TED talks are fabulous sources of inspiration, education, and motivation. This author, however, sees the world of webinars, webcasts, and virtual classrooms through his own webinar-colored glasses.

Short of doing my own TED talk (on the bucket list, for sure), here are a few thoughts from others’ talks.

 

Garr Reynolds – Lessons from the bamboo (not for reasons you think!)

TED’s words in a nutshell

His approach, which embraces the Zen tenets of restraint, simplicity and naturalness, is clearly making an impact.

The webinar angle

Be environmentally aware, and learn from it. Simplicity as beautiful. Most webinar presentations are neither are of the uniqueness of the medium nor simple and beautify.

 

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

TED’s words in a nutshell

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

The webinar angle

As I saw in one tweet, “Webinar is the new water boarding.” Why? In-person events benefit from creativity, don’t they? Tap your creativity to turn 45-minutes of blah-blah into a “cool!” experience.

 

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

TED’s words in a nutshell

Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?”

The webinar angle

Many webinars fail to clearly demonstrate the answer to, “Why should I invest of my precious life to listen to you instead of working on email while your webinar is background noise?”

 

Jeff Han demos his breakthrough touchscreen

TED’s words in a nutshell

Jeff Han shows off a cheap, scalable multi-touch and pressure-sensitive computer screen interface that may spell the end of point-and-click.

The webinar angle

This talk was done in 2006. Fast forward six years, and last quarter Apple sold more iPads than PC makers sold PCs. If you’re not thinking about instructional or experiential design for your webinars now, what happens when they attend from their Samsung Galaxy S3? Get ahead of the game, don’t fall behind it.

 

Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do

TED’s words in a nutshell

Tony Robbins discusses the “invisible forces” that motivate everyone’s actions — and high-fives Al Gore in the front row.

The webinar angle

Most of us aren’t in the liberal arts, “knowledge for the sake of knowledge” business. Related to, but separate from answering, “Why should I watch and participate,” we also need people to take action on what we teach, preach, or share. Give a clear and compelling call to action.