11 TED Talks That Are Sure to Change Your Life

TED Talks are inspirational talks made by well-respected and highly revered individuals that come from all walks of life.

TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design), is a non-profit organization that promotes ideas that are worth spreading.

They are very well known for the profound lectures they have produced.

The talks are some of the most inspirational lectures that have been watched by millions of people from around the world. Some of the speakers have expressed incredibly encouraging and thought provoking talks.

Below you will find 11 TED talks that are sure to change your life and offer a new perspective.

1. Randy Pausch‘s lecture on “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” – This TED talk was watched by millions of people. Randy Pausch was a highly motivating professor at Carnegie Mellon. His lecture, also entitled “The Last Lecture”, because Randy was dying of pancreatic cancer and his lecture was a refreshingly positive and upbeat despite his limited life expectancy. He spread the words that gave people permission to dream.
2. Tom Wujec: Build a Tower, Build a Team – Tom Wujec is an innovative thinker who works for Autodesk. His talk is about the “marshmallow problem. This is an experiment that has a group of people construct a structure using dry spaghetti, one yard of tape and a marshmallow. The peak performers will surprise you.
3. Howard Rheingold: The New Power of Collaboration – Howard is a digital community builder that talks about how humans are naturally designed to work together. He provides inspirational information about how people have the capacity to create great things.
4. Steven Johnson: Where Good Ideas Come From – Steven Johnson chronicles how great thinkers come up with innovative ideas that many people discount at the beginning. He examines the popular phenomenon of cultures rejecting new ideas, and shows how this is exactly the opposite of the truth.
5. Deborah Gordon: The Emergent Genius of Ant Colonies – Deborah is a student of organizational development. Her TED talk is examines the complex system of ant colonies and the evolution of behavior and how that affects organization.
6. Rachael Botsman: The Case for Collaborative Consumption – Rachael discusses how sharing and consumerism can change the way we live. Her talk touches on how the social sharing and networking will have a big impact on how we do business in the future.
7. Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts – This talk helps people look at introverts in a new light. Susan examines the contributions that many introverts have made. She shows how the recognition is not always there, but introverts have been behind many innovative businesses.
8. Steven Pinker: What our Language Habits Reveal –Steven explains how language can make a profound impact on outcomes in a company. Steven Pinker is an experimental linguistic psychologist and a Harvard professor.
9. Jason Fried: Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work – Jason talks about how work environments can actually detract people from being productive. Work environment can be changed to heighten an employee’s productiveness.
10. Baba Shiv: Sometimes it’s Good to Give up the Driver’s Seat – Baba Shiv explores the concept of being the boss, and how too many choices can actually hinder a person’s ability to succeed. He talks about empowering others to take charge can sometimes have a better benefit.
11. Clay Shirky: Institutions vs. Collaborations – It is is clear that this innovative thinker was right on target in his talk about how business is evolving and how changes will bring about fluidity in collaborations. He offers some great advice that is relevant today.