How do they hook you?

2/10/2014

Find a TedTalks seminar that speaks to you. Provide specifics on interesting points made within the performance. Name two rhetorical strategies the presenter uses to engage his/her audience and explain their effectiveness.

With regard to peer comments, you should each watch another presentation and comment on the same, adding one additional rhetorical strategy you noticed in the presentation.

78 Comments

Kayla B

2/10/2014 06:25:25 am

The Ted Talk that I chose (http://new.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are) really hit home with me. I've always thought that body language made a huge difference in my impressions of others and likewise their impressions of me. Amy Cuddy artfully proved my theory correct. She talked about how when we win something, or when we're in a position of power, we make our selves bigger; whether it be by stretching out our arms or widening our stance through our legs. Or how women feel chronically less powerful than men so they will make themselves smaller by closing their arms around them, or hold their head up with their hands. Within her performance she uses an array of visuals-photos and videos-to keep the interest and attention of the audience. Also, she used her body to demonstrate the posture or poses she was speaking of, likewise keeping her audience engaged and intrigued. Overall, her message was trying to teach us to use our body language effectively depending on the situation we are in. If you want to be powerful, make yourself larger; if you want to blend in, make yourself smaller. Body language shapes who you are.

Taylor Saja

2/10/2014 11:23:24 am

Kayla, great response! The way she used her own body language throughout the seminar really did keep the audience engaged. Cuddy also kept the audience involved, right from the start, she told them to change their posture, this brought immediate attention to the main idea of what she was trying to get across, how body language affects how others see us.

Colleen I

2/11/2014 07:29:21 am

Kayla, I watched the same seminar as you and I totally agree how she used her own body language to effectively keep us engage. However, I thought that in the beginning, the way she opens up her topic to us really made me want to watch more. She openly interacted with the audience which in turn, made me wonder why is she bringing this topic of the way we were sitting up. Overall I could not agree with your response more. :)

Dilsara Liyanage

2/11/2014 03:41:36 pm

Kayla I watched this seminar because the topic of it interested me. I must say I loved how she used her own body language to keep the audience interested. What really kept me interested was the fact that she interacted with the audience as much as she did right from the start. It helped me understand what the main idea that she was trying to give was.

Taylor Saja

2/10/2014 08:21:42 am

The TedTalks seminar that I chose to watch was titled "Nancy Lublin: Texting that saves lives.” (http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_lublin_texting_that_saves_lives.html) This initially grabbed my attention because usually, when texting in involved, so is driving and the loss of lives, not how they are saved. During the seminar, the presenter used strategies to engage the audience. Logos, logic or reasoning is used when the speaker gave statistics and proven facts about texting, for example, sent text messages have a 100% rate of being opened, regardless if they are answered or not, they do in fact get opened. She also gave information how many text messages teenagers send a month, and in comparison to e-mail, texting is much more efficient. Pathos was most successfully used in this seminar to engage the audience, which refers emotional appeal. Towards the end of the seminar, Lublin explained how she set up a text-only crisis line so teens in difficult situations could deliver their issue safely and quietly. She gave examples how one teenage girl was being raped every single day, she did not know what to do or who to go to, since the rapist was her father. This girl was sexually abused and tormented for a very long time since she had no way to seek help; this makes the audience feel sympathy and remote for the victim. Ultimately, Lublin’s seminar showed how although texting may act as a personal barrier when it comes to direct communication, it could also save lives and get people out of harm’s way.

Hannah B

2/10/2014 09:48:05 am

Taylor great response! I watched the seminar video and I heard of this hotline already, but I noticed during her presentation she used diction as a rhetorical strategy. She used words like "rape" "fag*ot" "sh*t" to further her purpose that there should be something done about teens not knowing where to go for help when they need it. Using specific words of diction allowed her to convey her tone to the audience and it definitely caught my attention!

Becky G

2/11/2014 09:46:34 am

Taylor, I completely agree with your response. I too was very surprised when I followed your link and it informed me of a Texting Hotline. I honestly think this is a great idea, because some people are too shy to talk on the phone, especially to a stranger, about their problems. Texting would be a great alternative for those who are too nervous or can't talk on the phone. I noticed throughout her presentation that she used Pathos in the seminar. She is talking about kids who are in need of someone to talk to, who may be upset and need some input. Everyone can relate to this because everyone has been in a situation that they were upset or uncomfortable and really needed someone to talk to. Now, this is possible, thanks to the Texting Hotline.

Megan V

2/12/2014 07:12:32 am

Taylor, i agree with your response. I was shocked to hear that texting saves lives and i was curious to see how. When i started to watch, Nancy says "It might be able to save more lives than penicillin." This first opinion surprised me and caught my attention. This video was very interesting and was an awesome video because she used pathos in order to appeal to the audience using emotions. This texting hotline that is now out is a really good idea because a lot of people are uncomfortable talking about situations like cutting, rape, bullying, etc. I think many people would be able to relate to uncomfortable situations when you want to talk in privacy. Texting is perfect for that.

Ryan P

2/13/2014 03:31:08 am

First off, phenomenal response Taylor! Lublin uses factual evidence (logos) on a countless scale, as she tells the audience the average number of texts sent per week, the percentage of opened texts, and the comparison of emailing to texting. Yet, its her ethos that really captuer the readers attention. She mentioned the issue of bullying and cruel punishment, which are thing that people can relate to and also feel remorse towards. Her speech is centered around the use of factual information but it is fueled by emotional struggles, as both greatly aid her efforts to deliver her message.

Victoria C

2/13/2014 06:51:36 am

This was a great video and a great response Taylor! The title caught my eye too, because based on what we know, it sounds pretty contradictory. I think a strategy she used that was very effective was the use of anecdotes. She described some situations in which texts were received from students who were going through a crisis, including one from a girl being raped by her father. The use of anecdotes draws the listener in and has him or her thinking and reflecting on the whole speech itself.

Zach Pranger

2/13/2014 07:31:02 am

This Ted Talk seminar also caught my attention due to the title. It's refreshing to see someone talking about texting in a positive light instead of bashing one of the things I do many times, every day. Her methods of alluding to actual scenarios and information that she had collected before hand made the talk much more effective and informative.

Sara Ponce

2/13/2014 08:13:48 am

Taylord, I agree with Nancy's point that texting can be useful if people treat it seriously and carefully. Teens like to text because it is a way for them to communication secretly about their thoughts without feeling embarrassed. Texting can be a solution for teens to be able to express themselves. This new hotline is definitely a positive contribution for our society and I am really interested to see how it goes.

Kevin L

2/13/2014 11:45:01 am

Taylor, I really enjoyed this article. It was interesting to know that statistic on how 100% of texts get opened regardless if it is responded to. One thing that was able to stand out to me was the use of relatable content. She touched upon the text hotline and how it was there to support situations like rape, cutting and bullying. This could help a lot of people talk things out while they are in a state of depression or at a time where they can't think clearly.

