In his TED Talk, Paul Tasner discussed how he became an entrepreneur at the age of 66.

In his speech, Tasner’s main point was that anyone can become an entrepreneur- even someone who is 70 years old. He discussed how our culture follows a stigma that once someone reaches a certain age, they have to retire, play golf, and babysit their grandchildren. Tasner argued that he was still passionate about his new business and was able to successfully run it. Senior entrepreneurs deserve the same recognition as young entrepreneurs. I thought it was very interesting that only 28% of young entrepreneurs will succeed, while 70% of senior entrepreneurs will succeed. This statistic really stood out to me and worked well to prove Tasner’s point.

This speech helped me realize that it is never too late to start a new career path or delve into a new passion. Tasner used facts, statistics, and personal examples to back his claim that senior entrepreneurs have the ability to achieve greatness.

Tasner’s engagement with his audience served as one of his strengths. He was not robotically spitting information at them; he laughed with them and talked to them. His Talk was clearly an engaging speech, not a presentation. This TED Talk demonstrated to me how a person can make their speech more effective through audience engagement. Tasner’s speech had a nice balance of fact, personal examples, and jokes. There was room for both laughter and enlightenment. The only problem with Tasner’s speech was perhaps his hand motions; he often played with his ring or held his hands in one place. Aside from that, Tasner delivered an excellent Talk that shed light onto a subject not often discussed.

In an acceptance speech for an award he received, Jerry Seinfeld went rogue and tore apart the concept of ‘awards.’ In the first two minutes of his speech, Seinfeld used multiple tactics to make his speech engaging and funny.

As an veteran comedian, Seinfeld has mastered the art of delivery. He keeps eye contact with his audience and makes many gestures with his hands to emphasize his points. He knows when and where to deliver his jokes so they will have the most impact. While Seinfeld did have to glance at his sheet of paper, he knew the basis of his speech and was able to deliver most of it from memory.

Seinfeld’s speech demonstrated clear organization and thought.  He began the speech by quoting a friend. He then discussed why comedians don’t need awards and pointed out how, normally, a comedian would ridicule an awards show. Next, he shared his personal views on awards shows and how he was not happy about accepting the award. At 1:26, Seinfeld stated the purpose of his speech: Awards are stupid. Seinfeld then gave examples of how awards are stupid. By the two minute mark, Seinfeld confirms his belief that awards are meaningless. Throughout the speech, Seinfeld filled his key points with jokes and funny examples, making the speech was both well-organized and funny.

In his speech, Seinfeld used humor and provided realistic observations to persuade his audience. The fact that Seinfeld chose to ridicule awards while accepting an award was in itself funny. Seinfeld got the audience on his side through relating to them and making jokes. By making his audience laugh and helping them relate to his key points (for example, discussing the hotels, real estate offices, and car dealerships), he persuaded them to see awards in a different light.

I think Seinfeld’s acceptance speech was nearly perfect. It was daring, thought-provoking, and entertaining. The one thing that did distract from the speech was Seinfeld’s need to occasionally look down at a piece of paper. I think it could have been even more powerful if he gave the speech like he’d perform a comedy routine: with no notes and more body movement (walking around). However, the speech was still excellent. This was perhaps one of the most effective acceptance speeches every delivered. While it was humorous, it still made valid points about a debatable topic. He used humor to address a thought-provoking concept.

“I wonder if this is… accurate?”

Throughout my years as a student, I’ve occasionally asked myself this question when writing papers. Is this a credible source? Are the data in anyway biased? As I took classes in statistics and psychology,  I found myself asking these questions even more.

I think Kessler calls out a very unaddressed issue in his article. I find myself blindly believing so many things on the Internet because they come from fairly credible sources. However, I should be questioning all research that I find. How was the data collected?  How was the study conducted? Have multiple studies, surveys, polls, experiments, etcetera been conducted? Is there research to back this research?

Good research is essential to a good paper. My argument is the paper’s heart and brain; my research is my paper’s skeletal system. Research holds everything up and structures the paper.

As I continue forming my paradigm shift essay, I will keep this article in mind. As I look for research, I will question it and see if there are multiple sources saying essentially the same thing. I want my argument to be truthful and unbiased; therefore, I will ensure that all sources I use are truthful and unbiased.

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For my Paradigm Shift project, I am analyzing the evolution of Disney princesses. I plan to demonstrate how through each of the three “eras” of Princess movies, the princesses progressively became more influential and realistic role models for young girls. I plan to cover the entire duration of Disney Princess movies, from Snow White (1939) to Moana (2016).

In my essay, I’ll talk about how racial and feminist progress, better storytelling, and changing goals in the making of the movies influenced the evolution of the princesses. In my TED talk, I think I will focus on the storytelling aspect of the change. However, I will also tie in social change and movie making goals.

I chose this shift because I think it is very relevant to our current culture, specifically female culture. As a kid, I loved Disney princesses and saw them as role models. Both younger and older audiences of women are looking up to the Disney princesses. I think their evolution deeply reflects our culture’s views on women throughout the past century. In addition, I think that the princess movies released in the past ten years are creating the best role models for young girls. I think we need to understand the changes that have occurred so we can continue to promote great characters to represent girls and women.

Jean M. Twenge’s article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” offered insight into how iPhones and social media have effected the current adolescent generation. I believe that this article clearly can be categorized as a paradigm shift. The article focused on the rise of smartphones and social media and how this rise caused change in adolescent behavior. Twenge offered many comparisons between “iGen” and past generations. Her article was based on both statistics and an interview with a 13-year-old girl.

A paradigm shift is a transformation that occurred over time. Twenge discussed the transformation that occurred between Generation X and iGen: members of iGen were less likely to desire independence, date, hang out with friends, have sex, and get enough sleep. However, they were more likely to feel lonely, feel left out, and have suicidal thoughts. Twenge linked this drastic change to the introduction of the iPhone and social media. Twenge evaluated teen behavior with smartphones and explained how this behavior affected them as a generation.

Twenge clearly labeled a shift in behavior between teens of iGen and teens of past generations. She then offered a plausible cause for this shift: smartphones and social media. This article can be considered a paradigm shift because Twenge evaluated a shift, proposed a cause for the shift, and backed her claims with credible research.