Posts tagged as:

TED

TED’s Jane McGonigal on Taking Gameplay Values Into the Real World

by Megan M. on March 21, 2010

This may have been my favorite presentation at TED 2010. (It’s hard to say, because I’ve said that about three of them and I keep changing my answer.) There is no doubt, however, that Jane McGonigal floored me with her concept of gaming values and how they could be applied not only to a gamer’s in-game experience but to the outside world and the problems we need to solve. Her premise is that in the tens of thousands of hours spent in games like World of Warcraft each individual nearing-professional gamer is developing skills that can be applied directly to real life problems if only we can bridge the gap between game and reality.

Her ideas resonated most powerfully with me, I think, because she introduced a concept I hadn’t thought of before. I have here-to-fore valued games as brain exercise time, wrinkle-building time. I knew that to some extent the very skills that make someone a brilliant gamer are the same skills that I use every day in my own entrepreneurial thrill-seeking: Enormous optimism. A taste for impossible foes. A craving for something… epic. But at the same time, I thought the gamer needed to be taken out of the game (at least for a little while) and put into the world, to learn to apply the same skills there. It had never occurred to me that the world should simply be… the game. Despite the fact that the world has been my game, all along.

And while I was trying to ignore my frustration watching friends funnel valuable energies into a game instead of the amazing things they could be doing with their lives for the world around them, Jane McGonigal was out there bridging that gap. Halfway through, I was gaping at the television. By the time she finished, I was planning new projects — because you can’t just leave something like that. You have to do something about it.

After watching her presentation, I sure hope you feel the same way. Watch it twice if you have to. Because then, I mean, who could stop us?

TED + Toastmasters = ToasTED (My Tiny TED Wish, and How You Can Help)

by Megan M. on February 20, 2010

When I started attending Toastmasters originally, I knew I wanted something out of it that wasn’t precisely Toastmasters. In fact, the very first thing I said to someone else about it… was that I wanted to learn TED style speaking — not simply Toastmasters style speaking.

I still feel that way, even to the extent that I’m not completely sure Toastmasters can serve that purpose for me. But I’m paused there, because I still think it’s very possible that Toastmasters can — if I get seriously clear about what I want.

I don’t want the structure of a Toastmasters speech. I don’t want the hierarchy of steps, the lessons learned in order. They are valuable, there’s no doubt about it, but that’s not what I want right now. I want a different kind of learning. I want a heart-centered learning, with Toastmasters precepts added into the mix. I want something based on TED… with consideration given to the kind of “great speaking” guidelines that Toastmasters excels in. I may find out that the basic structure is necessary for some people (or all people) to learn before moving on to the emotion. But I am not convinced of this.

My reticence here probably comes from the fact that I learn by feeling things out. I’m certainly biased!

What I really want to do is ask TED if there is room for a set of TED events dedicated to the kind of speaking that is done at TED. A kind of TEDx with guidelines for speaking, for instance. Hell — we could do it just by creating the guidelines! There’s no need for a separate event, just for the kind of open acceptance that would allow new speakers to try and learn.

Who knows if they’d go for it — but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have to be TED-affiliated to be intensely valuable. My urge is to name it, and then do it. (Or vice versa. Why not?) So that’s what we’re going to do. God knows, I’ve suggested enough names and concepts over the years that it would easily fit into our usual repertoire.

(Small aside: I think ToasTED is a brilliantly funny option — thanks, Tim! — but I suspect that using that name without being sanctioned by Toastmasters and TED themselves might not be all that polite. Also, I was joking about turning it into a drinking game…)

There are so many things we could do with this, it blows my mind. We could meet via video; it could be an internet-wide meme, for that matter. We could meet in person, we could make our own small TEDx events or private meet-ups and watch TED talks and refine our speaking techniques. We could take over our local Toastmasters meetings, to show them how striking and important TED’s work is — and what they might do to integrate those values into their own speaking.

If you are familiar with Toastmasters and TED — even in passing, or enough to offer your thoughts — I want your input.

What guidelines would we provide for TED-specific speakers?

What process would best teach someone to speak movingly at TED, provided they have the right kind of moving material?

Could we also present guidelines on the actual material?

And I need to do a bit more digging, but… does TED already provide a set of guidelines that would get us going towards this goal?