Kaleigh B

2/13/2014 11:47:54 am

Reading you your response made me want to watch the seminar! The conversation is interesting and focuses on what many people don't think of on the topic texting. I liked how you acknowledged the logos and pathos to emphasize how this speaker was effective. Repetition was a big part of his effectiveness when using pathos and diction! the emotional words of rape occurred multiple times and each time he said that word it affected the audience to feel melancholy. Great Response TSaj

Hannah B

2/10/2014 09:38:17 am

The Ted Talks seminar I chose to watch is titled, “Geraldine Hamilton: Body parts on a chip.” (http://www.ted.com/talks/geraldine_hamilton_body_parts_on_a_chip.html). This seminar interested me and grabbed my attention because I liked the sound of the title and I took AP Biology last year as a Junior. The presenter explained the human on a chip, which is taking different cells from different areas of the body and using them and placing them into a chip in order to help cure diseases. I found this very interesting because there is no need to do animal testing anymore if all researchers have these chips. Simply by taking cells out of the heart, liver, intestines, kidneys, etc., can all be placed onto a chip which will show how the body reacts to certain bacteria’s. The chip acts as a living environment for the cells to live in. The center of the chip there is a flexible membrane which the cells can be placed onto. Mechanical forces can be applied to the chip by having what’s called a “vacuum channel” which stretches and contracts the membrane cells, so that it acts like real life human cells. Also above the cells is what’s called an “air channel” which allows the cells to breathe, and below a blood channel. During the seminar the presenter used strategies to engage her audience. She used Logos which is logical reasoning with the use of facts and statistics. The presenter states that there are small airways in our lungs that contain small hair-like structures called Cilia which move mucus out of the lung. Mucus traps the bacteria, allergens, etc. and the cilia moves and clears the mucus out. When the cilia gets damaged they cannot work properly and that can lead to diseases such as Bronchitis. The presenter also uses Pathos, the emotional appeal, to engage the audience. At the end of the seminar she explains that one particular medicine wasn't working for her headache so she tried Advil instead and she had to be rushed to the hospital because she had an asthma attack. This had the audience chuckling a little bit because she was smiling and saying, “I was thankful it wasn't fatal, so the audience laughed a little because she was present speaking at this seminar. Overall this seminar caught my interest, as I would not usually watch a 13 minute video on something “science-y.” Using statistics/facts, and an emotional appeal in a seminar can make the presentation seem more interesting and it also makes the audience believe that the information is reliable. I enjoyed this seminar greatly and I can’t wait to see what the future holds with human on a chip!

Colleen I

2/11/2014 07:19:51 am

The Ted talk seminar that I chose to watch was about body language and how it shapes you http://new.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are. Growing up, I was always taught that your body language means something, and is very important. For example, how when you go into a meeting and your boss is sitting at his desk. If he is sitting up right with his hands crossed on his desk, he means business, and if he is leaning back in his chair, he is willing to listen and is more laid back. Amy Cuddy reinforced what I have been taught and, in fact, taught me more. I was engaged from the beginning when her opening statement involved interacting with the audience. She told us to pay attention to the pay we were sitting. Later on, she proceeded to explain what it meant. If you are sitting in a compact way with your back rounded and legs crossed, you are in a lower power position. If you broaden your arms and are sitting with good posture and upright, you are in a higher power position. Amy used many images and visuals to help keep me engaged. I learned that if you are nervous going into a job interview, you should find two minutes in private and raise your arms above your head, in an x position, and make yourself as large as possible. (During this part of her speech she used a logos type of approach). She conducted an experiment and found that job applicants that performed this task were the applicants that the panel of judges so to speak, would rather higher. These applicants were compared to the applicants that remained in their chair, looking at their cell phones and remaining compact. Lastly, Amy Cuddy was successful in delivering her seminar because of her own body language. She kept moving around and articulated her words. Also, she used hand gestures. This was helpful because what I was watching was not just a person standing and talking at me. If felt as if she was talking to me, which made her overall presentation effective.

Lizz Lizotte

2/13/2014 01:00:36 pm

Having watched this seminar, I believe it is also important to recognize Amy Cuddy's inclusion of a personal experience. She used a very common fear of "I don't belong here" in an anecdote and became relateable to her audience.

Becky G

2/11/2014 09:34:11 am

The Ted Talks that caught my eye was by Ian Dunbar titled "Dog-Friendly Dog Training" (http://new.ted.com/talks/ian_dunbar_on_dog_friendly_dog_training). This video really interested me because I am a big animal lover. I found this video to be quite informing, too. Dunbar talks about the right way to train a puppy, so that they form good habits for when they grow up to be bigger dogs. I found it interesting that I never thought about the fact that when we get a puppy we encourage it to jump up on our laps to cuddle with us, and then we say "good dog" and rub its tummy for jumping on us. Then when the puppy grows up and they jump on us, they get scolded for something they learned was 'good' as a puppy. Dunbar made me think about things that I've never considered before. He brings up another good point about instead of using food as a reward, so when the dog sits, lies down, or does what we tell it to do we can give them a tummy rub or throw their tennis ball. This way, they are rewarded with something they enjoy, without being food-driven. Dunbar uses pathos to appeal especially to my emotions. A video of puppies would play at certain times, and it got me engaged because I love animals, and who doesn't think puppies are cute? This got me to listen more, because I want to learn more about the puppies. In another instance, Dunbar uses a simile saying that us disciplining dogs by yelling at them and hitting them over the head with a rolled up newspaper doesn't work and he compared it to us trying to discipline a bear by yelling at it and hitting it. Dunbar said "Your head now is 100 yards away sailing in the air", showing that punishment doesn't make things any better. This engages the audience because it is funny and ironic that we would know not to hit a bear when it's bad, but yet we do it to puppies. Also, if a puppy does something bad, and you yell at it or hit it, then the next time it does something bad, it's just going to run away because it knows that the outcome isn't good and that it's going to get yelled at again. I enjoyed watching this video by Ian Dunbar, he really made me think about the things that i've never really considered about training dogs before.

Adam Lindemann

2/11/2014 02:14:39 pm

The TEDTalks that I listened to was by Apollo Robbins on “The Art of Misdirection” (http://new.ted.com/talks/apollo_robbins_the_art_of_misdirection). I chose this one in particular due to the fact that I enjoy magic, and all magic really is, is misdirection. Robbins goes about conveying his ideas in a very unconventional way. Before this however, we are engaged by him suggesting an alternative to the way that we perceive misdirection. He is challenging a societal accepted truth. In society the majority of the population considers misdirection as a looking at away at a distraction while the person misdirecting you tricks you. “After twenty years of research,” his words, not mine, by pick pocketing, he has learned what he perceives is the true definition of misdirection. He suggests that by giving our minds, or our mental security guard as he puts it, too many things to think about at once, we lose the ability to perceive what is right in front of us. This was we can be looking right at the person and they can still misdirect out attention. He explains that if you learn these “tricks” or art of misdirection, that you can control peoples attention and predict human behavior. He goes on and instead of lecturing about his theory, he puts it into practice right before our eyes. I won’t spoil it for those who are going to watch it, but he brings this gentleman to the up to the stage and demonstrates what he is talking about. This engages the audience and shows that his theory on misdirection holds ground. In the same spirit of using examples, he uses humor to entertain the audience as well as inform as he “shops” for goods in peoples’ pockets and talks about the best superpower. He is able to engage the audience in a very creative, lively manner.

Delaney Devine

2/12/2014 01:39:23 am

I absolutely adored this talk because I too enjoy magic tricks. I agree with you that sometimes our minds cannot completely perceive what is directly in front of us. I also think that he does a phenomenal job of engaging the audience in a way that kept them completely intrigued and listening the entire time. I also loved that he touched upon different ways to skew human behavior and how you can actually manipulate peoples attention by doing certain tricks.

Kayla B

2/13/2014 12:15:38 am

Adam! This Ted Talk was amazing. I loved the way that right from the beginning he engaged the audience. He really made them apart of the seminar. I also appreciated the visuals he used, "Frank the security guard" when talking about your memory. And throughout the talk he continued to engage the audience, overall it was very well done.

Joe V

2/13/2014 04:04:29 am

I enjoyed this talk because magic is extremely interesting to me. I thought that the title of this talk was extremely fitting because magic is merely tricking the audience's eyes and giving them a false perception of what is really happening. I liked that he was able to speak with flare and keep the audience completely attentive.

Tommy B

2/13/2014 10:58:11 am

Adam, I really like the TedTalk you posted. I love watching videos and shows like this. Right from the start I noticed how he engaged the audience. He talked to the watchers not in front of them. He asked the questions right from the first minute and he really made them part of the show. This is a great technique people use to engage the audience.

Steve P

2/13/2014 02:13:03 pm

I thought that this seminar was very interesting because it makes you think about how you really look at things. Throughout the seminar the speaker engages the audience by asking them questions and getting them involved with the presentation.

