Looking for TED talks related to creativity and living big? Start here!
/
There are countless terrific TED talks and videos that are interesting for inspiration and information, and are fun to explore.
Here are a few that I highly recommend. Dive in to one that jumps out at you, and return to this list for new options from time to time.
Brené Brown is my hero. She is brilliant, inspiring and a fantastic presenter. She has helped millions of people to understand that when you allow yourself to be vulnerable it leads to living a whole-hearted, rich life.
TEDxHouston, Listening to Shame (2010)
TED (2012) — her follow-up talk on Listening to Shame
3. If you can’t get enough, also listen to her RSA talk on The Power of Vulnerability
And, you can learn about RSA here.
Brené has continued to provide a huge number of books and content. Google and explore more of her work!
Check out incredible examples of How Frustration Can Make Us More Creative. The stories that Tim Harford shares will blow you away — and inspire you to bring the power of these surprising approaches into your life!
David Kelley is the co-author of Creative Confidence. His TED talk, How to Build Your Creative Confidence, will whet your appetite for the excellent book that David co-authored with his brother, Tom Kelley.
Shawn Achor’s TED Talk, The Happy Secret to Better Work is a great talk about happiness and includes wonderful, simple ways to increase happiness.
Neil Pasricha presents an inspiring TED talk called The 3 A's of Awesome. If you’re wondering about the power of gratitude, this is just the ticket.
This video of John Cleese giving a lecture on Creativity is simply brilliant. He presents 5 factors to make your life more creative, and does so with his signature humor and great insight.
Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED talk, My stroke of insight, is a fascinating and enlightening talk by a brain scientist who had a massive stroke and lost the facilities in the left hemisphere of her brain. Her description of what she experienced as the stroke began, and what she learned about how the right and left hemispheres of all of our brains work, are specific and amazing. You may also want to listen to her narration of the audio book, My Stroke of Insight.
Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk is titled Do Schools Kill Creativity?. He has a breezy style while sharing big, thought-provoking ideas. He makes a compelling case that creativity is as important as literacy, describes the way we “grow out” of creativity as we go through the educational system, and much more.
Another TEDx talk brilliant extends some of the ideas in Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk, but with a unique spin. Then 13-year-old Logan LaPlante brilliantly made the case for (and shared components entailed in) Hacking Education for a Happy, Healthy Life. He shares great ideas about creativity, too.
J.K Rowling first focused on the benefits of failure, and then the importance of imagination, in her commencement speech at Harvard in 2008. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
In her TED talk, Your Elusive Creative Genius, Elizabeth Gilbert (author of the best-selling book Eat Pray Love) reflects on the expectations for artists and geniuses in the wake of unexpected success. She shares her compelling experiences about what it's like for her to create, as well as her engaging ideas about how creativity works.
I was delighted to receive a link to this TEDx talk, Simple Gratitude, by Louie Schwartzberg, who is an award-winning filmmaker after writing my blog post on gratitude. His talk addresses — and shows — the majesty and impact of nature, and how it sheds light on happiness. The bottom line is all about gratitude.
Elizabeth Lesser’s TED talk, Say Your Truths and Seek Them in Others, is filled with compelling stories and great wisdom about the healing that happens — and love that grows — when we courageously speak our truth.
Leave a comment with other inspiring, creatively-relevant TED talks you love!
