Five TED Talks #Eventprofs Should Watch

TEDx is quite possibly one of the world’s most influential conference brands. A non-profit organisation, TED gives communities around the globe the framework to create inspiring events that feature speakers from all sorts of disciplines and cultures, all seeking a deeper understanding of the world. TED believes passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world.

Event professionals can also benefit from these inspiring and thought-provoking talks! By taking the time to listen to some of the interesting TED speakers, we can learn new ideas, concepts and motivations that can enhance our lives, both from a personal and work perspective.

So in the true spirit of TED, we have gathered five talks featuring ideas worth spreading… Bookmark this post as you’ll want to come back to watch all of them when you have time.

1. Shawn Achor | The happy secret to better work (12 mins)

We all want to be happy, but when you work in such a fast-paced, hard working environment like the events industry, is it possible to experience true happiness? This fast-talking, hilarious speaker provides an insight into how we need to change the way we perceive our external world in order to achieve happiness. Shawn outlines how the majority of us believe if we work harder we will be more successful, if we are more successful we will be happier. But if we are always striving for greater success, can we ever truly achieve happiness? Shawn shows us how we need to retrain our brains to be more positive and by doing so we will find we are more productive, fulfilled and happy not only in our work, but our entire lives.

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2. Arianna Huffington | How to succeed? Get more sleep (4 mins)

How many of you working in the events industry find yourself burning the candle at both ends? Working long hours, overnight bump-ins, early morning set-ups, or simply waking up at 3am stressed about your to-do list… Arianna is no stranger to stress and long hours, but in this great little talk she admits that she has found the secret to living a more productive, more inspired and more joyful life – more sleep!

3. Nigel Marsh | How to make work-life balance work (10 mins)

You might start to see a theme here, but honestly event professionals can easily find their work-life balance a little out of kilter. Nigel lays out an ideal day balanced between family time, personal time and productivity, but admits you cannot achieve it all the time. He does however offer up some ideas to strike a balance that if we all adopted would lead to a more productive and happier society – an idea definitely worth spreading.

4. Steven Johnson | Where good ideas come from (17 mins)

Good ideas are often thought to appear to individuals in a flash of inspiration, a result of a eureka-like moment. Steven believes that this is not the case and shows how by creating the ideal environment good ideas will be generated – a concept worth considering when planning team building, conference, meeting and learning events.

5. David Grady | How to save the world (or at least yourself) from bad meetings (6 mins)

Unproductive and unnecessary meetings – sound familiar, event planners? David’s hilarious insight into the epidemic of bad meetings will have you reconsidering how you plan and attend internal meetings.