The video I chose to review is Neil Hilborn and his slam poetry piece called “OCD”. I decided to go this route because while speeches require everything we discussed in class, poetry performances utilize a bit of theatrics that I think is definitely important when preparing to deliver a TED talk. Hilborn has pretty locked in eye contact, and while we don’t see the audience, it is clear from their applause they at least fill a large room. Good eye contact helps engage a large crowd, and avoids the feeling of talking to a sea of people. His volume is great- but sometimes becomes too much. There aren’t any instances where what he says is too quiet to understand, but a few moments his voices rises in volume over what I personally would view as a smooth performance. I attribute this to his emotional connection with his topic. His rate of speaking varies highly in his poem. There are occasions where he slows down for emphasis, in his closing lines and in some of the more important pieces of information he wanted to hit on throughout. In contrast, he sometimes speeds through certain pieces. Also, his organization was fantastic in my opinion. They way he describes the girl he was with earlier gives the audience someone to reference as he begins to tell the story further. In addition, I like the way he looped back to a few of his certain tics he has at the end regarding the locked doors and lights left on. Overall I think it was a job well done, and think there is a lot of good behavior to pull from this as I prepare for my TED talk.

Video Curtesy of: https://youtu.be/vnKZ4pdSU-s

I think this author took an incredibly personal and hasty stance on the topic of incorrect studies. I agree with very little that he hd to say, and one of the only things I could genuinely get behind was his statement of “Causation does not equal correlation”. I understand the concern surrounding scientists being unable to replicate their original experiments, I understand that there should be a more representative sample of individuals participating in these under-grad studies, I understand Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers may not be your go to book club book, but there’s a way to go about discussing this. There are few people who can stand on the same playing field as these scientists who deliver us information about human behavior. There are even fewer people who can speak to their own personal findings. I think it is incredibly difficult to believe a man writing for Wall Street Journal to offer flimsily backed rebuttals of theories given by scientists and doctors. The key word scientists use is theories. It is nearly impossible to have a scientist determine something as fact, and if facts are what Mr. Kessler is looking for, he should stick to writing. I will be wary of my sources when conducting my research for my essay, but will not be shying away from scientific studies because a few argue their validity.

Photo Curtesy of: https://www.wsj.com

The paradigm shift I have chosen to address is the swing in power for women. More specifically, the #MeToo movement and newfound support women have been met with as they step forward with their experiences with sexual assault. A subsection of what I will be addressing includes the increased leniency men have been given when in positions of power. I will be hitting on specific examples of this, such as the 2016 election where Hillary Clinton had a platform to spread ideas and a semblance of power, but Trump was swarmed with sexual assault accusations, among many others, and was met with little consequences. In addition, with Brett Kavanaugh and Dr Ford, a woman with an education and a platform as well, speaks out in addition to multiple other women as well, but Kavanaugh in a slew of accusations gets a half-assed FBI investigation that didn’t even include his accuser. This topic is important because of the magnitude of the scope. The effects of sexual assault permeate much more of the population than just the victims, and it shouldn’t be something that gets swept under the rug if the victim is a man or a woman. Over just the last 15 years, the #MeToo movement has been snowballing, gaining traction and support, and won’t stop until all those who would like to speak have spoken.

Photo Curtesy of: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/metoo-movement-has-lawmakers-talking-about-consent_us_5a6758dfe4b06bd14be5067f

After reading the article presented to us, titled “HAVE SMARTPHONES DESTROYED A GENERATION?” by Jean M. Twenge, I have come to a conclusion that the introduction of smartphones into our society has resulted in many paradigm shifts. In particular, the one I would like to pinpoint is that of high depression rates in teenage girls. This is a topic that hits close to home for me, because while reading the article, the story ran parallel to mine. The high rates of smartphones and depression walk hand in hand linked by social media. The idea that exclusion is so easily promoted over Snapchat, Instagram, and other sites is an understatement in my opinion. Its like a bomb goes off every time theres an event. Your feed is flooded for days with the same individuals at the same event, all showing their followers that they went out, or celebrated a birthday. I agree with Twenge, if you’re not invited, you’ll be painfully aware as you’re bombarded by snapchats and texts and instagram posts depicting in full detail what you weren’t invited to and can’t participate in. The advancement of technology in and within itself is a paradigm shift, and the tributaries that stem from this river such as social media and accessibility carry a heavier weight. The shift in suicide rates and depression amongst young girls has a direct tie to social media consumption and participation, and this is due to the shift of technology itself that puts iPhones in the hands of 13 year olds. Twenge’s article introduces an array of paradigm shifts comparing Gen X and the baby boomers to the iGen kids in mental health, technology accessibility, suicide rates, ideas of hanging out, and dating standards among others.

Photo curtesy of: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cell-phone-reviews/apple-iphone-x-review/