How Do You See the Glass?

               

Think of the best gift you could ever receive. For some people it would be material items, and for others it could be love or kindness given to them. The answer to this question for most people was something that would change people’s lives for the better; items or emotions that most people view positively. However, most people don’t ever consider that terrifying events that your experience could end up being the best gift you ever receive. For Stacey Kramer, the best gift she has ever received was a brain tumor. Sounds ridiculous right? Once she had been cured of her illness, she looked back on that time and realized that in fact a brain tumor was the single best present she could have ever obtained. Due to her tumor, she was able to reconnect with her family and friends, re-evaluate her faith and beliefs, recalibrate what matters to her in life, and experience many more things. All of these amazing experiences resulted from a life threatening medical issue. For many of us, we would never imagine that a brain tumor would be the ultimate gift. This does not mean that everyone in the world needs to have a brain tumor to understand this concept. Instead people should take the unwanted and unfortunate events in their life and look for the positive results that could emanate from them.

                Stacey Kramer’s remarkable story is an effective technique in and of itself. However, she does not just use her amazing story as her only technique. When she begins her TED talk, she asks the audience to imagine the ultimate gift. Then she describes what the ultimate gift to her is. Kramer makes this gift sound amazing and life changing. She makes it sound so fantastic she could probably sell it to every person in the world before even telling them what it is. Then about a minute before the end of her speech, she explains to them what the present is. She leaves her audience astonished that something as awful as a brain tumor could have ended up bringing such joy to her life. This is her most effective technique. The ability to surprise and wow her listeners leaves a lasting impression on all of them.

                Kramer’s presentation is under six minutes and therefore her presentation style is very basic. She uses a power point with about ten slides showing pictures of what she is talking about. After she shows the slide, she then elaborates on them. She connects with her audience through personal stories and also uses a little bit of light hearted humor. Her presentation style is not the most important aspect of her presentation because of the intensity of her message. However, she still does an excellent job presenting in a calm and friendly manner which helps prove her points.

                I think that what matters in this TED talk goes back to a question about your perspective on life. The question is: Do you see the glass half empty or half full? Now in both situations, the issue is still the same. The glass is only half way full or empty whichever you prefer. But the importance of this is to see how you view difficult times in your life. Just because an event seems negative at first glance, does not mean that it does not have positive aspects just beneath the surface. Take education for example. If a student receives an F on their first project, they are very discouraged. Most kids will not take that opportunity to see what they can learn from it and improve on the next time. If the world could learn to see things in a more positive light, then everyone would benefit. Sometimes bad events need to happen in order for you to appreciate the great things in life. The most important lessons in this TED talk are as follows, appreciate the small things in life, take a minute to look at the other side of every situation, and never let the negative shadow of night keep you from seeing the beauty that is seen during the day. Next time you face a rough time in your life, I challenge you to look at the glass half full before you look at it half empty.

Got Sleep? Arianna Huffington Does!

               

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? How many times have you heard someone say that about a cranky person? Clearly getting up on the wrong side of the bed is not what actually causes the problem. For most people having a bad day starts before they even get out of bed. It starts with the amount of sleep they get each night. In December 2010, Arianna Huffington gave a TED talk explaining the importance of sleep. Sleep in her opinion gives us all the energy we need for the day and also allows us to clear our minds at night. Sleep deprivation is a serious issue that causes lack of focus and puts people at a greater risk of accidents because they are less alert. Yet in our society today many people are proud of the lack of sleep they get. They think that the more time they allow themselves in the day the more they get accomplished. Contrary to what they believe, depriving themselves of sleep will only make them less productive. In today’s society, everyone needs to re-evaluate the amount of sleep they actually need in order to complete their daily tasks to the best of their ability.

                Arianna Huffington uses a combination of two powerful techniques to conduct her TED talk. Her first important technique is her humor. In the four minutes she is on stage, she has her audience laughing the entire time. Although her topic sounds ridiculous, she proves her main idea by appealing to the listener’s sense of logic. This is her second useful technique. By putting both of these useful techniques together, her audience follows her train of thought more easily and also agrees with her ideas. She relates her topic to her personally and also to people in the world which helps her audience understand what she is saying and also apply it to their lives personally. By effectively utilizing these techniques, Huffington is able to convince her audience that what she says is right in just the short time period of four minutes.

