Click Your Fortune #2: If you gave a TED Talk... - John Werner

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Click Your Fortune is an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure style series that literally feeds questions from students to knowledgeable experts around the world. This intro video explains it all: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/click-your-fortune-episode-2

This episode features the professionals listed below answering dozens of questions submitted by students from all over the world. Got a burning question? A hero you'd like to see interviewed? A career you would like to see explored? Suggest and vote up ideas for future click your fortune videos here: https://community.ed.ted.com/teded/topics/suggest_questions_careers_and_people_for_the_next_click_your_fortune_episode

Adital Ela: Sustainability Designer
Sandra Aamodt: Neuroscientist; Author
John Werner: Leadership Team, Citizen Schools; Research Scientist, MIT
Alessandro Centrone: Vice President of Sales & Distribution, Steelcase Inc.

If you were to give a TED Talk (or if you already have), what ideas would you present?

So, my advice to the next generation

is find situations where you get to give a TED Talk.

It may not be an official TED Talk,

it may be at a TEDx,

it may be at another conference,

or it mayb e just an opportunity to give a talk,

and you should treat it as if it is a TED Talk.

And the way it's become so cheap, so easy

to do high-quality video,

not only is it easy to video,

but you can put it in this infrastructure called YouTube

and other people can see it

(the architecture of the Internet

allows for this video to move)

that when you give an awesome talk,

it's a way to put part of you out there.

And the process of preparing for a TED Talk,

I mean, it's like Mary Lou Retton

getting a perfect ten in the Olympics.

Now I'm dating myself,

but when I was little,

this little lady just ran as hard as she could

and went over a pole vault,

and it was just perfect.

And I think someone, Nadia Comaneci,

did the same thing the generation before,

but I don't remember that one,

I don't know if I was even alive.

But have a few situations where you do a ten

and share that with your network

and ask.

And in the process of preparing for your talk,

ask for advice.

Go to tons of different people.

Go to people who have different perspectives

and get their feedback.

And while part of the reason you want their feedback

is because you want to do a great talk,

another part is you're building a rapport.

You're building your board of advisors.

You're building your community.

And by telling people what your talk's about,

it also helps you shape yourself

and kind of determine what's important to you.

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