use of humour sets the relaxed tone of the presentation, keeps the audience engaged and interested and never lets the well thought out message of the presentation sound cheesy.
Only after going through the presentation twice did I realize that he never used any slides! Nope, not a single one. In today's tech savvy age, exceeding importance is being given to use of technology in talks and presentations. This talk demonstrates that there is no substitute for straight up communication skills to keep the audience engaged. I am not professing that we abandon technology altogether from presentations and talks, just simply portraying the importance of eloquence with or without use of technology.
2. He encourages people to find their passion. In the presentation, Sir Robinson refers to his upcoming book "Epiphany". As it turns out, the book is no longer upcoming and is out already but with a different name, The Element: How finding your passion changes everything. I have read most of the book and it re-iterates many points being made in this talk. He discusses the same Gillian Lynne's story from the talk, albeit in more detail and goes at length about the importance of being in the element. Gillian Lynne's was dancing, Shakespeare's was writing, Ewa Laurance's (another example from the book) was playing pool. Have you found yours? I believe, to find it, is more like a process than one big Aha! moment. More details on that in later posts.
3. He lays groundwork for a larger problem that The Element addresses in further detail. One of the most interesting topics from the book, as I recall, was Sir Robinson asking his audience to rate themselves individually on how intelligent they thought they were on a scale of 1-10. He goes on to say that most people grade themselves around 6-8, some go as far as 9 and some go as low as 1-2. However, not many ask the question they should be asking. The question of how to you define intelligence? The topic concludes by saying that the right question to ask is not "How intelligent are you?" but "How are you intelligent?". He believes that human race's is as diverse as it comes and we all have a natural inclination towards something that puts us in our zone. The quest is to find this thing and to keep working on it.
I found this talk very intriguing and wanted to share it with my readers. Spend some time today (whether you are a student or a parent or anyone else!) to think about what is it that puts you in the zone? We aren't just talking about the good times with friends or family, or the sunshine, or the summer but that thing that makes time fly by, that thing that you would work on even if no one was paying you. What is it?
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