Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model.

Link to Cameron Russell's Talk: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model.
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     In Cameron Russell’s TED Talk, she describes what life is truly like as a model. While she discusses the perks, the pretty pictures, and the wonderful travel experiences, she also describes the hardships and insecurities. She explains that just because you are pretty and thin, does not mean that you are not insecure or doubting yourself constantly. Beauty does not always come from your looks on the outside, but from how you feel on the inside that really makes you feel beautiful.
     I found Russell’s speech to be effective through her use of humor and real life examples, as well as her tone. She was relatable and down to earth, which made her talk easy to listen and understand her point of view. While her speech was effective and inspiring, I do wish Russell had focused her ideas on one issue. Besides inner beauty, Russell also touched on race issues, especially within modeling. But due to the fact that her talk was rather short, it was difficult to keep up and know exactly the purpose of the talk. I wish Russell had developed the race issues into its own talk because it would have been a really interesting topic. Russell made her point clear when she ended her talk with her takeaway regarding beauty, which helped to bring the speech together.

What topic did you enjoy the most in her talk? What topic do you wish she had discussed further?

Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight

Link to Jill Bolte Taylor's Talk: My stroke of insight
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     In Jill Bolte Taylor’s talk, Taylor describes what it feels like to have a stroke. Taylor is a brain scientist, who was able to study herself and understand what happened to her upon having a stroke. She explains her research and scientific explanations clearly, so those with little knowledge of the brain can understand just as easily as those who are knowledgeable. Taylor surprised the audience when she brought a real human brain to the stage to help her explanations.
     Taylor’s speaking method was effective because she was clear and concise, but also animated, and inspiring. It is evident that Taylor is passionate about what she is discussing, as she even becomes emotional when sharing her ideas. Taylor explains not only did she have a physical stroke, but also in her moment of life or death, Taylor had a “stroke of insight” that helped her understand how meaningful our lives are and the joy and beauty of doing all that we can with our time. Taylor encourages us all to live life to the fullest and experience our stroke of insight (just hopefully ours is not during an actual stroke).

What did you think of Taylor’s speaking style? Did it inspire you? Why or why not?

Susan Cain: The power of introverts

Link to Susan Cain's Talk: The power of introverts
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     In Susan Cain’s talk: The power of introverts, Cain explains the need for introverts and the skills they bring. She believes our society is centered around extroverts and helping them succeed, but we need to be focusing more on helping both kinds of people, as there are no true introverts or extroverts. “Even Carl Jung, the psychologist who first popularized these terms, said that there's no such thing as a pure introvert or a pure extrovert. He said that such a man would be in a lunatic asylum, if he existed at all. And some people fall smack in the middle of the introvert/extrovert spectrum, and we call these people ambiverts. And I often think that they have the best of all worlds. But many of us do recognize ourselves as one type or the other.” Our society needs to be more accepting and willing to help introverts and extroverts alike succeed and do their best, in their own way.
     After watching this TED Talk, I was interested to see whether I was an introvert or extrovert, so I found this quiz on Buzzfeed: What Level of Introvert Are You?
I found that I was a “mild introvert” as it stated that I have some introverted tendencies, but you have some extroverted tendencies too. Sometimes it tips more in one direction, but overall, you’re a rather balanced person.

Feel free to take the survey above to see how introverted you are! Were you surprised by your results? How does being an introvert help you? How does being an extrovert help you?

Sandra Aamodt: Why dieting doesn't usually work

Link to Sandra Aamodt's Talk: Why dieting doesn't usually work
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     In Sandra Aamodt’s speech regarding dieting, and why it usually doesn’t work, she uses a variety of tactics to engage her viewers and help them understand her points. Aamodt uses reason with facts and statics, personal stories and struggles, and humor to connect the audience and build her credibility.
     Then, Aamodt breaks her information down so that all viewers can understand it and relate to it. She describes us all as two different types of eaters: “those who rely on their hunger and those who try to control their eating through willpower, like most dieters. Let's call them intuitive eaters and controlled eaters. The interesting thing is that intuitive eaters are less likely to be overweight, and they spend less time thinking about food. Controlled eaters are more vulnerable to overeating in response to advertising, super-sizing, and the all-you-can-eat buffet. And a small indulgence, like eating one scoop of ice cream, is more likely to lead to a food binge in controlled eaters”. Once viewers have identified their “type”, they can set goals for dieting success more easily.
     Aamodt’s big idea is not how to diet, or which diets are effective, but how to begin listening to your body and knowing when it is truly hungry and what it is hungry for. Aamodt states, “ Diets don't have very much reliability. Five years after a diet, most people have regained the weight. Forty percent of them have gained even more. If you think about this, the typical outcome of dieting is that you're more likely to gain weight in the long run than to lose it”.

