Are You Listening to TED?

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Do you know TED? Have you heard the name? No, this is not a reference to the United airline, or my crazy uncle. This TED is devoted to technology, entertainment and design. TED promotes ideas worth spreading. And I am addicted.

I once did something foolish. I asked my boss if I could go to TED as it seemed like such a cool place to be, full of amazing people and knowledge. I got laughed at. When I looked into it, I understood.

TED sells out instantly every year. In fact, getting a ticket to TED is on a par with finding backstage passes to a joint U2 and Rolling Stones concert. This is a place where the brightest minds on the planet congregate to share new ideas and findings. A spare ticket for TED went on sale recently, on eBay, and the price was still rising after $33,000! Make no mistake, this is the place to be if you’re interested in where we’re going as a society.

The speakers at TED, well, they read like a Who’s-Who of the most fantastic and talented minds on the planet. Scientists, artists, musicians, philosophers, researchers, mathematicians, economists, designers, you name it, if they’re worth listening to they will be speaking at TED.

And the people lucky enough to attend TED, well they’re first in line to see the latest inventions and ideas from that melting pot of pure genius.

But here’s the kicker. You can see it all online for FREE. And I mean really free, not a free trial or an illegal download. This is all on the house.

It seems absurd that there is no price for watching the lectures and videos online, but there isn’t. These “ideas worth spreading” come from a non-profit organization. They believe in the power of great ideas to advance us all as a race. And that means they want us all to benefit from this collective knowledge. Last time I checked, there were videos from over 563 speakers at TED.com. Some speakers have several lectures to their name. That equates to hundreds of hours of mind-expanding information.

And it’s the reason it should be at the top of your list of bookmarked sites. It’s also the reason you should visit this site every day for inspiration and education. The average speaker talks for around 20 minutes. Can you spare 20 minutes to expand your mind and learn something new? Maybe over lunch, or after work? I think you can.

I have listed a few of my favorite talks below. As I have said, there are hundreds and hundreds to choose from, so this is really just a scratch on the surface of the greatness that awaits you. But please, check these out and if you aren’t inspired, well, I’m not sure what it would take to inspire you. But you may also want to check out TED’s top 10 talks of the past few years. Enjoy.

Are We In Control Of Our Own Decisions? By Dan Ariely

A Story Of Spaghetti Sauce. By Malcolm Gladwell

Sliced Bread and Standing Out. By Seth Godin

The Surprising Science of Motivation. By Dan Pink

Hacking Your Brain With Music. By Bobby McFerrin