We would all benefit from learning how TED talks are crafted. This is useful because the primary goal is to change us, through education, and not primarily via edutainment. For starters, they strictly limit a TED talk to 18 minutes, no exceptions. The reason is due to limitations of the human brain in the 21st century. They strongly encourage presenters to land 1-3 main ideas. The max is 3 because that is all that a human's working memory can handle. They tell presenters to use both the left brain and the right brain to engage listeners. This means to have data/illustrations, but to drive the point home with an emotional connection that leaves the audience begging for more. And, of course, as classroom teachers, we also need an assessment of some kind at the end in order to determine if everyone was paying attention, because statistically, at least 25% were not, and maybe as much as 75%.
