Tavi Gevinson's TED Talk

http://www.ted.com/talks/tavi_gevinson_a_teen_just_trying_to_figure_it_out.html
Tavi Gavinson's TED talk was just so... Relatable. I don't know why, I think it was all of of it. Everything about it, starting with the fact that she was 15 when she gave it (she might still be, I don't know). But it was fun to listen to, unlike a lot of the other ones I have watched. It was about fashion, and feminism, and growing up. It also was about books or movies, and the characters in them. It was like she was talking about everything that I am interested in.

The main topic of her talk was feminism, and growing up. It was how people expect unrealistic things when it comes to women, and girls have a hard time finding themselves amongst those expectations. It's true when you think about it- a lot of female characters in books or movies are very flat, as she said. Many women have one or two traits, such as Hermione in Harry Potter- she is intelligent, and she is loyal. But that never changes, throughout all seven books. When realistically, she would have changed more than that. Not to shun Hermione- she is probably one of the characters that I look up to the most in all the books I have read. I feel like I can relate to Hermione- but we are nothing alike. There are so many other things that I do, so many other passions I have, other personality traits. She remains brave and loyal the entire series, and I haven't always been brave and loyal. Truth be told, she is flat, compared to me. (Sorry, Hermione.... I love you...) I really liked the message of Tavi's talk, because was so true- women and teenagers are not just one personality trait, unchanging forever. We are bundles of conflict, and that's okay.

1. My take away from this video is that just because I am a feminist (I do actually consider myself one) doesn't mean I have to be against the whole institution that is being a girl. I think I always knew this, but there were times when I have told myself  'you should disagree with this because it is girly' or 'if you were a feminist, you would do this'. I think the fact that she said this out loud made it clear to me, made me realize that I already knew.

2. I think Tavi's effective speaking techniques were that she was just overall very likable. I realize that this is more a personality trait, but it's true! The way she said things wasn't particularly dynamic, but there were plenty of jokes, and when she messed up, it was like she was talking to the audience, not giving a speech. There are two kinds of speeches- the ones where the audience is a group, separate from the speaker, who is giving a performance, and then there are the ones where the audience it simply a group of people, who the speaker is talking to and interacting with. I personally prefer the second kind- with the first kind, it always seems like they are talking at me, not to me. The second kind was the kind she used, when she messed up her slides, and it made her more likable.

3. Tavi's presentation style was very quirky. You could tell that she had put a lot of work into it, but it was very cute, not especially professional- which fit with her entire theme. There are many TED talks where the presentation just looks like it is someone trying too hard the entire time. Or not trying hard enough. Like the ones where the person mentions the light at the end of the tunnel, and they show a picture of a light at the end of a tunnel. And I'm like.... Okay, you seriously just google imaged 'light at end of tunnel'. How exactly is this helping my TED talk experience? It wasn't that Tavi had put tons of time and effort into her slides, it was that she had put some thought into them. Plus, they made everyone laugh. That is a plus.

4. This message is important to me, and to all girls, because it is about growing up as a girl. It is about finding yourself, which all girls need to do at some point- if it is sooner rather than later, all the power to you! Every girl should know that they don't have to be consistent all the time- it's okay. If every girl realized she could stop trying to live up to unrealistic expectations, there would be a lot less unhappy girls in the world.

Dave Eggers' TED Talk

The first thing I noticed about Dave Eggers? That would be how obviously nervous he was. It was ridiculous. He looked and sounded more nervous than any of the people in all the talks I have seen.... Combined. Be he rolled with it. He didn't ignore the fact that he was nervous. He admitted it to the audience, which was good, because if he hadn't, it would have been weird. It kind of showed off his personality in a good light that he was able to make the audience laugh with him over his nervousness instead of at him.

I loved the topic of his TED talk. It was fantastic. The whole idea of the tutor groups with the funny shops in front was awesome. Although I have never been tutored, I think I would enjoy it if that was where I got to go and hang out every day.

1. I took away his challenge, which I though was great. It got me involved in his speech, even if I wasn't ACTUALLY involved. I also realllllly want to go visit that superhero supply store.

2. Dave Eggers was very nervous, but he rolled with it. He says "I just discover I do this with my hands when I'm nervous" as he held out his hands, which he was rubbing together furiously. While this wasn't very professional, it made him a lot more relatable to the audience, especially me, because I already get jitters in my stomach when I think about my TED talk. He also used a lot of pictures, of actual THINGS, instead of, like, pictures of lights at the end of a tunnel as he talked about finding enlightenment. Other TED talkers have done that before. He grew more confident as the talk went on, which was great, because although his nervousness was originally a little endearing, after fifteen minutes of it, I probably would have been rolling my eyes. Like, come on, man. It's hard to take you seriously when you look like you are about to pee your pants.

3. I want to call Dave Eggers' presentation style show and tell and challenge. He showed us what he had done, and what other people have done, and then he basically asked us what WE had done, and asked us to DO SOMETHING if we hadn't. His entire presentation was also very humorous, even if it wasn't if the traditional sense. He was talking about stuff that was funny, but he himself wasn't making jokes. Plus, at least in me case, everything he was talking about was just very interesting.

4. This connects to me because I think it would be TOTALLY AWESOME to go and hang out at a place like one of the tutoring centers that he talked about. That was fantastic. I think it matters to education because if more education was done that way, in a fun, adventuring sense, then I think kids would be much more into it. It really plays into the whole 'making life more right brained' think Daniel Pink talks about in A Whole New Mind.