Have you had success with diets? Have you had success with Aamodt’s tactics of learning to listen to your body regarding when it wants to eat and what it wants to eat? Share your experiences!

Courtney Martin: This isn't her mother's feminism

Link to Courtney Martin's Talk: This isn't her mother's feminism
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     In Blogger Courtney Martin’s TED Talk: This isn't her mother's feminism, Martin discusses a variety of issues. She begins her talk by describing her childhood and her parent’s influence on her. Having two feminist parents, Martin followed in their footsteps, and is now her own kind of feminist. Then, Martin shares her three paradoxes, which include: 1. Growing up is about rejecting the past, and then promptly reclaiming it. 2. Sobering up about our smallness and maintaining faith in our greatness all at once. 3. Growing up is about aiming to succeed wildly and being fulfilled by failing really well.
     Martin discusses feminism a lot in her talk, but she also focuses on another issue: failure. While both are important topics, I had a difficult time making the connection between the two issues. This caused me to feel that Martin’s TED Talk was confusing, as I felt she had tried to take on too many topics and ideas in a short period of time. Since she is a great speaker with relevant personal stories and interesting ideas and advice, I would love to hear her split these two topics into two separate TED Talks so that her message is more clear to her audience.

What was the most important thing you took away from Martin's speech? Was there any advice that you found particularly useful that you would share with others? 

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure

Link to JK Rowling's Talk: The fringe benefits of failure
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     Author JK Rowling gave a speech about the fringe benefits of failure at the 2008 Harvard Commencement. Rowling’s speech is informative and entertaining (especially for Harry Potter fans). She states several key ideas and thoughts for students to take away from her speech, while also providing comic relief that keeps them entertained.
     Rowling begins her speech by stating that she had lost several pounds due to her anxiety over giving this speech, but jokes it was a “win-win” situation. She then explains that she must move forward by taking a deep breath, and give her speech the best she can. Rowling also makes jokes such as “This is the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion!” and “I’m fortunate to have friends who didn’t sue me for naming death eaters after them”. These jokes entertain viewers that understand the Harry Potter references, but I did wonder if it made other viewers feel left out. While it is always helpful to entertain and engage your audience, speakers must also be careful to not isolate viewers who do not understand the references or jokes. Viewers who are isolated may become detached and lose interest.
     Rowling had wonderful advice for graduating students such as how to get through a nerve-racking speech, how to grow from failure, and why to value imagination. Rowling describes her personal experience with failure, and how it affected her. Rowling also explains how imagination can helps us all; mainly, it can help us to understand situations we have not experienced ourselves, but others have; it makes us more empathetic and understanding, which ultimately encourages us to help others. She reminds all students that imagination can be a useful skill throughout life, and not just in childhood.

How have you grown from your failures? Do you have any advice regarding failure or imagination that you would like to share with others?

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

Link to Amy Cuddy's Talk: Your body language shapes who you are
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     In Social Psychologist Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk, she reports how “your body language shapes who you are”. Cuddy describes how body language affects how not only others see us, but how we see and feel about ourselves as well. She proves that the mind can change the body, but she asks, “can the body change the mind?” The answer is yes. If you stand in a high-power pose for just 2 minutes, your mind will begin to feel more powerful following the pose. This is useful information for occasions such as job interviews, where you may be nervous, but need to seem prepared, intelligent, and powerful.
     Cuddy’s speech engages viewers through her personal stories, facts and statistics, and useful advice that we can all apply to our lives. Cuddy also uses relevant and sometimes comical visual aids that also help keep the viewer’s attention. My favorite part of Cuddy’s speech is her conclusion because she not only wants to help the viewers, but she also challenges each of them to go tell someone else the useful advice of the 2 minute power-pose. Cuddy is attempting to reach and help as many people as possible through word-of-mouth.

