The Vancouver move, my favorite talk & the 20 most popular talks

For the last few years TED has become a regular talking and reference point for me with all the new and innovative ideas being shared by extremely talented people. I’m especially excited for the conference this year (in March) because it is being held in my home town of Vancouver! In celebration, I want to share the reason why TED decided to move, some popular talks that anyone new to TED can watch to learn what all the hype is about and share my personal favorite talk.

TED has spent five years in Long Beach, but have decided to try a new space in Vancouver, a city that’s itself an inspiration — cosmopolitan, energetic, innovative, yet with unrivaled natural beauty, surrounded by mountains and water. The conference will be held in the recently completed convention center because it is a truly spectacular meeting space in a beautiful, peaceful corner of the city. TED isn’t moving to accommodate more people — in fact they’re slightly reducing audience size. Vancouver was chosen because it is a venue that can do even more to inspire creative thinking and dynamic ideas.

So what is TED all about? Well with over 1600+ posted talks, each representing an idea worth spreading, it can get fairly daunting. So below are the 20 most-watched talks as of December 2013 which anyone new can use as starting point to see what it’s all about. What really makes this list so incredible is the fact that it spans so many areas of interest, from education to happiness, statistics to creativity, tech demos to illusions. This list revels in the wonders of the human brain, as well as in the incredible creatures of the deep sea, and far beyond.

Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity (2006): 23,510,221 views
Jill Bolte Taylor‘s stroke of insight (2008): 14,343,197
Simon Sinek on how great leaders inspire action (2010): 14,228,854
Brene Brown talks about the power of vulnerability (2010): 12,703,623
Amy Cuddy on how your body language shapes who you are (2012): 12,682,694
Pranav Mistry on the thrilling potential of SixthSense (2009): 12,068,105
Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do (2006): 10,425,014
David Gallo‘s underwater astonishments (2007): 10,266,221
Mary Roach on 10 things you didn’t know about orgasm (2009): 9,435,954
Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation (2009): 9,176,053
Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense (2009): 8,363,339
Dan Gilbert asks: Why are we happy? (2004): 7,788,151
Hans Rosling shows the best stats you’ve ever seen (2006): 7,685,726
Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing your creative genius (2009): 7,593,076
Steve Jobs on how to live before you die (2005): 7,223,258
Susan Cain shares the power of introverts (2012): 6,807,240
Keith Barry does brain magic (2004): 6,371,778
David Blaine reveals how he held his breath for 17 minutes (2010): 6,359,084
Pamela Meyer on how to spot a liar (2010): 6,256,589
Arthur Benjamin does mathemagic (2005): 4,951,918

And finally, my personal favorite TED talk, “If I should have a daughter …” by poet Sarah Kay. Her poems rip at my heart strings and inspire me to be a more creative human being. Sigh. I love her. A little about her: A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool.

I hope this blog and the upcoming TED talks in March inspire you too.

by Liam Loxton