I asked her, "what is your TED talk title?"
A TED talk is a (usually inspiring) talk given in a conference held by a nonprofit organization devoted to Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED). Most talks are limited to (up to) 18 minutes, so the speaker has to deliver his/her central idea in a concise, yet communicating, and even inspiring, manner to the audience. Most speakers manage to do so, and the talks are fun to listen.
Link to TED talk site https://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector
Since communicating scientific ideas and research stories is very similar to a TED talk, I've read a book titled "how to deliver a TED talk", along with similar books on presentation. Sometimes I ask myself and imagine what would be my TED talk.
Thanks to the exercise, I learned to use two perspectives when I listen to a TED talk.
One perspective is as a listener; being informed, entertained, educated, or even inspired or convinced to take action by the talk.
Another perspective is as a speaker. I imagine what experience brought the speaker to his/her current position, how the speaker worked hard to distill the central idea or concept, why he/she is doing it, and how he/she is trying to communicate the idea better.
Since I am not him/her, it takes lots of imagination that may not necessarily be accurate on my side. But it is okay.
This is similar to going to eat at a restaurant. We can just be a consumer, who eat and pay. We may or may not leave a review at an online review site later, playing a little critic.
But if you are a chef yourself, or involved in a similar restaurant business, you may pay attention to the food, to the atmosphere, to the guests, to the business,...... you'd have entirely different perspective and depth in observation and appreciation. Such attention may help you getting paid as a professional in your own business.
You can use the same thinking in many other things, like watching a movie as an audience or as a director/producer. It is switching outsider and insider in your thinking.
I'd tell myself; Don't just be a listener or a consumer. Have a perspective of a speaker. And, to be a speaker in a TED conference, you have to be a doer or a creator yourself, long before you become a speaker. No one listens to your opinion if it is not backed up by your own actions. (Or, I am cautious in evaluating who is speaking the opinion as well as what is spoken. If you want to be rich, do you seriously listen and follow the money advice by your dirt poor grandpa? You'd have to do things beyond his advice, don't you think?).
Having two perspectives helps your understanding, appreciation, and your own doing which counts most.
After you pile up your actions that speak, then, you may have your own TED talk.