Dilsara Liyanage

2/11/2014 03:37:30 pm

The Ted Talks that interested me the most was by Juan Enriquez called "Your online life, as permanent as a tattoo." (http://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_how_to_think_about_digital_tattoos.html) This video really caught my eye because it made me think about what little privacy I have online and how everything I put on a social network stays there for everyone to see. In this seminar, Enriquez compares our online life to tattoos. Tattoos are permanent pictures, quotes, or sayings that we get on our body that either represent something deep and meaningful or something completely useless that we get for the hell of it. Whatever the reason may be, these tattoos will forever be a part of us until we die. Now our online life, as Enriquez says, is very similar to tattoos, because what we put on the internet reveals something about us and stays with us until the day we die, and even after then. During the seminar, he used strategies to engage the audience. Logos, logic or reasoning is used when he gave proven facts about how little privacy we have online. For example, a company called Facedeals takes pictures of you, ties it to the social media and figures out what your likes and dislikes are. This way a worker at a store can come up to you and say that they have the perfect red dress for you, because they know you love red dresses due to what you have put on social networks such as Twitter or Facebook. This actually creeped me out because it showed me how we barely have privacy online. The speaker also uses hyperbole in this seminar, when he talks about the quote "In the future everybody will be world famous for 15 minutes" by Andy Warhol. Enriquez flips it around and says what if we were only anonymous for 15 minutes. Although it is an exaggeration, it got me thinking about how little of time we have till people could find out information about us online. Enriquez also calls us "immortal" because these online tattoos will live longer than our bodies will. By using facts and hyperboles in this seminar, Enriquez made the presentation eye-opening and made the information reliable. I enjoyed this seminar because it made me realize how much a complete stranger can know about me because of my online life. All the information about me, useless and important, is going to be there for anyone to see in the future just like a tattoo.

Casey S.

2/13/2014 02:00:40 am

I also liked this seminar a lot because it is so central to our generation today. It is very hard to come by a person who doesn't have at least 1 or 2 social network accounts. Although you may have never met someone in person, you could be their facebook friend just because he is friends with someone you know.
I noticed right from the beginning that Enriquez uses personification when referencing tattoos. He says that "tattoos really do shout", meaning that they can tell you a lot of stories about a person. They could tell you if an important person in someone's life has passed away or if someone had a drunken mistake. That could be related to the whole social network idea. Everything you post on the internet can tell other people who you are and can tell a story about you just like the tattoos can.

Megan C

2/13/2014 03:33:57 am

I thought that this was very interesting when Jaun Enriquez that he said our social media will live on longer than our actual bodies. And when he pointed out that you should not look to much into the past because you may lose someone that you love is an interesting point. Everyone has a past and that will never be forgotten because you can always go back and look though the past. In todays society there will never be a way to truly let go of the past.

Sarah W

2/13/2014 09:30:09 am

Great TEDTalk, Dilsara. I found this especially interesting when Juan Enriquez brought up the idea that social media explains exactly who you truly are, just as a tattoo. It sounds like common sense but some people are so blind to it. Often, judgements and sometimes misjudgments can be made without words to describe it. Enriquez uses pathos in the pictures of the tattoos to show that they may have far more emotional connects than what they may display.

Delaney Devine

2/12/2014 01:35:37 am

The talk I chose (https://www.youtube.com/embed/h11u3vtcpaY) was from an independently run TED conference called TedxNevada. This talk focuses around the idea of "Hack-schooling" an individual in perspective to a traditional public school. The young boy who speaks is named Logan, and is only 13 years old. He, at this young age, has learned more about the world around him and more about the possibilities of the world than most of us will in our life time. He is able to do so because he is homeschooled. But not only homeschooled, he is "hack schooled." "Hack schooling" puts being happy and healthy as a priority since most education "helps kids make a living, not a life." In his every day classes he goes out into nature, has real life experiences, and takes on a new mind set to "change the world." His classes also focuses immensely on creativity, something that "hack schooling" puts a great amount of importance into. I personally was very touched by this talk not only because of the age of the young speaker, but because of the amount of knowledge he holds because of the schooling methods his parents choose. I largely agree with the statement that traditional public schools kill creativity that students posses, and in my opinion I think that this talk shows that there are many different ways to infuse the every day class room with creativity as well as give students the tools to help them life a fulfilled and happy life. One rhetorical device Logan implores is the use of analogies. He talks about many different experiences he has had, as well as stories from previous talks that he has heard. His analogies were easy to follow and made the talk significantly more relatable. Another was his use of allusions. He referenced multiple past TED talks as well as different lessons taught to him at his "hack school". This also helped the listener to pull understanding from their own past experiences that were similar. He engaged the audience very well with small laughs hidden within a potentially very serious discussion and over all was very successful in his message.

Megan V

2/12/2014 06:53:42 am

I chose the video titled, Dan Gilbert: The Surprising Science of Happiness, http://new.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy. This video really interested me because it talks about happiness and really gets into the reality of what we think. Dan Gilbert shows a picture of a person winning millions in the lottery and then another picture with a person becoming paraplegic. He asks the audience which future they would prefer using simulation. The popular answer is winning the lottery but then he goes to show that the audience failed the “pop quiz” and the two are actually equal when it comes to happiness one year later. One year after losing your legs and one year after winning the lottery, paraplegics and lottery winners are equally happy with their lives. Dan then goes on to talk about synthetic happiness versus natural happiness. He explains that natural happiness is when we get what we want and synthetic happiness is what we make when we don’t get what we want. Synthetic happiness is inferior in today’s society. What we cannot tell is that our “physiological immune system” lets us feel truly happy even when things don’t go the way we want them too. ” Dan uses humor in his speech to engage the audience. He also uses logos to construct logical arguments. He took a number of tests to prove his point and shares his results. Dan ends his speech with a lesson based off of his data and says, “Our longings and our worries are both to some degree overblown because we have within us the capacity to manufacture the very commodity we are constantly chasing when we choose experience” (Gilbert). I agree with this 100 percent because it is true that we don’t realize happiness when we are just thinking about it. We choose what we think that we would like better based off of experience and simulation. Synthetic happiness does exist.

Kerstin E

2/13/2014 03:54:31 am

I liked this video and how it goes into how and why we feel happy. He uses an allusion to make the topic more relatable. He mentions how we stimulate certain things instead of going through with them. He alludes to Ben and Jerry's ice cream and how they never sold liver and onion not because they made some, tried it, and thought it was gross, but because it just sounds like it would be gross. This shows that stimulation can make someone have an experience in their head before they do it in really life.

Brianna Guilherme

2/13/2014 09:53:59 am

This video interested me a lot! Meg I liked how you talked about how Dan went into synthetic happiness. You are correct in todays society, we never feel truly happy unless things go the way we want or are in our favor. I also liked how Dan mentions a lot of data that he has researched and found for this study. He mentions in the beginning about how our brain has tripled in mass in 2 million years. He says that to us 2 million years may be a lot but in reference to the Earth its not that long. I believe those statistics are crazy! How our brain was 1 and a quarter lb brain to the now 3 lbs brain that we have and to think that it took that long for our brain to grow.

Natalie P

2/12/2014 08:28:49 am

The TedTalks article that I found was Steve Jobs' truly inspiring graduation speech to Stanford University in 2009. Within his speech to the graduating class, Jobs offered an immense amount of useful advice on life. The paradoxical title itself, "How to Live Before You Die" immediately captured my attention. During his speech, Steve Jobs shared 3 major life stories that have impacted his life. By sharing his personal stories, he really made the speech relatable, and not something boring to sit through. The first story he shared was how his biological parents were young college drop outs that gave him up for adoption. After he was adopted, he too decided to drop out of college with no idea what he wanted to do. After becoming involved with a visual text class, he fell in love with the subject and began creating Microsoft in his garage with a buddy. His story truly fits the college graduation scene because he shows how successful you can be by following what you love to do. After Microsoft became an official company, Steve, the creator, was actually fired from Microsoft because he hired someone to be his co-president that he thought he could trust, but was sadly mistaken. He then went on to make his own new company called Next, which Microsoft later bought and Steve once again owned. With this story, he certainly portrays the idea how it is extremely vital to ones live to never ever ever give up. After loosing all he had worked for, he knew he could not stop there, and continued to work to his fullest potential which certainly paid off in the end as he gained back Microsoft. Within his stories, he uses really creative, and fun analogies such as "I dropped the baton as it was being passed to me" and "it was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it." Referring to himself as the patient and the loss of Microsoft to the medicine, he proclaims that he needed to feel and experience loss in order to learn how to recuperate and get back in the game. As a student looking to go to college next year, this speech really spoke out to me. In his closing statement, he constantly reiterates the line "stay hungry, and stay foolish," encouraging the graduating students to always stay positive and to never give up, and to always keep learning all that you can because you never know when you can learn something new and turn it into something you love and something you can center your life around. By making it extremely relatable with the use of personal stories and fun analogies and diction to keep the audience entertained, Steve Jobs definitely delivered an incredible, impressionable graduation speech.

