MONDAY BYTES – March 5, 2012
TED talks — the fascinating and provocative online presentations by the world’s leading designers, scientists, artists, and educators — have been a terrific source of inspiration for me and for people I work with.
One of the reasons TED talks are so consistently terrific (beyond who’s speaking) is that these speakers are given strict time limits and strict rules for their presentations. In fact, speakers are mailed a marble tablet inscribed with the following “TED Commandments”:
- Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
- Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
- Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
- Thou Shalt Tell a Story
- Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
- Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
- Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
- Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
- Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
- Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee
How great would it be if all of us followed these guidelines in our own daily work! Not just for any speaking engagement, workshop, or classroom teaching that we may do, but also in individual meetings and networking conversations—our everyday interactions. These commandments in effect tell us to wake up and be present: to get out of the egocentric “auto-pilot” that we can easily fall into!
Challenge for the week: Can you be fully present and available at your next meeting, in your next interpersonal exchange? Can you focus on the needs of others and less on yourself? Experiment this week and see how you can trigger more of this behavior throughout each day.
As always, I’m interested in your feedback and would love to hear what you come up with!
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Dream big, Plan smart, Live well!
