Top 5 TED Talks for Small Business People

by Leanne Schmidt on Feb 22 at 7:04 am

Since 1984, TED has been hosting what is arguably the most inspiring video content the internet has to offer. If you’re in small business, switch on a TEDTalk while you’re brushing your teeth in the morning – you’ll surely have a different perspective throughout your day.

To celebrate the recent TEDxManitoba event, here are the top five TEDTalks for small business people:

1. Eve Ensler on security

Eve Ensler asks, “Why has the focus on security made us feel so much more insecure?” Being obsessed with security hinders us from new experiences, fully understanding who we are, and opening up our mind. Although the people she talks about have suffered greatly, her words have bearing on the small business person or entrepreneur; “They have broken out of the existing frame…their own personal security is not their end goal.”

2. Jeff Bezos: What matters more than your talents

In a Princeton University graduation address, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com makes the case that our character is reflected not in the gifts we’re endowed with at birth, but by the choices we make over the course of a lifetime. His entrepreneurial story will inspire and encourage you as he asks, “Will you follow dogma? Or will you be original?”

3. Joshua Klein on the intelligence of crows

Now here’s a guy thinking like a true entrepreneur. After a 10-year fascination with crows and their intelligent behaviour, Joshua Klein talks about how he invented a crow vending machine, and what it could mean for the future of mutually beneficial systems between humans and perceived “pests”.

4. Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

This talk is good for a chuckle and will also help you better understand your creative self. Were your passions nourished as a child? Or did you have to break free of stigmas to become the small businessperson you are today?

5. Richard St. John’s 8 secrets of success

After seven years and 500 interviews with a variety of TED folk, Richard St. John reveals to us what really leads to success. (Hint, it’s the difference between being a workaholic and a workafolic.)

Have a favourite TEDTalk? Share it in the comments!

Leanne Havelock is the founder of Four Letter Word Media, a copywriting agency based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She’s passionate about writing for the web, and collaborating with like-minds. Follow her on twitter @4letterw0rd.

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