Sara Ponce

2/13/2014 08:05:47 am

Natalie, I also found Steve Job's speech extremely inspiring. His line "stay, hungry, and stay foolish" really stuck with me too. This line is really relatable because as we are growing up we will be faced with new opportunities in life and I think it is important to keep or minds open, just as Steve did. He is really an inspiration through his strong mindset of never giving up. He found a passion for what he wanted to do and that is why he kept going. While many thought his business in a garage would never be successful, he proved everyone wrong. He never gave up on his dreams and always envisioned more and I think that's really awesome!

Joe V

2/12/2014 11:46:41 am

The Ted Talk that grabbed my attention was Feats of memory anyone can do by Joshua Foer (http://new.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_of_memory_anyone_can_do). This speech was interesting to me because the brain is extremely complex. The brain has an intriguing amount of potential and many different parts that serve different functions. I was first captivated by this potential when I heard that the average human only utilizes about 10% of their brain. Since then, I have wondered what the brain could become if we used a higher percentage of it. The content of this particular video intrigued me because it was about memory and people who bring their memory to new places. Foer speaks about his meeting professionals in the "sport" of memorizing. Foer later concludes his story by stating that a year after sparking interest in professional memorizing, he won the US National Championship in New York. During his entire story, Foer used specific strategies to enhance his points and keep his audience attentive. One device the speaker used was logos, or logic and reasoning. Foer used this by presenting factual claims and appealing to the audience. He also used ethos throughout the speech by gradually revealing his credibility to the listeners. Overall, Foer effectively spoke by being understandable and entertaining to the entire audience.

Jessica H

2/12/2014 02:09:12 pm

This video was very interesting. It's simply amazing how people can memorize the order of a randomly shuffled deck of playing cards and it surprised me even more how people could memorize entire books! I like how he used an allusion to Cicero in the beginning of his story to show how amazing this memory trick really can be and how far back it dates.

Victoria C

2/12/2014 12:08:01 pm

I really enjoyed the video "Try Something New for 30 Days" by Matt Cutts (http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days.html). Cutts was discussing how for 30 days, he picked a new goal and for those 30 days, did it. He picked things to add to his life, such as more writing and taking a picture every day. He also subtracted some things, such as sugar and Twitter. Overall, he states that he seems to enjoy life and the little things much more, and how time is absolutely precious and should not be wasted. Cutts made use of rhetorical strategies in his speech and they definitely kept the listeners engaged and interested (I sure was!). I would say his message to listeners is to make each day count. One rhetorical strategy he uses to emphasize his message is imagery, a common but very effective one. He tells the listeners to "imagine" that, and "picture" this, and they probably did. He also had actual visuals of his 30 day challenges, and these added credibility to what he was saying. For example, one of his goals was to be more adventurous, and he ended up hiking the highest mountain in Africa, and he showed a picture of that. This shows that the goals you set can very well be accomplished with determination. Another strategy he used was a rhetorical question. At the end of his speech, he asked "Well, what are you waiting for?" and after he said that, I immediately began wondering why I had never thought to do something like this. Then, I started thinking up possible things that I would like to set as my goals for my own 30 day challenge. The audience probably thought the same things after he asked that. It was a question that he didn't need a response for, but it was effective in that it had people thinking and had them motivated to try something new. Cutts's speech was short but very motivating, inspiring, and fun!

Jessica H

2/12/2014 01:55:41 pm

I chose to watch the TedTalks seminar called "Geraldine Hamilton: Body parts on a chip" (http://new.ted.com/talks/geraldine_hamilton_body_parts_on_a_chip). Just the name of the video prompted me wonder what it was about and how they would be able to do this. In the video, Hamilton explains how the testing of products is done in two ways. The first way is taking human cells from a person’s body and putting them in a petri dish to test the product. Although this seems like a good idea, it actually is not since the cells are not being subjected to the same environment as they would in a real human body. The second way is animal-testing, which many people see as inhumane nowadays. In this way, the speaker appeals to the listener’s pathos (emotions) by pulling on their heartstrings. By making them feel bad for the animals being tested she could eliminate this method and focus on her first method since people did not find it inhumane. Her solution to the issue in method 1 is called the organ-on-a-chip. Inside this chip there are conditions extremely similar to those of the human body, enabling the chip to sustain actual human cells, which further enables the cells to provide crucial information about certain products or drugs being tested without actually harming a real person or animal. Hamilton goes on to explain how several different chips (those representing say, lungs, hearts, intestines, etc.) can be connected using a certain machine. She compares inserting the chip cartridge into the machine to inserting a CD into a player. This simile helps show the simplicity of using the machine and it creates a visual for the audience who is unfamiliar with it. This invention can be revolutionary not only in the drug industry, but also in other industries such as cosmetics and food.

Taylor D

2/13/2014 10:02:40 am

I loved this video and the speaker deffinetly does speak to the audences emotions with how much this new chip can help people and how we don't have to harm animals in the process. Another rhetorical strategies I think she used was logos. Logos is used to appeal to the audience when she shows exact examples with diagrams and statistics to further her data. For example at the beginning of the talk she shows a graph at how much money is spent and how effective it actually is and how often it is able to make it to clinical trials. The use of Logos helps the audience to understand where she is coming from and show them exactly how ineffective our current way of generating new drugs is.

Casey S.

2/13/2014 01:49:11 am

I chose to watch the seminar “How I beat stage fright” by Joe Kowan. (http://new.ted.com/talks/joe_kowan_how_i_beat_stage_fright) I also tend to have public speaking anxiety so while watching this I was able to feel what he meant when he said he had stage fright. Throughout his speech he used lots of different aspects of humor. This could have been a coping strategy to use since he was so nervous (which he confirmed numerous times during the seminar). Although learning from public speaking class that you’re never supposed to tell your audience how nervous you are, Kowan’s strategy of expressing his nervousness added to his aspect of humor through the way he presented it. By hearing the audience laugh he was able to know that they were enjoying his speech and then make him have less anxiety. He told his story about his first time playing in front of a crowd in a very well sequenced order. He didn’t back track in his story or keep jumping around making his sequence broken. His transitions flowed in a way that was easy for me and the other audience members to follow by. I especially liked when he referenced to the exact symptoms a person may feel when having stage fright: the shaky voice, clammy hands, dilated pupils, and for his humor, spidey senses. Since I also have speaking anxiety, I was able to directly relate to all of those intensified senses and for people who don’t usually have that anxiety they were able to feel what it may feel like to have it.

Jeff H

2/13/2014 05:36:16 am

Casey, I really enjoyed the Ted Talks that you watched. It was very funny and like you said was very easy to relate to. Another rhetorical device that I noticed throughout Kowan's speech was his use of Body Language. He was very upbeat and moved around and engaged his audience through his hand gestures and posture. In my opinion his body language helped him appeal to his audience. He wasn't just standing there acting dull and bored. He truly captured the attention of his audience through his great use of body language.

Josh T

2/13/2014 11:34:06 am

I really enjoyed this Ted Talks too. I really agree with how upbeat he was and humorous. His story was immediately able to pull me into watching the whole thing. He was very funny, easy to relate to, and easy to watch.

