DI View the T.E.D./Mindvalley Talk Title of T.E.D.

e of T.E.D./ Mindvalley Talk (+link): Name of Speaker: Date of Talk and Number of Views:
RE (>10min) and complete the
CT following grid. If you run out of How craving attention makes you less September 2019
IO space on the grid for any of your
creative Joseph Gordon-Levitt 3 374 074 views
answers, feel free to continue
NS
writing/typing on the back of this
sheet.

What was the speaker’s thesis (main point) of this speech? Describe two things this speaker does well in terms of engaging the audience. Be sure to
include the minute: second mark (ex: 8:49) to denote the two specific moments you discuss
If your creativity is driven by a desire to get attention, you’re here.
never going to be creatively fulfilled.
1. Humor. The speaker sometimes uses humor to engage the audience.
What group of people would benefit the most from hearing this For example, he starts the talk with joke (00:30) to break the ice and to win over viewers.
lecture? He says that he is an actor, but then he adds: “…so I’m a bit of an expert on, well, nothing,
First of all, this video will be useful for people who are dependent really”. Such a self-ironic joke may show that Joseph doesn’t reckon himself as a better or
on public opinion, the number of followers and likes, who often more important person than the rest of the people.
find it difficult to concentrate on anything other than social
networks. 2. Intonation. Since he is an actor, there is no doubt that he is well versed in intonation,
Second of all, this video will be useful for people who have lost accents, etc., etc. It is because of the change in the volume of his voice and the emphasis
their inspiration because they believe that only the number of likes on important things that it is difficult to miss something important from the lecture.
evaluates their creativity.
If you could ask this speaker a question Write two specific things you learned from this presentation. Give one piece of constructive criticism that would
about his/her information or presentation, 1. Being addicted to getting attention is just like being improve the presentation.
what would you ask?
addicted to anything else. It’s never enough.
The speaker mentioned collaborations Not enough facts. Gordon-Levitt mentioned a
2. Psychologists and neuroscientists — they study a
with other actors in order to get more couple of books and researchers, I would like to
phenomenon they call flow, which is this thing that
creative and inspired. And I would
happens in the human brain when someone pays attention hear more about it.
like to ask with whom of the actors
to just one thing, like something creative, and manages not
was the most successful collaboration.
to get distracted by anything else. And some say the more
regularly you do this, the happier you’ll be.

Ethos is a speaker’s ability to build credibility, establish himself/herself as an expert, and/or convince the audience members that the speaker has their best interests at heart. How
does this speaker build ethos? Feel free to also refer to the speaker’s profile information from the ted.com webpage (or other resources) as you build your answer.

“I’m an actor, so I’m a bit of an expert on … well, nothing really,” says Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Jokes aside, there’s one thing he does know really well: what it
feels like to get attention and that is the topic of the talk. We can assume that is the theme of attention he is quite an expert, he’s gotten a lot of it — since he
played Dougie on ‘Family Ties’ in the late ’80s through to his roles in ‘Batman’ and beyond — and it’s a powerful feeling. He admits that. 
 But the thing he’s come to crave — like, really crave — is sort of the opposite: it’s paying attention. He describes to us a picture of what it’s like on set: “I’ve
heard the sequence so many times, it’s become like a Pavlovian magic spell: rolling, speed, marker (clap), set, and action. Something happens to me, I can’t
even help it. My attention narrows. And everything else in the world, anything else that might be bothering me, or that might otherwise grab my attention, it all
goes away. And I’m just there.”
And that an example of paying attention, it is something that helps us build our creativity, distracts us from social networks and from the opinions of the others.
He referenced to some of the works of scientists, that were researching the theme of addiction to our smartphones.

Pathos is an appeal to emotions (everything from humor to horror) in order to sway an audience, while logos is the use of data/evidence to prove one’s case. Did this speaker rely
more on pathos or logos in his/her presentation? What argument/point in this presentation did you find the most compelling? Why?

As I said previously, Joseph uses humor and self-irony to attract the viewers to himself.
Also the speaker builds up the whole speech around his own experiences in getting and paying attention, so we can assume that this topic is quite personal for him.
I personally liked the part where Gordon-Levitt was explaining how does the social media work, how they influence our creativity and our addiction to the likes and comments:
“And I search other actors, and I see that their number is higher than mine, and it makes me feel terrible about myself. Because the follower count makes
everybody feel terrible about themselves. That feeling of inadequacy is what drives you to post, so you can get more attention, and then that attention that you
get is what these companies sell, that’s how they make their money”.
All in all, I would rather say that the specked relies om pathos and logos equally, because he provides his own experience and then proves it with some facts.

1
Vocabulary (write 10 words/phrases from the speech and explain their meaning)
1. distribution – the action of sharing something out among a number of recipients
2. to feel compelled – to feel required (to do something)
3. the tide turned – used to say that someone's luck is changed
4. to be smitten with – deeply affected with or struck by strong feelings of attraction, affection, or infatuation
5. got a way with – to be able to use (something) or to deal with (something or someone) well and effectively
6. snarky – critical or mocking in an indirect or sarcastic way
7. the peril - serious and immediate danger
8. get wrapped up – fully involved or interested in (something)
9. business model – a design for the successful operation of a business, identifying revenue sources, customer base, products, and details of financing
10. unprecedented – never done or known before
Notes: