5 Must Watch TED Talks For Students

Learning from other people’s experiences is probably one of the only shortcuts in life. And there may not be a better platform than TED Talks to learn from other people’s experiences. Experience is a perfect amalgamation of successes as well as failures. And when we learn from the successes and failures of others’ lives, we not only get a headstart for our own success, but we also tend to avoid obvious mistakes that can cost us valuable time. 

And if you’re a college student, then there’s no better source than TED Talks to gain extensive and valuable knowledge on an array of topics.

To make a small contribution to your knowledge base, we’ve compiled a list of 5 TED Talks you should watch as a college student.

1. Julian Treasure: How To Speak So That People Want To Listen

Julian Treasure, a successful researcher, and consultant says that the most powerful instrument in the world is the human voice. But speaking in a way that makes an impact is not easy, Treasure explains. 

There are four key foundational elements to consider if we want our speech to drive change.

In his talk, Treasure emphasizes the four important constituents of an effective speech: honesty, authenticity, integrity, and love (HAIL). These four elements can help individuals have conversations in ways that are valuable as well as thoughtful. “You have an incredible toolbox. It is priceless, and yet, only a small number of people have opened it.” Besides the HAIL strategy, Treasure believes that people are more aware of how you use your tonality and not only of the words you use. Using a low-pitched tonality makes you sound more authoritative and confident.

2. Tim Urban: Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator

Tim Urban, a renowned blogger, elaborates on what goes on in the mind of a procrastinator and how delay until the eleventh hour leaves a large number of people feeling frustrated. He says that procrastinators and non-procrastinators each have a logical decision-maker in their brains. It’s just that procrastinators become overwhelmed by the instant-gratification monkey, an emotion that wants to indulge in instant fun activities over rational ones. In a nutshell, he says that both instant gratification and pragmatic decision-making are required at just the right time. According to Urban, everyone procrastinates, but deadline-driven procrastination differs from situational procrastination, such as waiting to start a business. In the absence of a real deadline, the panic monster is also absent to give an additional push – which is the actual source of a procrastinator’s frustration.

3. Matt Cutts: Try Something New For 30 Days

Matt Cutts, a software engineer by profession explains in his TED Talk how you can make your monotonous routine lively and exciting. Cutts was exhausted and worn out due to his repetitive and mundane routine, so he decided to do something about it. He took the challenge of pursuing something new for 30 days as his prime goal was to add some spice to his routine life. In this TED Talk, he explains that if you are a chemistry student, go for something totally unrelated, for example, a cooking class. This will add a new skill set to your arsenal and provide you with a healthy break from your tedious schedule at the same time. You’ll be rewarded with new expertise as well as you’ll cultivate a new habit. All it takes is 30 days, on average, to build a new habit. So, if you’ve decided to meditate regularly, show up consistently for the next 30 days and you’ll be rewarded with the habit.

4. Angela Lee Duckworth: The Key to Success? Grit

Angela Lee Duckworth, a psychologist, and author explains the importance of something that is crucial to success. Money, looks, and brains can provide you with a great edge in your life, but none of these things is the bedrock for super success. In this TED Talk, Duckworth describes what it truly takes to attain peak performance: grit. Duckworth refers to “grit” as the passion and sustained perseverance applied towards a long-term goal with no specific concerns about the reward. Grit does not guarantee success, but it ensures that individuals are able to motivate themselves towards their goals regardless of how much resistance they might face while accomplishing their goals. Having a growth mindset is the most important component to building grit, Angela adds.

5. Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts

Susan Cain, an acclaimed author, writer, and speaker talk about how introverts are a blessing to the world. She also stresses how they bring unique skills and capacities to the world and how they ought to be supported and recognized. Susan Cain puts forth a case for the calm and contemplative. Cain says,

With regards to innovation and leadership, we want introverts to do what they do the best.

However, they can only do so when placed in the “zone of stimulation” that is ideal for them. Introversion is an undervalued attribute that is typically neglected in the extroverted world. In her TED talk, she makes the audience understand how extroverted styles of thought in the working environment and in schools are surpassing our organizations and stifling the creative thinking of several introverts. Cain’s focal theme is that introverted people should maintain their abilities to think creatively and conceptualize in their own quiet manners without succumbing to socially acknowledged extroverted techniques.

Listening to the above-listed TED Talks can help you significantly in developing the skill-sets that you’ll require to become successful either in high school or college. TED Talks can guide you on how to comprehend new or difficult information, which is an ability that will come to fruition almost immediately. Listening to people that are experts in their respective realms can also help you become an expert in your own field or in the field that you wish to pursue.

Moreover, the strategies in TED Talks can give you leverage in terms of how to think, act, and handle situations in a mature manner. This ability will be essential for you in college and will assist you in enhancing your curricular and extracurricular experiences.

Share this blog with your college friends and let them know how they can improve exponentially by merely spending a few minutes listening to TED Talks.