Ryan P

2/13/2014 03:14:12 am

The TedTalks episode that I found interesting was "How architectural innovations migrate across borders" By Teddy Cruz. (http://www.ted.com/talks/teddy_cruz_how_architectural_innovations_migrate_across_borders.html). Architecture is a topic that fascinates me, so obviously this video came of interest to me. Throughout the speech, Cruz calls out a cultural crisis. He thoroughly explains the crisis's of the cities of Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California, two cities that stand geographically close yet culturally diverse. Though the cities are separated by only a bordered wall, they remain drastically different in culture and level of wealth. Cruz then points out the poorly designed suburban areas in Tijuana.He uses facts (logos) when describing past occurrences that people have endured. This is able to engage the speaker by showing them the true issues that are present in the design of intercity slums. Cruz also pulls at your heart strings (ethos), since he frequently shows pictures of poor, impoverished slums with struggling citizens. This causes the reader to feel a sense of remorse towards these people, who become engaged in the thought of helping out. Cruz's ability to sufficiently convey his message was greatly aided by his use of rhetorical strategies.

Chris V

2/13/2014 10:31:25 am

You are absolutely correct saying that Teddy Cruz's talk is both pathos and logos. The whole entire was full of statistics about how different San Diego is from Tijuana and it had a bunch of pictures of the poor communities which made it impossible to not care. The talk also uses personification saying that "waste flows southbound".

Eric J

2/13/2014 11:51:29 am

This talk also caught my attention and i thought it was very interesting.His many pictures really get to you and really help get his point across. Another rhetorical devise he used to deliver his speech was using allusions. He talks about how things could be improved and better while using model pictures.

Nick K

2/14/2014 11:40:01 am

i really enjoyed this particular seminar because of the points made on the drastic differences between Tijuana and San Diego. it is truly mind boggling that san diego can be so modern and well built but a mere few miles down the road, houses are still made of clay brick and are completely falling apart. i find that this concept can translate into the vast wealth of the United States compared to the poverty that mexico faces.

Megan C

2/13/2014 03:24:40 am

The Ted Talk seminar that I found relates to creativity in the fashion industry. Isaac Mizrahi (http://www.ted.com/talks/isaac_mizrahi_on_fashion_and_creativity.html) spoke in 2008 to a group of individuals in California. Beginning his talk with a relatable issue about sleeping and how he feels that not sleeping is a good thing rather than a curse grabs peoples attention. Normally someone would not introduce a speech with something that is so off topic. Mr. Mizrahi uses humor to lighten up the audience so it is more of a relaxed setting. As the crowed lightens up they are more open for taking in his ideas and listening without feeling that he is not trying to connect to them. Coming from a high fashion designer that he is inspired by the little things and that inspiration can come anywhere at anytimes. He divulges his secrets of what keeps in up at night. Knowing that he could never create something as beautiful that someone has done in the past makes him work to achieve that feeling for the future. Using allusions to show that he could never make something as beautiful like Audrey Hepburn or other icons from the past. He relates to the audience in that even though he is in high fashion and a famous person, he still is a person who goes through the same struggles as others. Using photos to take the audience on a tip with him through his life it gives them something that can connect with the speaker. As well as using a metaphor comparing an old beat up dress to a bad piece of meat. You should aways put your best foot forward. Mr. Mizrahi uses irony in saying that “as a fashion designer you have to be slightly bored with everything and if you are not you have to pretend to be.” The most important part of his speech that everyone should take away is that Style makes you feel great because it takes your mind off of dying.

Meaghan O

2/13/2014 11:35:13 am

I liked that he engaged the audience and always kept them interested using humor. I thought his view on mistakes was very unique. He used a metaphor to compare a cabaret act to one of his previous speeches.

Kerstin E

2/13/2014 03:32:29 am

I chose to watch “8 Secrets of Success” by Richard St. John. (https://new.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success) He talks about a time when I teenager coming from a poor family asked him what leads to success. He did not have an answer for her at the time which made him want to research it. He came up with eight ways to reach success. You need to have passion and have to want to do it for the love of it and not just for money. You have to work hard for what you want because it will not come easily. You have to learn how to be good at something. He used repetition by saying, “Practice, practice, practice.” This helps the listener know the skill will not come easily and will require a lot of practice. You have to focus yourself on one thing. You must push yourself physically and mentally. You have to serve others and it must be something of value. Ideas are essential to know what you are doing. He uses an allusion by quoting Bill Gates. Many people know who Bill Gates is and will respect the information given more knowing that he agrees with it. We must all be persistent and not give up on what we want even if we have to struggle through some bad paths. Richard St John affectively grabs the attention of his listeners and gets them intrigued.

Mackenzie Miner

2/13/2014 11:50:42 am

I thought that this was a very interesting talk. Another device he uses is ethos. When naming the secrets to success, he uses a quote for each one from someone who has achieved success, making them more credible.

Jeff H

2/13/2014 05:23:34 am

The Ted Talks speech I listened to was called Never Ever Give Up and was performed by Diana Nyad. http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_nyad_never_ever_give_up.html. Diana is a long-distance swimmer who speaks about her amazing and record breaking experience of swimming 110 miles from Cuba to Florida, at age 64. Nyad provides interesting views in her speech about the willpower of the human spirit and how powerful we can be. She showed and proved through her own feats of perseverance that anything is possible. In her speech Diana implements the rhetorical devices of repetition and pathos. She uses repetition by always using the term, "Never give up". She expresses to the audience how at any point during her historic swim she could have easily just thrown in the towel and quite, but with the inspiration of a life-long dream and with the support from her team behind her, she kept on going. Repetition helps Diana get her point across to the audience by emphasizing how important she feels that quality of relentlessness is to succeeding in life, no matter what you do. The other rhetorical device Diana uses throughout her speech is Pathos. Diana tugged the heart strings of her audience by telling the story of her incredible journey. Through her explanations of her hardship and her obstacles that she had to overcome she gained her audience's respect and admiration.

Matthew Dogali

2/13/2014 10:31:26 am

This was a great story, and I enjoyed watching it because of the story. That accomplishment in unbelievable and I thought she told the story very well. But this speech was lost in the meaning. I get that her determination was the key to her success but that speech was too cliché. You could have gotten a different form of that exact speech at every high school graduation in America. And im not trying to belittle what she did, I just don’t think that speech was meaningful because the theme was weak. If she would have talked about something more original it would have been enhanced, but the route she went was, for lack of a better term, lame.

Kyle Chudoba

2/13/2014 11:50:26 am

Jeff, this speech was very intriguing as well. It was a story that is amazing and touching for a woman at her age. I did agree on the repetition as she constantly said "Never give up." Jim Valvano is famous for this saying and it is true that against all odds, you should never give up.

Zach Pranger

2/13/2014 07:17:57 am

I watched Joe Kowan talk about how he beat stage fright. (https://new.ted.com/talks/joe_kowan_how_i_beat_stage_fright). He talked about how he had stage fright his entire life until he decided to try and conquer it. He used the pathos rhetorical strategy since his presentation was an amusing story that kept the audience laughing and engaged. He recounted how uncomfortable he felt when he'd go to open mic nights and play his music in an attempt to overcome stage fright. I then thought it was interesting when he said how he wrote a song about stage fright and played it first at all his shows. He demonstrated it on the stage. His tone usage was also a good rhetorical strategy since it was confident and relaxed implying for the audience that he truly did overcome his fears. His delivery of the talk was very smooth and transitioned well. His show was inspiring as he went through the story of how he gained the ability to speak in front of an audience. The lesson he taught was to face your fears.

Michael D

2/13/2014 11:35:37 am

Smashing job Zach, your response left tears in my eyes. I agree 10000% with you on how you interpreted Koran ' message. I also felt he wanted to have you learn how to face your fears. Fears are an eternal enemy to those whom are planning on achieving an obstacle. You truly need to face fear in the eyes and say "I'm not afraid of you!"

