Imagine bringing some of the world’s greatest talkers and thinkers in a conference and challenging them to give the best talk of their life, on whatever they want to talk about. Wouldn’t that be an amazing event?
And if someone videoed all of the talks and put them on a website, what a great resource that would be.
If you agree, you’d better take a look at the TED website. TED, which stands for Technology Entertainment and Design, is an annual conference that was first held in in 1984 bringing together thinkers in these three areas. Since then the variety of subjects covered in the conference has mushroomed and eminent thinkers from a whole gamut of disciplines are now invited to talk each year.
The talks are are available on the TED website and are a real feast. They are concise, informative and inspiring but also generally entertaining – the speakers are giving the talks of their lives remember. More often than not they are also very profound and give a real insight into the thinking of some of the greatest thinkers in the world.
Some science highlights include:
- Richard Dawkins on Militant Atheism
- Robert Full on Engineering and Evolution
- James Watson on How He Discovered DNA
- David Bolinsky Animates a Cell
- Paul Rothemund details DNA folding
…and many more in the science section.
But it’s not just science. Some more great talks include:
- David S. Rose on Pitching to VC’s
- Dean Kamen on Inventing and Giving
- Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child
- David Kelley on Human-Centered Design
- Patrick Awuah on Educating Leaders
As well as a feast of entertainment and information this is a great opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest presenters speaking and maybe pick up some tips!
Let us know what you think of TED in the comments section.