Leymah Gbowee: Unlock the intelligence, passion, greatness of girls

Link to Leymah Gbowee's Talk: Unlock the intelligence, passion, greatness of girls

Photo and Video provided by TED.

     Leymah Gbowee, a peace activist, discusses how and why we should help young girls discover their greatness. Gbowee describes several different girls that she has met throughout her life that deserve a chance at a better life. Ghbowee goes on to explain what she has done to make a difference, and that is creating a space called the Young Girls Transformative Project. She states, “We go into rural communities and all we do, like has been done in this room, is create the space. When these girls sit, you unlock intelligence, you unlock passion, you unlock commitment, you unlock focus, you unlock great leaders. Today, we've worked with over 300. And some of those girls who walked in the room very shy have taken bold steps, as young mothers, to go out there and advocate for the rights of other young women”.
     Gbowee’s speech is effective through her various speech tactics which include repetition. Primarily, Gbowee repeats the word “wish”, so viewers grasp how badly these girls need help fulfilling their wishes; wishes that are understandable and things we should be striving to change, such as helping more girls go to school, seeking peace for all, helping feed the hungry, and many more. Gbowee’s speech is also effective because she makes these issues real for all viewers, and she does this by discussing a variety of countries and their problems. Gbowee doesn’t want any person to think they don’t have a role to play in solving these issues, because they are occurring everywhere in the world. Gbowee’s speech ends impactfully, with this final remark, “All of these great innovators and inventors that we've talked to and seen over the last few days are also sitting in tiny corners in different parts of the world, and all they're asking us to do is create that space to unlock the intelligence, unlock the passion, unlock all of the great things that they hold within themselves. Let's journey together. Let's journey together”. Her call to action leaves viewers inspired and ready to take on the challenge of helping girls unlock their intelligence, passion, and greatness.

Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep

Link to Arianna Huffington's Talk: How to succeed? Get more sleep
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     Co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington discusses a problem many of us are suffering from daily: a lack of sleep. Huffington explains the importance of sleep, and inspires the audience by explaining how much more we could all accomplish with more sleep.

     While I found Huffington’s speech to be interesting with her personal stories and experiences, I wish she had provided more facts. Including facts on sleep (or lack of) would have made her talk more credible, while also engaging more viewers. After a quick google search, I found a few interesting facts, including: “Although most people need seven to nine hours of sleep each night to function well the next day, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) 1998 Women and Sleep Poll found that the average woman aged 30-60 sleeps only six hours and forty-one minutes during the workweek” (http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/women-and-sleep).
     Facts and statistics such as these may have interested the viewer and helped them identify that they themselves have a problem with how much they sleep. However, I believe Huffington chose to leave out facts such as these because they are negative, and could potentially make viewers feel badly about themselves. Instead, Huffington chose to focus on the positive aspects of getting more sleep, such as the possibilities of more inspiration, more creativity, and more productive decision making.

Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders

Link to Sheryl Sandberg's Talk: Why we have too few women leaders
Photo and Video provided by TED.

     In COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg’s TED Talk: Why we have too few women leaders, Sandberg empowers both men and women. While some women choose to blame men for our gender inequality issues, Sandberg takes the stance that we all need to work together to solve this problem. Sandberg’s talk mainly focuses on what women could and should be doing to improve the workplace for women, but she includes men throughout her talk as well.
     Sandberg’s speech is effective and empowering because of the way she presents her message. First, she begins by engaging the viewer with shocking statistics such as, “Out of 190 heads of states, 9 are women. Of all the people who are in parliament around the world, 13% are women” and several others. Then, she presents the problem: There are not enough women leaders. With the problem, she explains what she believes there to be 3 solutions. These include “One, sit at the table. Two, make your partner a real partner. And three, don't leave before you leave". (For a full explanation of these points, see the video above!) Her points are interesting, clear, and concise so it is easy for viewers to follow along and understand her reasoning.
     Sandberg’s talk is also effective because she connects with the viewer by telling personal stories. She reveals things about her self, such as the story about a woman calling her out for only calling on the men during the Q&A. By showing her personal flaws, and helping us all learn from them, she comes across as honest and approachable. I personally really enjoy Sandberg’s speaking style with the personal stories, statics, and facts she provides to reach her audience. Ultimately, she is helping educate any man or woman who is willing to listen and help improve the issue of too few women leaders.