Sara Ponce

2/13/2014 07:56:57 am

I chose the TedTalk, Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work. I am at a point in my life right now where I really needed to watch this video. This seminar reminded me of how grateful I am and how I must appreciate even the little things in life and it will make a difference. Shawn has inspired me to find happiness in my journey, not just my destination. He states that we work because as a society we have decided that we can't be happy until we reach our goals. However, he emphasizes that we must learn that happiness is a state of mind and not a destination. His happy mood and constant joking around emphasizes his message. Shawn mentions that it takes time to change our thinking habits, but it is worth it. Successful people are those who always think positive. Shawn uses ethos, the appeal to the author's credibility through engaging his audience by telling his stories and feelings, no matter how personal. It gives the audience confidence to trust in him and what he is saying. Shawn uses logos, to support his message. He states that if we train our mindsets to have more happy thoughts, then we experience more positive outcomes. For example, our brain will be 31% more productive and we will be 37% better at sales. Through the use of logos, which he used strong statistics, it makes his audience want to teach their brain to be more positive in the present, so that they we will be even more successful in the future. Shawn had a great message and through the use of rhetorical strategies he was able to effectively present his message and engage his audience.
(So don't worry & BE HAPPY! :)

Josh T

2/13/2014 08:22:12 am

The Ted Talk I chose was Ken Kamler's "Medical miracle on Everest".(http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_kamler_medical_miracle_on_everest.html). Ken Kamler is a doctor that many companies and expedition leaders try to get a hold of when they want to do some sort of crazy death defying adventure, which makes him very reliable when talking about his experience on this particular trip on Mt. Everest. Right away he talks about the will to survive. Something that is overlooked when saving lives. The main point of his speech is to say that there is nothing strong than a survivors will to survive regardless of the medical attention he or she will receive. Ken also uses logos at the beginning of his talk mentioning all the camps and elevations of certain areas. He also has ethos on his side, because this is not his first time on Mount Everest, and he has actually personally climbed it a couple of times. Then his speech starts to get into the actual story of a day in 2008 where "5, but should have been 6 people die." Although a very depressing story, he does make it an easy one to listen to adding in humor, and explaining everything that happened. He also doesn't really highlight the deaths, but the survivors and the people who helped to save lives. He says that, "There is always a risk of falling. If you fall to your left you fall 8,000 feet into Nepal, and if you fall to your right you fall 12,000 feet into Tibet. He would rather fall to Tibet because you would live longer, but either way you are falling for the rest of your life." He makes many remarks throughout his speech which really lightens up the mood, and makes this dramatic story a great one. Another thing that Ken does a good job of is being short and concise telling you everything that you want to know. He doesn't add any exaggeration, which is actually a good thing for his case. Ken Kamler goes on to talk about a particular climber who had been walked by many times because the climbers thought he was dead, but he wasn't. He talks about how this guy was in such a state he couldn't move or talk to let anyone know he was actually alive. This climber sat in the snow for two days, until he had the will to stand up walk down the mountain, and right into the medical tent where Ken could treat him. Ken who is the doctor has no idea how this man survived, other than the fact he had a sheer will to survive. This was something that I have read about before. I read the "personal accounts", but none of those stories were as interesting or factual as Ken Kamler described it. This speech because of the topic and person talking about it, was really easy to sit and watch.

Sarah W

2/13/2014 08:59:21 am

The TEDTalk I watched was by Ken Robinson, "How schools kill creativity" (http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html). The ex-professor talked adamantly about how drastically education has changed over the years. It has come to a point where students aren’t voicing their opinions and answering questions because they’re afraid they might be wrong. If teachers spit out information to students, students will just regurgitate that information back out when they need to and forget it in a week. They don’t want to expand on what the teacher has to say and be creative about it because they think it won’t be right. Therefore they simply just remember exactly what the teacher has “taught to the test” and nothing more. It shows exactly how we focus more on the grade we get, rather than the material we learn. Robinson said how everyone thinks mistakes are the worst thing you can make in education. And this leads to educating people out their creative capacities. This is completely true. In addition to this, he says how if we don’t grow with it, you’ll just grow out of it. In other words, if you don’t take something and add to it with your own flare, it’s dead to you. It has nothing original about it and isn’t personal to you. Mistakes shouldn’t be remembered more than the accomplishments, but are they? Probably some. We’re not ready to be wrong and quite frankly we don’t ever want to be. The speaker uses many rhetorical strategies to get this point across, including similes and ethos. First, Robinson explains school as being like a math class. Math is quite straightforward and that’s how we are taught. But, he thinks school should be more like a dance class where we are free to completely express ourselves. Then Robinson uses credibility. He quotes Picasso in saying that we are all artists when we’re born and we need to stay that way. Students need to start thinking outside of the box again or we’ll all end up the same.

Brianna Guilherme

2/13/2014 09:45:09 am

The Ted Talks episode that I watched was called "How to Make Stress Your Friend" by Kelly McGonigal (http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend.html). As soon as I saw the title of this video it connected to me. I tend to suffer from stress during the school year, senior year especially. With trying to keep up good grades, Capstone, and applying to colleges my stress levels have gone up. After watching this video I have learned now how to keep my stress under control. During the seminar, Kelly McGonigal uses logos, or statistics, immediately. She tells her audience about the studies of how stress can be harmful to your body but she then added in how it is only harmful if you believe that it is harmful to your body. McGonigal brings up a study done by the University of Wisconsin where they tracked people and deaths over the span of 8 years. They noticed that over the 8 years of this study 182,000 people died prematurely not because of stress but the belief that stress is bad for you. That is over 20,000 deaths per year, making stress belief the 15th largest cause of deaths in America during 2012. These numbers actually surprised me. That just believing that stress is bad for you can put you at a 43% higher risk to die prematurely. That boggles my mind that since it would be ahead of the number of deaths of AIDS and homicide. McGonigal also used metaphors. She was able to compare stress to something resilient and helpful. She said stress can be viewed as though it is preparing you for action, and once someone believe this and believes that all the symptoms of stress such as rapid heartbeat and breathing are just helping you be better prepared and more alert then stress is lowered and people become calmer and have less anxiety. This study really spoke to me since I never thought that it can be this harmful to your body in such a bad way. I now know to start to view stress as my friend and that it is helpful because I want to live a longer life.

Taylor D

2/13/2014 09:46:45 am

In the ted talks seminar The 100,000-student classroom I found that Peter Norvig used several different rhetorical strategies to make his points more interesting. He uses the idea of an allusion to a 14th century class room when relating his new and abstract ideas being taught today and how they may be new but the way there were being taught was so outdated and old. He uses this allusion to grasp the attention of the reader to make them connect to his point on making teaching new. He wanted to make this online class different then learning in a class room. Another rhetorical strategies Peter used were his personal anecdotes. He uses these anecdotes when talking about his first tutor/ teacher who was his mother and relating the one on one attention you get from a tutor. He wanted to make his class similar to this because it is most effective when teaching someone. Adding the anecdote about his mother and being at the bar with a friend shows the audience that this new style of learning is comfortable and effective because if feels so easy. The use of rhetorical strategies in his speech gives the reader a clear understanding at how outdated learning in the class room is, and shows the reader how this new strategies can be used and can show remarkable results.

Matthew Dogali

2/13/2014 10:04:36 am

I listened to “How to Make Dirty Water Drinkable” by Michael Prichard. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXepkIWPhFQ). Michael is an inventor that created a water filter system that is the safest in the world. He opens up the talk with an interesting point. The audience had water bottles that they were drinking from. He says that everyone was enjoying the water, but they weren’t worried about if it was safe to drink or not. And this made me think because water is something that I take for granted, but the truth is that many people don’t have water that is safe to drink. Prichard goes on using logos to introduce the problem. He talks about hurricane Katrina. One of the most impactful statistics he stated was that it took five days to get water to the mega dome. When there is such a terrible emergency like Katrina, it can’t take that long to bring water to those in need. Prichard then explains that the water that is being supplied is convenient because not everyone has access to it. He introduces the water bottle that filters water and to prove it works he drinks dirty water. There is a tank of water on stage and he adds dirt, plants, feces and he fills up his water bottle with it. He filters the water and takes a glass and drinks it. This is a great way to engage the audience and prove your point. This talk was so great because it addressed a huge problem in the world, and for a change it offered a solution. So often we know what’s wrong but don’t do anything to change it. It was great to see someone making a difference.

