Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms
In this talk from RSA Animate, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools’ dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. An important, timely talk for parents and teachers.
.
Richard St. John: 8 secrets of success
Why do people succeed? Is it because they’re smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.
.
Matthieu Ricard: The habits of happiness
What is happiness, and how can we all get some? Biochemist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard says we can train our minds in habits of well-being, to generate a true sense of serenity and fulfillment.
.
Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure — and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
.
Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action
Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers …
.
Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex
Economics writer Tim Harford studies complex systems — and finds a surprising link among the successful ones: they were built through trial and error. In this sparkling talk from TEDGlobal 2011, he asks us to embrace our randomness and start making better mistakes.
.
Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do
Tony Robbins discusses the “invisible forces” that motivate everyone’s actions. (An oldie but a goody…)
.
Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work
Work-life balance, says Nigel Marsh, is too important to be left in the hands of your employer. At TEDxSydney, Marsh lays out an ideal day balanced between family time, personal time and productivity — and offers some stirring encouragement to make it happen.
.
Noreena Hertz: How to use experts — and when not to
We make important decisions every day — and we often rely on experts to help us decide. But, says economist Noreena Hertz, relying too much on experts can be limiting and even dangerous. She calls for us to start democratizing expertise — to listen not only to “surgeons and CEOs, but also to shop staff.”
.
Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy
Local politics — schools, zoning, council elections — hit us where we live. So why don’t more of us actually get involved? Is it apathy? Dave Meslin says no. He identifies 7 barriers that keep us from taking part in our communities, even when we truly care. (and Dave is a local boy from Toronto…) 
.
Sheena Iyengar: The art of choosing
Sheena Iyengar studies how we make choices — and how we feel about the choices we make. At TEDGlobal, she talks about both trivial choices (Coke v. Pepsi) and profound ones, and shares her groundbreaking research that has uncovered some surprising attitudes about our decisions.
.
Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability
Brene Brown studies human connection — our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk at TEDxHouston, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. A talk to share.
.
Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong
Most of us will do anything to avoid being wrong. But what if we’re wrong about that? “Wrongologist” Kathryn Schulz makes a compelling case for not just admitting but embracing our fallibility.
.
Srikumar Rao: Plug into your hard-wired happiness (Part 1)
Srikumar Rao says we spend most of our lives learning to be unhappy, even as we strive for happiness. At Arbejdsglaede Live! 2009, he teaches us how to break free of the “I’d be happy if …” mental model, and embrace our hard-wired happiness.
Srikumar Rao: Plug into your hard-wired happiness (Part 2)
.
Daniel Pink: Drive – The surprising truth about what motivates us
This lively RSAnimate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.
.
Dan Gilbert: What makes people happy (Part 1)
Are we miserable if we don’t get what we want?
Dan Gilbert explores this question and many more to discover scientific truths around happiness.
What makes people happy (Part 2)
.
Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.
.
Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling
Ron Gutman reviews a raft of studies about smiling, and reveals some surprising results.
Did you know your smile can be a predictor of how long you’ll live — and that a simple smile has a measurable effect on your overall well-being?
Prepare to flex a few facial muscles as you learn more about this evolutionarily contagious behavior.
.
Jill Bolte Taylor: How it feels to have a stroke
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.
.
Gregg Braden: Curing Cancer using our own Technology of Emotion
Gregg Braden presents a video showing cancer being cured in less than 3 minutes using the language of emotion.
Using the technology of emotion that’s inside all of us and mirror that expection to the field that’s all around us. You must feel the feeling as if it has already happened.
This clip is from a presentation called “Language of the Divine Matrix” recorded in Italy, May 30th 2007.