TEDTalks - Video Events

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds.    The mission being "Spreading Ideas".

Since then its scope has become ever broader and we at DSBN would like to introduce you to the best of TED with TEDTalks. 

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker "ideas worth spreading," talks were released online. One of the compelling ideas behind TEDTalks is that an unknown speaker with a powerful idea can reach -- and move -- a global audience through the power of quality web video.  With 50 million views since it started two years ago, TEDTalks have become a powerful cultural force.

If you are interested in receiving free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, as well as being involved in a community of curious souls, then TED will certainly be a place where you can engage with ideas and each other.

TED is best thought of as a global community. It's a community welcoming people from every discipline and culture who have just two things in common: they seek a deeper understanding of the world, and they hope to turn that understanding into a better future for us all.

The following is just a selection of our favourite TEDTalks - some known, some unknown speakers - we found them inspiring, informative and fascinating...

Seth Godin is an entrepreneur and prolific business-book author who specializes in marketing in the digital age. 

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff.  Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones.   more

Amy Tan is the author of such beloved books as The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife and The Hundred Secret Senses. 

She digs deep into the creative process, looking for hints of how hers evolved revisiting her childhood, sharing her family history and delving into the worlds of physics and chance. It’s a wild ride with a surprise ending.  more

Clay Shirky, a prescient voice on the Internet’s effects, argues that emerging technologies enabling loose collaboration will change the way our society works. 

In this talk, Shirky shows how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles and fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning.   more

Richard Branson bootstrapped his way from record-shop owner to head of the Virgin empire. Now he's focusing his boundless energy on saving our environment.

In this talk he discusses the ups and the downs of his career, from his multibillionaire success to his multiple near-death experiences -- and reveals some of his (very surprising) motivations.   more

Sergey Brin and Larry Page co-founded Google in 1998, and redefined the way people use the web.

In this talk, they offer a peek inside the Google machine, sharing tidbits about international search patterns, the philanthropic Google Foundation, and the company's dedication to innovation and employee happiness.   more

Malcolm Gladwell is a deft lateral thinker, detective of fads and emerging subcultures and chronicler of jobs-you-never-knew-existed. 

Tipping Point author, Gladwell gets inside the food industry's pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce -- and makes a larger argument about the nature of choice and happiness.   more

Robin Chase founded Zipcar, the world’s biggest car-sharing business. That was one of her smaller ideas. With Zipcar, she turned the concept of car-sharing -- and carbon-saving while you're at it -- into a reality and even a full-blown trend.

In this talk, she travels much farther, contemplating road-pricing schemes that will shake up our driving habits and a mesh network vast as the Interstate.  more

Interested in learning more about TEDTalks, you can watch and listen to more inspiring video events here.