Ted Talk 8 Richard Branson Life at 30,000 feet

From the start this talk was different. It was set up in an interview format where there was a TED representative asking the speaker questions. He started an airline company by selling his record company. (Virgin Records) He sold the company to protect the people who worked for both companies. He says, in response to a question about what the Virgin brand name means, that it is all about costomer satisfaction. Also it is about being different from the established companies while also being able to deliver what people want in products or services. Also for him it is about coming up with new ideas for things. Another thing I take away from this talk is that he talked about giving back to the community. This coming fom a very successful and very rich man is important because it shows that if people want to help then they can and that every little bit helps. From the beginning of the talk I got the feeling that he was a good guy. He seemed very genuine and nice while also being business savvy. His personality was the best technique that he used during the talk. He gave off the feel of being extremely charismatic which I liked a lot. In many of the talks I have seen the people were very stiff and they seemed more like people who are so smart that they get in their own way. He also brought in many personal examples about how he got to be succesful and things that he tried and that sometimes didn't work. I liked this because it made him see so much more human than some of the other people I have watched. He talked about how some of his adventures like trying to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon and how it crashed into the sea. Some of his stories were funny but they all made sense in grand scheme of the world so they were engaging and I didn't find myself zoning out and having to refocus throughout the thirty minute talk. The talk was set up in a very casual way since it was an interview instead of a person preaching their ideas to the crowd. Since it was an interview there was room for the two people talkkng to have a little fun and go into detail in some areas more than others. I think that what matters the most from this talk is not for people to be afraid to go out on a limb and try to achieve a goal because it can turn out really good in the end if you try.

Post 7 George Ayittey Cheetas vs Hippos

The speaker said that there was a new generation of Africans coming into the world, he called them the Cheeta Generation. He said that they stand up to corruption and don't wait for governments to take their time in making decisions, they are the kind of people who do something about the situation. He also said the fate of Africa was on their backs because if they don't take action any more that the people's voice will be crushed and/or forgotten. He also introduces another generation, the Hippos. They are the people who are ruling and many of them are stuck in the past. They complain about what happened a long time ago instead of doing anything about it. He also says that the "begging bowl" of Africa is leaking. 40% of the goods and wealth are exported instead of being put back into the local eonomy. He also states the corruption takes away 148 billion dollars  year in foreign aid. Another fact is that Africa spends 20 million to import food. In the 60s African countries could grow enough food for themselves, and enough to export. But, this is not the fact any more. He says this is the result of horrible leadership, there have been 204 African heads of state. And, when he put the question on an internet forumn the people who answered couldn't think of twenty good ones. The vast majority have failed their people he said. He uses the metaphor of a vampire to show what the governments do, they just suck the wealth out of everything under their control. He also says that things were in good shape before the European powers came and changed the way everything was being done. Watching this talk really made me feel lucky that I have it so good in comparison to so many people in the world. His effective speaking techiques were based on using facts. Many of the facts were very shocking and really make you think about how much is lost each year. To think that hundreds of billions of dollars are being lost each year is hard to think about. Since his presentaion was fact based it was relatively stiff. But, for this topic it worked because the raw facts are more powerful than him trying to casually present them. Also the facts set up his call to action. He says that the hippos are running things and that they have really screwed things up for everone but themselves. At the end of his talk he call upon the cheetas to stand up for the people and to take back Africa one villiage or city at a time. I think that what matters the most from this video is that you can't be afraid to stand up for what you believe in because if you don't you will be swept under the rug and squashed.

Dave Eggers blog six

He said that many kids dont learn well in large class settings. The obvious solution is to get one on one help, this however is not very practical because there aren't enough teachers for this. This problem gave him the idea for an organization that helps people with their English homework. He said that the goal was to get one on one help for kids after school. He gave the fact that if there is thirty to forty hours of one on one help per year is that there is a greater chance for them to succeed. Also the center he created is for all types of kids, not just the ones that need extra help to keep from falling behind. It is also for kids who are advanced and would like another opinion on projects. This is kind of a new spin on tutoring that makes ir acceptable in the eyes of society because normally it is looked down on in a way. The speakers effective techiques icluded his motions and gestures. His motions are very energetic and somewhat wild. They seem unprofessional but they convey his passion for the tutoring centers and desire for them to be more common. He also uses humor to his advantage. For his topic, shcool, which is normally pretty dry, the humor helped engage the audience. It made the audience connect to the topic and not jone out, which is easy to do with dry topics like school or tutoring. His speaking style also made his talk more engaging. He was very informal which was good because it made the talk less stiff. This however was also a negagitve point because he was so random and disorganized it was hard to follow what he was trying to say especially in the beginning of the talk. When he was talking he didn't speak smoothly, he was very stop and go, there were times when he was talking so fast and there were others where all he said was um over and over. I think that the idea means many great things for education and the world. I think that it will help level the playing feild for kids who don't learn well in large classes. I think that it's a great idea that has many possible that can come from it. I do think that if the idea was better presented and maybe a little less tacky it will gain even more notoriety and success.