Capitalogix

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

Everything in this 1991 RadioShack ad now exists in a single smartphone ... Tough Business!

 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• Steve Blank on the Next 50 Years of Business Innovation. (Inc.)
• The First Cellphone Went on Sale 30 Years Ago for $4,000. (Mashable)
• 11 Product Names That Mean Unfortunate Things in Other Languages. (MentalFloss)
• What Happens to Our Brains When We Have Stage Fright? (Buffer)
• How Long Can You Live Without Food or Water? Real-life Barbie, Valeria Lukyanova, has decided she's going to try it. (Examiner)

 

Trading Links:

• Peculiar Traits of Rich People. (Fool)
• Family Offices Chasing Wealthy’s $46 Trillion in Assets. (Bloomberg)
• You Can’t Avoid Asset Allocation … Even If You Try. (CapitalSpectator)
• Forget Passive vs. Active -- Here's How To Evaluate Any Investment Strategy. (Millennial)
• The Average Stock Is More Expensive Now Than It Was At The Peak Of The Dot-Com Bubble In 2000. (BusinessInsider)

What It Is Like to Prepare to Speak at a TEDx Conference (Part 2)

To use an athletic analogy, a normal speech and a TED Talk are totally different events (like a sprint vs the decathlon).  It takes a surprisingly different set of skills and type of preparation to perform well.

I've given hundreds of presentations, and don't normally stress about them.  I did for this one.

 

  
In most of my talks, there is very little "set in stone" to memorize.  I tend to have a main topic (or theme), and each slide serves like a module ... and I think, talk, interact, and improvise throughout the framework.

This works well for me because I tend to think in anecdotes that branch out from the main theme. That may be a great skill to have, but it's not one that helps you write a good TED Talk.

Why?  Because, in contrast, a TED Talk is really about "one idea worth sharing".  

In many respects, it's much harder to write and deliver a good 10 minutes about one idea, than it is to prepare to talk about a much broader topic for one hour.

 

My wife, son, and me at the TEDx Plano event

 

The TEDx committee created a sense of formality with stringent standards and deadlines.  My guess is that, during the planning and rehearsal  process, they wanted uncomfortable speakers to provoke better speeches.

As a result, I prepared (and threw away) four separate talks before coming up with something that felt right and flowed properly.

Here are some bullet points that highlight lessons learned.

• One of my early listeners coached me that the trick to a good TED Talk is that it is not about what you say, but rather about what they feel. In other words, for a TED Talk, evaluate the story and the particular wording choices based on the emotions they elicit in listeners.
• One of the best ways to get a point across emotionally is to tell a story.  And, if I couldn't remember it easily, it probably wasn't a story.
• The speech committee and several early listeners strongly encouraged me to go with as few slides as possible. I started with 15 ... I got it down to six  ... and I ended up with two (relying, instead, on the performance and connection rather than images and words).
• They encouraged me to take almost everything about business (in general) or my business (specifically) out of the talk.
• In fact, they kept encouraging me to make it simpler and more basic on almost every level. "Why did you say that?" I would answer; and they would say "Then say that."

I didn't realize how hard it was to make something simple.

The video should be ready next week.

 

EDIT: Here it is:

Related articles

How to Create and Deliver a TED talk

How to prepare and deliver a TEDx talk

What It Is Like to Prepare to Speak at a TEDx Conference (Part 1)

What It Is Like to Prepare to Speak at a TEDx Conference (Part 1)

TED Talks are pretty well-know for their quality.  So, I was understandably excited (nervous, even) about presenting at the TEDx Plano Conference this past weekend.

It was fun (in the way that preparing for a marathon is "fun").

For example, in the days leading up to the event, I would give it to the unsuspecting people who chose to use the StairMaster next to me. It seemed like a good way to practice with my heart rate up.

I also gave it one-on-one to employees.  Why? Because it gave me extra practice runs, and I got to experiment with different variations to gauge responses.

How did it go?  The speech, itself, went pretty well ... Though it is hard to believe how much work goes into something so fleeting.  I guess that is why they have video.

They filmed it with a professional multi-camera crew. At this point, I still have no idea how long it takes for them to edit it and then put it online. I will let you know when I get the link.

By the way, my topic was "The Time Value of a Life Worth Living -- An entrepreneur's reflections on not letting life get in the way." It is about a year that brought my Dad's death, the forced sale of my company by venture capitalists, and a divorce (in that order).  Sometimes, life's darkest days bring the greatest gifts ... if you are willing to look for them.

 

Next week, I'll write about what it is like to prepare for a TED Talk, and what I believe are some of the key differences from traditional presentations.

 

EDIT: Here's the video:

 

 

Here Are Some Links Worth Reading This Weekend

Does writing something with a #Hashtag constitute "doing something"?

 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• The One Sign Something Is About To Go Wrong--And What You Can Do Before It Does. (Forbes)
• Practice Not As Important As Thought For Success, Study Says. (PopSci)
• Evernote CEO: Apps Will Become Obsolete. (Fortune Tech)
• Virtual Girlfriends Gaining Popularity in Japan. (BusinessInsider)
• 5 TED Talks That May Change Your View on Life. (Entrepreneur)

 

Trading Links:

• 91% of Democrats See Hillary As Likely 2016 Nominee. (Rasmussen)
• Here's Where The World's Richest Families Put Their Fortunes. (BusinessInsider)
• What Makes a Great Trader? An Interview with Jack Schwager. (CFA)
• Software Is Eating Investment Management. (AbnormalReturns)
• The Big Four Economic Indicators: What They're Telling Us About the Economy. (Advisor)

How Much Luxury Real Estate Will a Million Dollars Buy You in Global Cities?

When it comes to luxury real estate, a million dollars goes a lot further in some places than it does in others.

According to the latest Wealth Report from real estate consulting firm Knight Frank, Monaco has the most expensive luxury real estate in the world, with $1 million buying just 15 square meters (161 square feet) of prime property.

In Cape Town, on the other hand, $1 million will buy more than 14 times that much space.

The chart, below, gives a great visualization of what $1 million buys in various luxury housing markets around the globe.

 

via Business Insider.

 

Here is a different look at the data.  At the high end of the spectrum, luxury real estate in Monaco costs $6,800 per square foot. In Cape Town, however, it's just $470 per square foot.  See the full range of prices in the table below.