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The LXD: In the Internet age, dance evolves … | Video on TED.com.

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I love the presentations made at the TED conference. You probably also know that I love storytelling/teaching/presenting/etc. So when Presentation Zen talks about the the ten commandments that TED gives its speakers… well it’s pure gold. Read on and click through for some fascinating examples

Presentation Zen: Making presentations in the TED style.

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.

The 2009 TED conference recently concluded, and I’ve been slowly looking at some of the video. The video embedded  below is of Jose Abreu. Abreu founded a youth Orchestra called El Sistema (The System) that has transformed the lives of many Venezuelan children. He’s also the winner of this year’s TEDPrize

Jose Abreu on kids transformed by music | Video on TED.com.

I would love to take a similar idea and adapt it to rural Jamaica. Quite frankly, it’s probably something that would work pretty well on the East Side of St. Paul, or in North Minneapolis.

So I have the TED talks on my feed and I found this fascinating talk on the psychological differences  between liberals and conservatives. And just a note before we begin, yes this is an election year, but I must point out for the sake of this talk that liberal and conservative are not the same as democrat and republican.

Check the video out below.

Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives | Video on TED.com.

The short version of this is that there are 5 psychological foundations for morality, “1) harm/care, 2) fairness/reciprocity (including issues of rights), 3) ingroup/loyalty, 4) authority/respect, and 5) purity/sanctity” (as described on the associated YourMorals.org website). And that the difference that their research has found indicates that those who are politically conservative value the latter 3 significantly more than liberals. Haidt doesn’t believe that one point of view is better than the other, but instead urges us to see beyond our own “moral matrix” and understand the value that the other side brings to the conversation.

For those of you who are interested in crafting movements/messages to make the world a better place, check out the video, and think about how the movements and messages you create are pitched. If we are going to make the entire world a better place, then we need to get the entire world involved.

Secondly, I’m curious about the psychological profiles of the people who read the blog. Go to YourMorals.org and take the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (it won’t take long I promise you). Come back and post your scores. Here are mine

• Harm/Care: 3.8
• Fairness: 3.8
• Loyalty: 2.4
• Authority: 1.8
• Purity: 2.9

Patrick Awuah on educating leaders | Video on TED.com.

One of the reasons, from a ministry perspective, why I think the work that we’re doing on campus is so important is that these are the students who will determine what the world looks like over the next 20, 30 or 50 years. It is important for our world that students graduate committed to serving humanity, to impeccable integrity and, although this is not what Patrick Awuah talks about, to serving God.

I think that Awuah is on the right path, and I wish that more schools in Jamaica would follow his lead.

If you have 20 Minutes, you should watch this talk by Benjamin Zander:

I love this talk. Benjamin Zander, as he talks about Classical Music and teaches an audience of 1600 to love and understand Classical Music as well as gives us insight into leadership in 20 minutes. In some ways he does this by taking the big and the complicated and plays it with one buttock. What he does in his talk, is the same thing that he does when he’s playing. He doesn’t have an “impulse” on every possible point, or theoretical aspect of the piece, but instead gives us what it means, and shows us the line, not the individual notes.

I think that sometimes when we are dealing with ministry, activism or any other endeavor to lead others, we tend to be like the seven year old piano player. We put an impulse on every technical aspect of the vision that we are casting and the life that we are calling people to, and in doing so we kill it. Here’s a tip for you. If someone is trying to convince you to change your lifestyle, the best way to kill their argument is to nitpick it. Sometimes, we save our audience the trouble.

I think that part of ministry is to take the big, the complicated, the technical, and make it small, simple and evocative, and then to always keep that evocative, small, and simple truth in mind so that whenever we are tempted to make it about the individual notes, or aspects of the vision, we dont.

via Presentation Zen