Chris V

2/13/2014 10:10:19 am

The TedTalks that stumbled upon and decided to watch was Diana Nyad: Never, ever give up (http://new.ted.com/talks/diana_nyad_never_ever_give_up). I had anticipated this seminar to be like every other never give up seminar given but as this one unfolded it was completely different for me. A little background of the talk is that Diana Nyad is a 64 year old women who's dream was to swim from Cuba to the shores of Florida. She had attempted this swim many times in her life when she was younger but has yet to accomplish her goal. Never giving up on her life dream, Diana Nyad did what many scientists and experts claimed as impossible. Diana Nyad uses pathos and repetition in her speech. Nyad pulls at the audiences heartstrings by talking about the troubles and struggles of the swim. She had nearly died in attempts but she was not phased, only determined to do what she had dreamed off. It is also inspirational and emotional to hear off a women considered "old" go against the people who told her to give up on her dream. Nyad's message of never give up was repeated throughout the speech. Her perseverance is what got her through the long, treacherous swim. She tells of her story of how she and her team never gave up on her goal even though she was much older than she was when she previously attempted this swim. Diana Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a cage and her story will continue to inspire others just like it had inspired me.

Tommy B

2/13/2014 10:12:20 am

The TedTalks I watched was "Why you will fail to have a great career" by Larry Smith. Being a senior I thought it would be great to know how to become successful but this is not what I expected. He started off by drawing me in when he said a harsh realization people should know. He said that people will either have a great career where they love their job and can't get enough of it or will dread work and become stressful. He said there is no inbetween. Every few minutes Larry Smith said something that everybody hears throughout their lives, advice from others. He says everyone tells you to follow your dreams then says how that is impossible. He does this throughout to keep you interested and make you think more. Another rhetorical strategy he uses is humor. Larry Smith is is an older gentleman and I felt like his voice just made you laugh. He talked about failure throughout but was able to keep it lighthearted. He told you how you are going to fail in life and that everything you do you will not become successful but always managed to make you laugh during it. He used real life examples and humor to hook the viewer throughout the talk.

Aaron B

2/13/2014 12:24:45 pm

This was a very good lecture the fact that he was indeed able to make people laugh. he was able to keep people from feeling sad or angry at him or even themselves by keeping the people laughing. But i would like to add that his swaying emotions throughout the video also helped with keeping the audience intrigued. He was able to be very lighthearted throughout this lecture but at times he was also able to switch right over to a more solemn and serious tone in order to get his point across. toward the end of the video you see this the most because he begins to explain that you will inevitably fail at gaining the great career that you want "unless". This was a very interesting lecture and i believe the way that he was able to keep people laughing and keep swaying between emotions really did help keep the audience engaged through the entire lecture.

Meaghan O

2/13/2014 11:18:47 am

I chose "Being young and making an impact" by Natalie Warne (http://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_warne_being_young_and_making_an_impact.html). When Natalie graduated high school, she saw a film called The Invisible Children. This film is about children in Africa that are being kidnapped by Joseph Kony and forced to join his army. She was so moved by this film and she wanted to make a difference. She joined the Invisible Children group which was dedicated to raising awareness for this issue and helping to free the kidnapped children. By the time she was 18, she lead 2,000 people to Oprah's studio and got Oprah to bring national attention to their cause. Natalie used pathos in her speech. She was very emotional throughout her presentation and when she was talking about the children in Africa. She was really able to connect emotionally with the audience. Natalie also used allusion. During her presentation she referenced the 25 year long war in Africa and Martin Luther King Jr. She did this to show the impact one person or one event can have on a person's life.

Michael D

2/13/2014 11:29:26 am

The Ted talks that I watched was "How Schools kill Creativity". I found this quite interesting due to the topic at hand. For many when school comes to mind, one thinks of gaining education and learning new things. However, the a dresser clearly showed that although this is the case, they lack the ability to inspire creativity. If you have several hundred students taking the same course, learning the same materials, creativity and the ability or branch off into their own ideas dies out. The presenter used several rhetorical strategies in order to keep his audience engaged and entertained throughout the speech. His use of metaphor when comparing the importance of creativity and it's lack of motivation throughout the school system to the school actually killing. It made the school system seem designed to only push a curriculum onto the students with complete disregard to their interests or options. Another rhetorical strategy used was that of a rhetorical question. The announcer asks the crowd about certain expectations they would have when viewing the development of their child within the schools they are enrolled in. It became clear when he asked if they'd expect creativity to be allowed in the school system and they all replied yes. However, once he began to prove them wrong, the audience became more intrigued and listened harder to make sense of the acusation. Overall, the announcer gave a great speech and was able to attract the audience and keep their attention throughout the seminar. I enjoyed his presentation thouroughly, and even went on to watch more Ted talks about different topics.

Kevin Loschiavo

2/13/2014 11:33:59 am

The Ted talks video i watched was by Tom chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain. (http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain.html). This video interested me due to one of my hobbies being video games. Initially, the speaker cam rout with a logos method. He gave many different statistics about how much money is put into video games. How much real money players put into the video game to buy objects within the game, etc. The second rhetorical device the speaker used was ethos. People are listening to this man speaking and they are believing him because he is appealing to be a very big gamer. He looks like he has the experience to back up the data he is feeding the audience. This combination of devices really kept the audience engaged because they could believe everything that the was saying. All of the stats that he showed were almost unbelievable, however due to him being a trustworthy source, i believed every single one of them. One stat that stood out to me the most was that the worth of the video game industry is around $84 billion, around 3 times more than the music industry which stands at nearly $28 billion. This video was very informational and gave me insight to video games that have never had before.

Kaleigh B

2/13/2014 11:39:44 am

I chose, “’It’s time for “The Talk,”’ with Julia Sweeney (http://www.ted.com/talks/julia_sweeney_has_the_talk.html). The video was under six minutes and within these six minutes Julia Sweeney was able to talk to the audience about every parents’ worse night mare that had become Sweeney’s reality. This Ted Talk was in the subject category Comedy, and indeed the video was comical from the start. Julia Sweeney had engaged with the audience by her opening statement explaining the background information on her daughter’s report: from reproduction. The first sign that the audience was engaged was when Ms. Sweeney had quoted for her daughter on the confusion of how only females can lay eggs. Once Sweeney hears the comic relief she becomes more comfortable to the audience and goes on with her story about how she probably made a decision that other parents would frown upon, sex. Julia Sweeney successfully tells her story by changing her tone and facial expressions when acting out her and her daughter’s conversation. It’s funny to see, from Julia’s acting skills, how innocent and confused eight year old are. The audience had a good laugh and I believe reassured every parent out there that, you aren't the only one. Julia made and awkward conversation a comfortable and laughable talks with her daughter. Julia’s speech was successful when she was able to talk about a repeatable conversation and use her own personal story. Acting out her daughter and her conversation created imagery and therefore created the comic relief.

Mackenzie M

2/13/2014 11:42:39 am

I listened to the talk "The Fringe Between Benefits of Failure" by J.K. Rowling. Before even starting it, I knew I'd be hooked because I know who J.K. Rowling is and have great respect for her. She starts her speech off with jokes that catch the listeners attention immediately. Within her jokes she adds allusions to her Harry Potter series. For example, she mentions how she has to pretend she is at the "world's largest gryffindor reunion" to get over her nerves, further enticing any fan in the audience and causing many to even cheer. I thought her choice of topic, the benefits of failure, was very interesting, especially considering that the target audience was Harvard graduates who most likely did not think that it was okay for them to fail. For that same reason, though, it was also ingenious because it was something they needed to hear. She draws upon her own experience of "hitting rock bottom", mentioning that she had experienced failure when she was very poor and going through a divorce, but that it had taught her more about herself and gave her an "inner security" that she has never felt through success. Because of these things, her failure played a large role in her writing of Harry Potter, and therefore, helped her to enormous success. Rowling also ends up using pathos, by describing some of the horrible things she saw at one of her first jobs , including reading first-hand accounts of the horrors committed by totalitarian regimes and seeing pictures of and meeting torture victims, in order to effectively tell the audience that they must have compassion for the lives of others and not just their own. She ended with a joke and a quote to make the speech even more memorable.

