I can change your mind in 15 minutes.

However, I only have 5 with this TEDTalk,

so it's going to be a little difficult
to do that here.

I want to tell you about a time
when I took a 100 minds

in a quarter of an hour 
and changed them.

Take a look at this wordle.

What country comes to mind?

These are the answers 
that we got from students

when we pulled them 
right before showing them

the short documentary we filmed.

If you thought Afghanistan,
I know you didn't see the words

but you're right.

The two main words in that wordle
are "Dangerous" and "Hostile."

Who said to you, 
that those words describe that country?

If you haven't been there and you 
haven't experienced it for yourself,

somebody else has already 
made up your mind for you.

My buddies have come to Miami to visit
and told me about the work they did.

At one point, I had this little story 
pop in my head that said,

"Hey, you should go to Afghanistan,
and you should tell a story

about the humanitarian work
that they do over there

and how it effects the lives 
of the Afghan people."

However, when they came to my house, 
they just told me about it,

and it never really impacted me 
and never really changed

the way I felt about Afghanistan.

My take away from that is that

if you want to change someone else's mind

you have to have
your own mind changed first.

And that requires vision.

Jonathan Swift said that

"Vision is the art of seeing 
what is invisible to others."

And that was exactly what
that little voice was doing in my head.

It was starting to create 
this little vision in my head.

Unfortunately, I spent the next 
month and a half trying

to come up with every excuse in the book

why I should not go to Afghanistan.

Six months later, I find myself
preparing to go to Kabul.

In spite of all that preparation, 
in spite of all that planning,

I overlooked the most important thing.

All I wanted to do was to tell a story.
That's it!

Just hand the film over and say,

"Here you go!"

What I never thought about was

how that film was going 
to impact the lives

and minds of the people that 
were going to watch it.

Now, vision is important, 
but it's a far cry from crafting

a story that will change anybody's mind.

Steve Jobs said that:

"If you don't have passion, any rational
person is just going to give up."

That passion will do more 
for you than fuel your vision.

It will get you through the obstacles
that you are inevitably going to face.

It's also going to silence the naysayers
that you're bound to run into.

But most importantly, passion is going to
let you craft a story that's worth sharing

My story starts half way around the world
at 8,000ft elevation,

kneeling in the middle of a snow-covered
airstrip at 25 below 0,

with a plane racing at me, going to 
pass about 4 ft over my head.

Now for some of you, that may sound
like a nightmare,

but for me, hands down, 
it's the best day at work ever.

My favorite definition of an artist is:
"Someone who refreshes your vision."

Vision is great, and passion is essential.

But it takes more
than just having an idea.

You need some kind of force that 
translates that idea into action.

Passion can do that to or for you 
but you need to work on it .

You need to get your idea out.
You need to get your idea to life.

Gary Vaynerchuck tweeted the other day,

that said: 
"All ideas are great and even good,

but you have actually execute 
on them, for them to matter."

The Afghans have a saying that says,

"Your aspirations are in heaven,

but your brains are in your feet,"

In other words,

"Take your head out of the clouds,
get off your butt and get going."

In order to change minds, 
you need a story that

you breathe life into or aspire into,

before it can change the minds of,
or inspire your listeners.

About a year later, we were back into 
an auditorium full of students

that have just finished 
watching "On Wings of Hope."

And here's where I get surprised.

You've all heard stories 
that give you goosebumps,

or you've seen a movie 
that's made your cry.

But I have never had 
any kind of measurement

on how my art has 
changed anyone's mind.

Remember the wordle that you're going
to see now for the first time?

These are the answers that the kids had
before they watched the movie,

before they saw the film.

Now imagine, 50 minutes are over.

They're done, and the movies is finished.
We asked the same question.

What do you think about
when you hear Afghanistan?

And here's where I get surprised.

"Dangerous" and "Hostile" transform
into "Poor" and "Difficult."

If you want to master 
the art of changing minds,

follow your vision.

It will transform 
the way you tell stories.

Fuel your passion.

It will refresh the way 
that you share reality.

And act on your ideas.

Aspire your stories to inspire.

A passionate story 
that's told from your heart

can change a thousand minds forever.

And that's the art of changing minds.

(Applause)