Video: The Arc of TED Talks

In the current issue of the magazine, Nathan Heller explains how the Technology/Entertainment/Design (TED) conference franchise has turned ideas into an industry. The organization’s “TED Talks” lecture series makes the conference’s ideas publicly available on the Web, where they have received over eight hundred million views to date. Heller writes that TED is shaped to make ideas “fit for popular consumption,” and he notices certain elements that many of these talks include: “an opening of direct address, a narrative of personal stake, a research summary, a précis of potential applications, a revelation to drive it home, and an ending that says, Go forth and help humanity.” We break down the arc of TED talks in this video:

Read Nathan Heller’s Culture Desk post on the five key TED talks.