Eric J

2/13/2014 11:43:18 am

The Ted talk that interested me was "Body parts on a chip" presented by Geraldine Hamilton. (http://new.ted.com/talks/geraldine_hamilton_body_parts_on_a_chip#). Geraldine talked about this new invention in drug testing industry. What they did was recreate a "home" for a certain group of cells and put in bacteria to test out new drugs to see if they are effective. When they recreate a home for a cell, they make it so the same conditions take place in the chip that would take place in the body. For example lung cells are placed on a membrane that separates them from red blood cells like in the human body and this membrane is expanded and contracted like a living lung does. This allows for the cells to operate normally and get the most realistic look at whether the drug is effective or not. One rhetorical strategy used was factual support or logos. She opened up the show by saying a statistic about how the amount of money put into drug testing has greatly increased in the past 15 years but less drugs are coming out. Another rhetorical devise she used was ethos. She talked about what was wrong with animal testing and putting cells on a petri dish. She said that animals don't have to same organs as humans or the same size so the drugs don't always work the same on both parties. The cells on the dish was bad because the cells don't act the same when put in random conditions. So her point was wouldn't it only make sense to test cells that are in there normal "homes" to act normally and appealing to the audience by saying wouldn't they act more normal at home.

Kyle Chudoba

2/13/2014 11:47:17 am

The TED Talk I watched was by Dan Pink and was called "The Puzzle of Motivation." (http://new.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation) This talk was really shocking to myself and very intriguing.Dan Pink started off with a rhetorical strategy that was humor. He created a light-heart tone right off the bat with a joke about his terrible mistake in going to law school. Then he got into the interesting part of the talk about motivation. He used a study conducted of two groups of workers and one was offered a reward and the other wasn't. The goal was to see who could do it faster, and it turns out the incentive group actually took slower. This was an example of logos, the rhetorical strategy that focuses on facts. It was strange to think that the one with motivation took slower, but he went on to conclude that incentives slow down the brain and ability to think. Incentives will increase the physical work, but mind related tasks are slowed by the idea of incentives. He also talks about how business and science are opposites of each other. Business thinks that work will improve if rewards are out there, when however science proves otherwise. I never really knew that until watching this, and was definitely surprised at the results of countless studies. He talks about the economy being weak because of this idea that incentives will slow down the mind's sharpness. This talk was something out of the box for me, and one that I gained a ton of knowledge from.

Brianna Germond

2/13/2014 11:56:43 am

I chose to watch the seminar, The Surprising Science Of Hapiness by Dan Gilbert (https://new.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy) Dan compared that of natural happiness and synthetic happiness. He argued against the idea that the only true happiness can be obtained when we get what we want when actually, we can aquire the same amount of joy through failure as well. Dan used the rhetorical device illusion in the beginning of his speach, looking back at humans 2 million years ago and talked about how the size of our brains have almost tripled since that time. This was effective in openening our minds to understand why we think the way we do. Throughout the rest of the speech Gilbert used logos as a rhetorical device. Being a scientist, he was constantly trying to prove his point using factual evidence and obtained research. An interesting point that Dan makes is that we are made to believe that synthetic happiness is not real because we live in a society that leads us to believe that if we don't get what we want, we can't be happy. They want us to think we need everything to work out our perfect way because if not then we would stop consuming, stop binging, stop feeding into the lies they hand to us. This speech was very effective

Aaron B

2/13/2014 12:00:10 pm

The video that I watched was by Dan Gilbert “The surprising science of happiness”. This talk was interesting to me because it shows that there can be 2 different kinds of happiness in the human mind at any time, and how we as humans deal with them. It shows how our brains make each kind of happiness happen even if we don’t recognize that we are experiencing any sort of happiness. The psychologist that is giving this lecture keeps his audience interested in 2 different ways that seemed very prominent. The first thing that I noticed was that he himself seemed happy. He is able to go through this lecture making people laugh instead of having the audience sit there stoically. He also engages the audience by giving them examples of tests that he has run in the past with people to see how synthetic and natural happiness worked in the brain. This is where I saw the next thing that intrigued the audience. He was able to change the way that he delivered the information so it wasn’t as flat and basic as it could have been. He was able to put energy into what he was saying and make you truly believe the answers that he came up with through these tests. Through the use of Happiness and energy he was able to keep the crowd engaged throughout the entire presentation. His presentation seemed very success full beyond those two rhetorical strategies however. This was a very successful presentation on the subject matter.

Lizz Lizotte

2/13/2014 12:20:29 pm

I watched "Amanda Palmer: The art of asking."
http://new.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking
Amanda Palmer is an artist and a musician. She opened with a humorous anecdote about working as a human statue after graduating from college. With this story, she introduced several themes for her talk. She challenged traditional forms of employment while also thoroughly explaining her inherent need and ability to connect with people. She often made humorous comments on her situations through the years, which made her, as a speaker, more human. This not only made the audience more likely to connect with her, but it also played into her message to everyone to connect with others. Amanda Palmer also used parallelism in relating couch surfing and crowd surfing to explain how beautiful it is to trust people. She used all of this to show the importance of learning to ask for things, despite how vulnerable that can make someone to rely so entirely on other people. She defends this with logos and ethos, using proof of her own success in her own career and her own life that came simply from asking for help.

Clara M

2/16/2014 05:42:08 am

I really enjoyed this talk and I noticed she used long pauses a lot to her advantage. Like you said she uses humor to engage the audience but right after that she will settle down into a more serious series of points and uses pauses to let them sink in.

Steve P

2/13/2014 02:08:58 pm

The Ted Talk that I watched was John Wooden: The Difference Between Winning and Success. (http://new.ted.com/talks/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_winning_and_success) I chose this seminar because I often wonder what it really means to be successful, whether in sports or in life. John Wooden was a former head basketball coach at UCLA, his definition of success is, "peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you're capable." He goes on to talk about how success isn't only measured in wins and loses but if you did your best. He says that there are two things that you need in order to be successful and that is faith and patience. If you truly believe you can be successful then you will become successful and if you are patient and work towards your goals you will become successful. I believe that this is very true because if you will never get immediate results, you must work for a long time before you reach your goals. Also, if you do not believe you can win or be successful then you will never put all of your effort into whatever objective you are trying to reach. John Wooden then goes on to say that we win or lose within ourselves. If you know that you did the best that you could then you have been successful. Mr. Wooden uses allusion to when he coached UCLA to reference what he is talking about. He also uses exaggerations throughout his speech to show how some people believe that successful is based only on winning or losing.

Nick K

2/14/2014 12:01:31 pm

The Ted Talk that i chose to review was Daniel Golemans "Why aren't we more compassionate?" http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_goleman_on_compassion.html In his talk, he discusses the ability of humans to be compassionate. he talks about empathy and how it is the brains way of connecting with those around us and feeling what they are feeling. the idea of sociopaths is that they lack empathy, they do not feel, for example, the pain and suffering of other people. serial killers do not feel the suffering of there victims and feel no pity for their actions. Goleman uses pathos to connect his audience with the people he talks about, such as a homeless man in NY who was struggling to find food. the audience can feel the pain of the man and pities him, where someone who lacks empathy might just ignore the statement or perhaps enjoy the pain of this man. Goleman also uses ethos when he explains that he is a psychiatrist and has studied the ways of humanity for many years. this talk was very informative and i enjoyed his theories of empathy and his descriptions of sociopaths.

Clara M

2/16/2014 05:21:30 am

The TED Talk I chose to watch was Sarah Kay's: If I Should Have Daughter (http://new.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter). The talk was all about spoken word poetry and how Sarah creates it. Sh talks about how she uses it to release feelings and try t figure things out. She also mentions how she teaches students to open up to this form of communication and how important it is and could be to the world and communication in general. Sarah engages the listeners by employing aspects of pathos. She uses emotional and very relate-able topics to engage you. She also uses things like metaphors and similes within the two poems she recites during her talk. The metaphors make the listener think and gives a nice creative element to her poetry. When he talks her tone is very longing like she wants the audience to react. She uses long pauses to let her words sink into the audience. Overall, her talk was very inspiring and was very effective because she engaged the audience very well.

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