Monday, March 10, 2014

My favorite TED-like Talk

My conversation with CDR Heritage, the fearless one

Hugh MacLeod's amazing work is available at www.gapingvoid.com

I am a huge fan of TED talks and try to watch one each day for inspiration. This "TED-like" talk is a real good one from one of our Shipmates - Commander Sean Heritage.  I've wanted to do one of these TED Talks myself and read the book about How to Deliver A TED Talk.  Doing so requires one to be fearless and fortunately Sean Heritage is exactly that. Below is his introduction to the talk.  It's only 19 minutes long and is well worth your time.

"It was late December of 2012 and I had just finished my list of goals for 2013, or so I thought. The week prior to finalizing my list, a mentor had lent me the book How to Deliver A TED Talk.  He had known how much I enjoy watching TED Talks and that I had a desire to deliver one of my own someday.  During the drive to the Maryland Shore to celebrate New Year’s Eve with friends, I decided to take advantage of being a passenger and read the book. It didn’t take me long to decide that my list for 2013 was no longer complete.  I needed to add “Deliver a TED-like Talk” to the list. Given how selective TED is, I knew better than to commit to a true TED Talk, so I went with a “TED-like Talk” (goals ought to be both meaningful AND achievable, right?). Earlier in the year, I had lobbied my leadership to allow me and a couple others to create a TEDx Forum for the Navy’s Cryptologic Community (of which I am a proud member), but due to budget constraints I was understandably unable to get my seniors to “Yes”. Undaunted, I knew I would be able to find an opportunity to get outside of my comfort zone and deliver a TED-like talk to a willing audience. Sure enough, in February one of my proteges (who like so many others double as mentor) identified an opportunity and brought it to my attention. The National Security Agency (NSA) was hosting a TED-like Forum by the name of “Kinetics”. Committed to walk the walk, there was no way I was going to let this opportunity pass me by.  I pitched the Kinetics Team on my concept and they accepted immediately."

 You can watch the video HERE.

Check out Hugh MacLeod's amazing work HERE.





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