Listening to a speech can go one of two ways. It can be so good that it keeps the viewer engaged the entire time, makes them think, and hopefully leaves a lasting impact on them. Unfortunately, it can also cause one to doze into a day-dream spiral, bob their head in an attempt to stay awake, until the next thing they know, the claps of their peers around them snap them out of their haze and they’ve retained absolutely nothing from the past couple of minutes. This is why I love Tim Urban’s speech titled “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator”. In his talk, Urban acknowledges that he is cursed with the brain of a born procrastinator and that it doesn’t make any sense, but even still, he cannot seem to shake his habits of pushing tasks off until the very last second. He uses humor in his language, but also through his extremely amusing visuals that he made himself. Urban kept my attention for the entirety of his speech, which sets his TED Talk the majority of the rest. I also really like Urbans talk because it is something that I can relate to very very heavily. He explains the process of how my brain works so perfectly, which also makes it more enjoyable to listen to because I can connect so strongly to it.
Urbans passion for his topic is obvious in his speech, which makes me consider what topics I am truly passionate about so that my speech will be as engaging and entertaining as his. I think I either want to talk about the effects of social media on our generation or the secrets to genuine student success. I am leaning more toward the discussion of social media and how it has shaped Gen Z, mainly because it is a topic that I know the majority of the class could relate to. I also just think that social media is a more interesting topic because there are so many more “sub-categories” that go along with it.
There’s endless possibilities for paradigm shifts found in social media. One that comes to mind now is how social media has changed the way people organize their schedules, in the sense that people will make time to take photos at sunset so they can have that “perfect picture” for instagram. I don’t follow this at all but a lot of my friends from home do. Its’ an entire hobby for them, planning their stream. What were you thinking of focusing on?
Urban’s TED Talk sounds really interesting, I love that he acknowledges his procrastination and it seems like an engaging topic. I also think both of your ideas sound great– the effects of social media would certainly be relatable to the audience and it would be interesting to see the shift in effect over time so we can realize how severely our generation is impacted. I also think your second idea would be fascinating, and I’m curious as to what shift over time you would focus on considering the topic of genuine student success.