                Huffington’s presentation style was basically the same as every other TED talk I have watched. She did not use any slides or charts or videos to illustrate her points, she just talked and explained what she wanted her audience to take away from her performance. Her TED talk was extremely short and it is the first short video I have watched. Due to this aspect of her speech, she was forced to make her points very quickly and not beat around the bush for a long period of time. I actually liked this more because then she could only tell a few stories and she did not get repetitive throughout her talk. Personally, I thought that her presentation was the best one I have seen because of all these aspects of her presentation style.

                I think that there is one simple and obvious answer to the question what matters in this video. Sleep matters. Sleep is the basis of our energy and productivity each day. Without the appropriate amount of sleep, people are more likely to make bad decisions because they cannot fully comprehend the tasks that they are assigned to do. Therefore, I think that society needs to allow everyone, adults included, the availability to get more sleep during the night. Even though some work time will be lost during the day, during the time that people are awake, they will be more efficient which will actually save time in the long run. Also if people were allowed more time to sleep in general, they might be happier and more pleasant to be around which would result in a more peaceful and productive workplace. As for education, high school students are always the most tired in the mornings. So therefore it makes no sense that high school students have the earliest schedule. Students would be more attentive and interested in their own learning if they were not tired when they went to school. They would also understand new information more easily if they were not half asleep when they learned it. If students were allowed a later start for school, then in the future, the world would greatly benefit.

Inspiration: The Key to Success (Dave Eggers)

  

             

What if every day after school you were excited to do your homework? You would race over to your tutors in order to get a jump start on your homework for that day! Sounds ridiculous right? However, in many places across America, tutors for kids of all ages are achieving this. In a TED talk given by Dave Eggers talks about a new form of tutoring for kids. What started as a way for kids who are struggling in school to get more one on one contact has resulted in students getting animated about their education! Places such as, Brooklyn Superhero Supply, Studio St. Louis, The Echo Park, Youth Speak, Ink Spot, Word Street, and many more are all are helping kids take an active role in their education. The key to their success is convincing kids that people care about what the students have to say. When students believe this idea, they take more pride in what they do and put more effort into their work. Teachers, parents, and students should all work to encourage their students and classmates to take a more active role in their education in order to have a brighter future.

               

                Dave Eggers is a funny man who is not accustomed to public speaking. Although he frequently gets his words jumbled when he speaks, he makes jokes about his screw ups and then that the pressure off him. His humor and kindness leave an impression on the audience that helps him prove his points. His entire presentation is a compilation of stories that explains his main ideas. This is arguably his most effective technique because it illustrates a picture for his audience about his main points. The combination of Dave Eggers multiple techniques allow him to clearly and interestingly present his concepts.

                Dave Eggers remains true to what many people do with their TED talks. He utilizes a combination of speaking with a power point presentation to portray his ideas. He provides funny pictures of the tutoring studios he talks about and also pictures of the kids he helps. Although his presentation is very generic, he does do one very unique thing. Towards the end of his presentation, he presents the audience with something he calls a TED wish. His wish is for people to go out and take what they have learned from him and implement it into the world in their own new and creative ways. I think that this is probably the coolest thing that I have seen come from any of the TED talks. By creating this challenge for his listeners, he is making a significant impact on the world.

                Inspiration is the key to success in the future. Although Dave Eggers does not specifically say this, I believe that this is his underlying message. By inspiring students to push themselves to do better, he is creating a better future for everyone. Inspiration is the result of motivation. When students, and me personally, are motivated to try harder, they often surpass people’s expectations. I think that when a teacher challenges me to push myself on a project, I do because I want to wow them or because I want to be better than everyone else. Inspiration will change the world because of this. In my opinion students all over the world need to be more competitive. If they were inspired to do better than their best each student would be more creative and successful in school. If Dave Eggers could convince people everywhere around the world of his ideas, then the world would increase at a much more rapid pace and be better off in the future.