Ted Talks has been a nonprofit organization for
about three decades, and has increased in its popularity, due to the diversity
of speeches and studies that reflect on people, life, etc. What is really
interesting about this website is how these speeches bring strong messages,
whether they are categorized as courageous, jaw-dropping, or even hilarious.
Surprisingly, although some speeches’ subject matters are outrageous, the
speakers communicate their messages in a way that it effectively brings out
their opinions. The speeches I chose for this assignment were not necessarily
good or bad, but they were apparent to me.
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This
first Ted Talk is by Kate Hartman, with her speech about how humans communicate
and how they are related to everything else in the universe. In the beginning
of the presentation, Hartman introduces herself, followed by a long pause that
got me thinking that the speech seemed unappealing. However, she takes a unique
approach to her argument by adding humor, thus leaving pauses to allow
laughter. She knows her audience well enough, and designs her presentation in a
way that she gets the viewers to laugh at the right moments. Hartman portrays
an awkward person, but she uses this as an advantage to add emotion into the
speech. She is constantly moving and using hand gestures to get her point out,
and her clips productively back the overall presentation. Her facial
expressions also complement with her humor, which is something that is
difficult to do while standing in front of a large audience. It is very
important for the speakers to connect with all the audience, no matter where
they are sitting. She uses transitions; for example, after she showed her “inventions”
for communicating with people, she got to the topic about plants and glaciers
by saying “… digging beyond the built environment and into the natural world”
(Hartman). What I did not like about the presentation was how she said “in
closing” in order to explain the reason for her speech. It also felt as if she
went a little off topic when explaining about her obsession with glaciers. Overall,
it was a nine-minute fulfilling speech.
Some
speeches have personal feelings and stories that can deliver a message to not
just that person, but to a large group of people. The next speech I chose was “3
things I learned while my plane crashed” by Ric Elias. It is rare to have a
situation similar to Elias in which you see your life flash before your eyes.
Elias had many thoughts during the well-known plane crash in the Hudson River
in New York that he was in. He reaches out to the audience to never postpone your
experiences in life, since it could change in an instant. After watching this speech, you may
think how you may not have made the best choices or have not had the life you
wanted to live, but the most important thing is to be happy. This quote really
reflects our society, in which people strive to be perfect, whether it a
stressful job, college work, or speaking to others. Most of us build a wall of
negativity, which prevents us from accomplishments or from being proud of
ourselves. What I liked about this speech was how Elias explained what he
learned during the crash by how important and meaningful each explanation was
to him. His final lesson was the most emotional, in which he explains how
essential it is for him to be a good father. At that moment, my eyes were
building up tears, thinking about how I could be a better daughter, sister, or
friend, and I love how Elias allowed the viewers to think about their own life and how it relates to how he felt, even though we did not have the same accident as he did. He does his speech with a calm voice and light hand gestures to bring a careful tone. Although this subject
is a very serious matter, Elias manages to bring some humor in between.
This speech has changed him and, hopefully, other people who watch this.
(Credit to Ted Talks and speakers for videos and quotes)
