Why TED talks are so good

I've listened to a few TED talks that were just fascinating.

I like Jonathan Drori's talk on Why we don't understand as much as we think, where he makes the point that you have to be careful what goes into our brains, because it is almost impossible to change our first mental models. I don't know if there is a better reason for homeschooling.

Both Janine and I have listened to Sir Ken Robinson talk several times about how schools kill creativity.

Today I learned one of the reasons why TED talks are amazing. Tim Longhurst reveals The TED Commandments - rules every speaker needs to know. The TED organizers send a stone tablet with the rules:

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1) Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
2) Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
3) Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
4) Thou Shalt Tell a Story
5) Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Skae of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
6) Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
7) Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desparate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
8) Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
9) Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
10) Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee
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Think what that does to a speaker, to get a stone tablet with the above rules!

(Hat tip: Hacker News)


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