JP Rangaswami

At the very beginning of his speech, I noticed one thing that he did not need to say, which was "I want to leave you with the idea that..." He began to give a story of when he was a kid, that his father and grandfather were both journalists and he grew up around books, which he became passionate about, and he was also passionate about food. The audience laughed every now and then, and you could tell they had a connection with RJ. His story of his life was how he explained his topic, and why he was interested in it. RJ also incorporated some science about the biology of primates. He seemed very comfortable on stage and not nervous or fidgety. He has interesting insights to how we think about information, and connecting that to food is awesome! I cook and bake, and love how if I add chocolate to milk and sugar over simmering water, it will melt and taste amazing. This relates to me in that way, so I can latch onto the subject with more ease. This relates to education because kids learn and think about the material in school in different ways, but what he talks about remains constant. I'm curious if this does relate to the world, if everyone thinks the same way or if people across the world have different ways of analyzing things.

DaveEggers

Dave Eggers was very nervous when he started his speech, which he pointed out, and was made obvious throughout the speech because he was shaking. That made me feel bad for him, because it has to be uncomfortable to be that nervous, and I don't want to be that nervous when I present. He also stated at the beginning what he would be talking about, which you should never do in a piece of writing or speech like this. But once he got into his speech, he could not stop! I could really tell how passionate he was about helping these kids, and it wasn't one certain quality to his speech that made it evident, but the way he talked, motioned, and he could go on and on about one certain thing because he cared so much. He was a story teller- he used storied about his family and friends, many different weird shops, including the superhero shop and time-traveler's 7-Eleven. Part of his presentation confused me because while I understood overall that his main idea was about tutoring kids and helping them in school, I did not get how these funky shops fit into the speech, though they were cool. He connected with the audience many times, through humor, personal stories, and he included a few statistics. This video connected to me because though I may not be the type of student he is talking about helping, students in general can be benefited if people in society step up to help, and that would improve education for these kids. That would also affect the world because if kids all over were getting the educational help they needed for school, there would be theoretically less crime rate, higher intelligence, and countless other benefits.

DanGilbert

Dan Gilbert focused his TED talk around the question "why are we so happy?" He jumped right into his speech talking about the brain and how it has developed over thousands of years to become bigger and much smarter than it used to be for our first ancestors. He went on to say that we many times believe that situations will have a bigger outcome than they actually do, for example, people might think that a person who wins a lottery will be much happier a year later than someone who lost a leg, but statistics show they are both equally happy. I became confused when he started talking about different situations, and synthetic happiness, and the "psychological immune system." I also did not like his presentation style because it seemed like he was giving a huge lecture, during which I personally tend to tune out. This video does connect to the world and me, though, because the science, surveys, and ideas he is talking about do not only apply to one person, they apply to everyone. People in general think that outcomes of situations will be different in how happy they will be depending on the situation, when in reality it is not as big of deal as they believe.

FrankWarren

Frank started his speech by introducing himself, to make a connection with the audience, and saying something that was confusing, but also introduced his idea; secrets. He went on to explain that he had a blog and collects postcards with secrets written on them. Then he shared a funny secret, a bittersweet, mysterious, and back to humorous, and so on. He does not seem like he is giving a rehearsed speech, more like he is talking so friends. He is so passionate and happy about what he is talking about, he makes you care about it too. What really stuck with me was his story about the people who kept voicemails from the people they love in case they die tomorrow. This Ted Talk impacts the world because Frank started a movement that created so many different outcomes- a website to find lost pictures, a guy proposing to his girlfriend, and so on. He touches so many lives, which makes this Ted Talk so successful- he makes others want to do what he does.

ClayShirky

I found this video very hard to understand. Clay talked about the idea that cognitive surplus will change the world, but he did not explain that well. He skipped around a lot with examples of LOL Cats and Ushahidi, the online site about Haiti, but these two did not make sense and he did not illustrate how they backed up his opinion. Clay mostly illustrated to me how not to explain yourself, especially with as complicated of an idea as he chose. His presentation style is a good style, he is not lecturing too hard, but he needs to put his theme into simpler words so people can fully grasp what he is saying. None of his video really related to me, but it related to the world through his examples of Ushahidi and LOL Cats.

SusanCain

Susan Cain talked about how introverts are very important to society and all the world, though extroverts are commonly "more valued." She was very conversational and started her speech with a personal story to connect with the audience. She used her hands when she talked, walked around the stage and brought in a briefcase to be her suitcase so as to not sit the entire time and become uninteresting. From this video, I can really remember her talking about how classrooms and workplaces are set up for extroverts- pods of desks and cubicles where you are forced to do group projects and interact with everyone around you. I also took away that there needs to be harmony between extroverts and introverts. No one is specifically one or the other, some people are even in the middle, but they need to help each other, and the world needs both to run smoothly and efficiently. Many of the worlds great leaders have been introverts- they can sit down and focus easily to create their ideas which benefits everyone and can change history. This connects to me personally because though I am mostly introverted, many of my close family and friends are not, so it is helpful for me to know they just think and respond to their environment in a different way than me.

Daniel Pink

Daniel Pink opens up his speech by telling a personal story about his experience in law school, how he did not do well in it, but how he was going to try to make his best case to the audience, or "jury" about his viewpoint on motivation. He uses a cartoon, the candle problem, to as an example that he references throughout his speech, and it is also a way to get the audience involved and thinking. He uses many facts or quotes from studies done in different countries and schools- unbiased, reliable information, but he also slides in a joke to keep the audience interested. Daniel does not keep his voice cool and calm, but flexes it- you can tell that he is passionate about what he is talking about. Though he doesn't seem to keep a conversational tone, he keeps the audience's attention. I took away from this video that though there may be a common, easy solution to things, you should stretch your mind to find unique ways to do things, and that the more we care about something, the more motivated we are to work harder to achieve it; money isn't going to boost performance in most situations. This relates to me because I am passionate about my sport, and I am willing to work hard to have a good outcome. In education, I think students are much more motivated to do homework and do well on tests in a subject that they care about rather than if their parents are just pushing them to do well.

SirKenRobinson

Sir Ken Robinson had a very realxed and comfortable speaking and presenting style. He made the audience feel comfortable and by using humor to connect to them and make them understand him on a personal level. When he told stories, he also used humor, but it was in a understandable, easy way- he did not try to make his speech glamorous by using fancy words, and he kept his whole speech conversational, like he was talking to a friend.
The topic Sir Robinson chose was one that was relatable and interesting. Everyone has gone through some type of education, and at some point was told that something they were doing was wrong, or they made a mistake, so the audience did not feel like he was talking about a huge issue beyond the grasp of an average person. But he aslo did not linger on the same thing the whole 20 minutes- he supported his views by incorporating stories about himself, people he had met, a ballet dancer, a child in an art class, and others so the audience did not get bored.

I think that Sir Ken Robinson had an amazing view on the education system, and I enjoyed hearing a different opinion about what could be improved so the future generations are successful. What stuck with me was the story about the ballet dancer. She was told that she had a learning disorder, but she just thought much better when she was moving, and she went on the be a mulit-millionare who loves her carreer. Today, a doctor would diagnose her with ADD or ADHD, when a kid may just be different from her peers. Sir Robinson was a very captivating speaker and succeeded in his speech.