Nathan Heller Listen And Learn

Nothing has quite inspired the world in the way TED Talks have managed to bring together large audiences from different cultural backgrounds and unite them in a common belief. Nathan Heller, within his article “Listen and Learn,” describes TED’s rise to power and explains the characteristics of what makes a Talk successful. According to Heller, TED is “a four-day conference” during which multiple speakers offer Ted Talks, which are, in his words, “a series of Internet lecture videos that has received more than eight hundred million views to date” (69). While considering TED’s overwhelming popularity, it becomes clear that not everyone has what it takes to give a successful Talk that properly follows the genre’s norms, norms that have undoubtedly proven to be successful in advancing TED’s positive reputation.

In order to determine the topic of one of these speeches, one can examine their titles because they generally offer viewers a comprehensive idea of the speaker’s thesis and main ideas. Characteristically, the speaker offers his audience subject matter either that no one has previously contemplated or that may seem obvious at first, though most people have never actually considered it. In “Listen and Learn,” Nathan Heller points out that much of the subject matter covered within TED conferences involves “world-changing ideas” (69). World-changing topics describe something the viewers frequently encounter or are able to foresee impacting them on a significant level in their lives. Considering the title of Anderson’s talk, “How Web Video Powers Global Innovation,” it becomes evident that web video, something the vast majority of people encounter multiple times per day, is something that creates a clear impact in lives around the world. The relatability of his topic makes this an effective TED