TED Talks Archives - Business Matters

5 TED Talks to get you motivated

Amy Sowerby — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 08:02:41 +0000

The rapidly growing introducing of TED Talks provide you with applicable knowledge, useful information and interesting outlooks on various topics in under 20 minutes. The easily accessible clips act as inspiration for you to spark new, fresh ideas, along with sharing a different perspective on many matters from endless successful individuals.

Find your drive

What is your focus? Take a listen on how Tony Robbins helps to explain why we do what we do and how “invisible forces” happen to take some form of role.

Don’t doubt yourself

Elizabeth Gilbert shares her personal story on rebuilding confidence after failure, advising different ways to push yourself forward. She urges you to find your ‘home’ and work to the best of your ability to stay there.

Stay happy

If you’re feeling a bit down in the dumps, let Stefan Sagmeister offer his view on conscious and unconscious happiness, as well as seven rules that everyone can make note of to seek a feeling of contentment.

Don’t let success be your limit – money isn’t everything.

Richard St. John expresses the importance of sustaining success. Although reaching success is amazing, sustaining it is the struggle as the satisfaction of gaining success can be pleasing enough. Richard speaks of his past and proves how money fails to buy happiness.

It’s never too late to try something new.

Has there always been something you’ve wanted to do? Matt Cutts discusses his 30 days challenges and how his memorable moments increased his self-confidence and fulfilment. Matt finds that sustainability is gained through small changes and urges you to give it a try.

Ted Talks: Bill Gates explains why teachers need real feedback

Business Matters — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 10:00:59 +0000

Being one of the most influential and inspiring men of all time, Bill Gates has spent a large proportion of his life trying to help others. Now, through this Ted talk, Gates is trying to improve the standard of teaching and education.

Until recently, many teachers only got one word of feedback a year: “satisfactory.” And with no feedback, no coaching, there’s just no way to improve. Bill Gates suggests that even great teachers can get better with smart feedback. Gates also lays out a program from his foundation to bring it to every classroom.

These startling statistics shed light on what the current state of teaching and education is like. Through this 10 minute talk, Gates looks to spearhead reform and improve the state of education, starting with the teachers.

Do you really need a business plan?

Bill Morrow — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 13:29:21 +0000

Through his growing age and increasing grumpiness, Bill Morrow of Angels Den has become fed up with the masses of business plans he receives. His complaints focus around the point that a business plan is not indicative of a viable business. instead, it shows their capability to make a spreadsheet on Excel and that you are incredibly good at guestimmating what these numbers mean.

He also notes that few Angel investors actually spend any time actually reading business plans. So while many accelerators and grant programs ask for them, in many respects it is a pointless exercise as team and concept are more important.

In a casual but honest presentation, Morrow explains why business plans are a waste of both time and money for companies and investors.

Ted Talks: How great leaders inspire action by Simon Sinek

Business Matters — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 13:27:35 +0000

People don’t buy ‘what you do’, they buy ‘why you do it’.

Simon Sinek presents a simple but powerful model for how leaders inspire action, starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers — and as a counterpoint Tivo, which (until a recent court victory that tripled its stock price) appeared to be struggling.

This engaging Ted Talk looks into how some of the most inspiring people throughout history became great leaders, and why they were so different to everyone else.

The greatest TED Talk ever sold – Morgan Spurlock

Business Matters — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 10:29:08 +0000

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock delves into the world of marketing and product placement before urging you to accept the idea of ’embracing transparency’.

As traditional with Spurlock, the filmmaker who gave us Supersize Me previews a short film where he analyses the world of marketing from a first hand perspective.

Looking into some of the biggest, household companies, Spurlock holds meetings with countless CEO’s to gain an insight into the influential world of brand marketing on his quest to make a completely sponsored film about sponsorship.

Unconventional and quirky, this 20 minute mini-documentary is just as eye-opening as it is funny.

Ted Talks: If you’ve had sex, you know how to sell by Mace Horoff

Business Matters — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 13:56:51 +0000

Mace Horoff’s unique and innovative speech which uncovers sales tactics that people don’t realise they have. Delivered in the way of anecdote, Horoff’s funny and thought provoking talk teaches you how to sell by putting into the context of ‘selling yourself’ to another consenting adult.

Ted Talks: The Science of Sales by Donald Doane

Business Matters — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 13:56:15 +0000

Donald Doane, co-founder and current CEO of ConnectYard, speaks about typical challenges any business faces, and guides you through the stages of business. From crawling and getting started, to flying and maintaining a company, Doane explores the concepts of learning how to create a repeatable and scalable sales process that will take their company from an idea through to profitability.

How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes by Adam Leipzig

Business Matters — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 08:30:48 +0000

Adam Leipzig explains how a reunion at Yale University taught him how to discover his purpose in life, after discovering that 80% of his former classmates were unhappy with their lives.

5 questions in 5 minutes, this short video helps define what success means to you, and helps you decide where you want your life to go.

‘The psychology of self-motivation’ by Scott Geller

Business Matters — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 10:03:52 +0000

Presented in a way of small anecdotes and metaphors, Professor Geller demonstrates how a simple change of perspective can teach you the fundamentals behind becoming self-motivated, shifting your focus of being a ‘failure avoider’ to becoming a ‘success seeker’.

Both personal and touching, Professor Geller’s lessons are truly inspiring, giving you a boost in motivation and a sense of capability from the second you finish the video.

How to manage for collective creativity

Business Matters — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 09:59:57 +0000

What’s the secret to unlocking the creativity hidden inside your daily work, and giving every great idea a chance?

Harvard professor Linda Hill, co-author of “Collective Genius,” has studied some of the world’s most creative companies to come up with a set of tools and tactics to keep great ideas flowing — from everyone in the company, not just the designated “creatives.”

For more information on this talk or TED click here.

Got a problem? First, tell me how you make toast

Business Matters — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 08:10:57 +0000

Tom Wujec loves asking people and teams to draw how they make toast, because the process reveals unexpected truths about how we can solve our biggest, most complicated problems at work. Learn how to run this exercise yourself, and hear Wujec’s surprising insights from watching thousands of people draw toast in his latest Ted talk.

Image: Toast via Shutterstock

Stop wasting your time with meetings

Business Matters — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 09:16:16 +0000

Well your not alone, according to David Grady an epidemic of bad, inefficient meetings plague the business world. This epidemic, known as Meaningless Acceptance Syndrome (MAS), is fast becoming commonplace.

Here Grady gives us some ideas on how to avoid MAS during his latest TED talk.

Image: Bored via Shutterstock