Sometimes, a TED Talk is all you need. It sounds like a broad statement, but TED Talks truly contain some of the most helpful and insightful advice you can receive. You find new ways to approach problems, greater appreciation for the little things in life, and lots of great advice for your daily habits and hobbies.
Below are five popular TED Talks that I absolutely recommend watching! Each of them provides a unique take on some part of your educational or personal journey, and I highly suggest choosing a few or all of them to watch in your spare time! They are perfect for a long car ride or something to keep you busy during a walk in the park.
"How to Get Your Brain to Focus" by Chris Bailey
This TED Talk is the perfect way to learn how to increase your attention span, improve your studying abilities, and even just learn how to work faster and more efficiently! It is also a great analysis of how technology and the constant presence of screens have impacted our daily lives.
Bailey is also a great speaker and his presentation is super engaging and relatable! This TED Talk is quick and can be helpful to you in a number of ways, not just in school!
"Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator" by Tim Urban
This is a classic TED Talk! You maybe watched it before in school, as it is a popular presentation. However, this remains ones of my favorite TED Talks as it perfectly explains the power of procrastination in an understandable way. Once you see how procrastination really affects you as an individual, you can find your way to preventing it, step-by-step.
Urban is also a humorous and thoughtful speaker who provides some great insight into how procrastination can affects many people, including himself. I highly recommend this if you are looking for ways to improve your productivity and learn good habits for getting things done before you get too close to a due date!
"How to Speak So That People Will Want to Listen" by Julian Treasure
In this presentation, you'll get a great look into how we can become better speakers and writers through just a few simple tips. Not only does Treasure show how we can use different aspects of speaking (like tone, vocabulary, body language, etc.) to effectively communicate, but he also provides small tricks on how to convey your thoughts to your audience.
Treasure's presentation is an excellent video for anyone who is looking to improve their persuasive and/or public speaking skills! Whether you're planning to lead a school club one day, share your idea for a new piece of technology, or become an executive at a major company, your'll find the tips in this video to be very helpful!
"Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Lee Duckworth
This TED Talk was incredible in helping me understand how hard work and determination are ultimately the most valuable characteristics in achieving success in school and in the long run. Duckworth provides thoughtful insights that truly help emphasize how anyone's dreams or hopes can be achieved with grit. Essentially, if you're willing to put the work in, you can do it.
This is a fairly short talk and a great way to just learn more about how to be a more effective student and member of your community.
"The Power of Vulnerability" by Brené Brown
In our final TED Talk of this post, I'd like to highly Brown's presentation on what it means to be vulnerable, and how that can actually be beneficial to us. Brown shows us the value in taking steps out side of our comfort zone, and how this can actually lead to more thoughtful experiences. The great thing about this TED Talk is how it can apply to multiple facets of our lives, and its relevance no matter where you may be or what you are doing.
Brown is also the author of several different novels of various topics in communication, human nature, psychology, and more. You can check out some of her books in our UCL Library catalog, here!
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