ted style

i love presentation zen. it consistently has great info on making good presentations – which has a lot in common with preaching. today they posted on “ted style presentations.” it’s a good post. my favourite part is the detail of the “ted commandments”. the “commandments” are obvious within most all the presentations (which i think you should watch or listen to if you aren’t already). here they are:

1.thou shalt not simply trot out thy usual shtick.
2.thou shalt dream a great dream, or show forth a wondrous new thing, or share something thou hast never shared before.
3.thou shalt reveal thy curiosity and thy passion.
4.thou shalt tell a story.
5.thou shalt freely comment on the utterances of other speakers for the sake of blessed connection and exquisite controversy.
6.thou shalt not flaunt thine ego. be thou vulnerable. speak of thy failure as well as thy success.
7.thou shalt not sell from the stage: neither thy company, thy goods, thy writings, nor thy desperate need for funding; lest thou be cast aside into outer darkness.
8.thou shalt remember all the while: laughter is good.
9.thou shalt not read thy speech.
10.thou shalt not steal the time of them that follow thee.

pretty good stuff to keep in mind.

the science of reflexology?

i promise i’m trying not to ease-drop in on anyone’s conversation but the young lady at the table next to me is verbally puking on the young man at her table concerning the science of reflexology. poor guy can’t get a word in edge-wise even if he wanted to. of course, i don’t think he really has a desire to say anything because he presently looks like a ‘deer caught in headlights.” anyhow i was tempted to break in when she announced that her reflexologist had told her that she was probably going to need a heart transplant in the next 10 years. i have decided to place my headphones on so that i am no longer tempted. i’m all for alternative medicine but telling someone to prepare for a heart transplant because of what you sensed while messaging his/her feet? i can’t go there.