Clay Shirky TED Talk

1. What are your take-aways from this video?
I think that I must start to celebrate not reward good things. As Shirky said, what will make the difference is what we celebrate. We must celebrate people who attempt to create civic value. I think that this is similar to what Daniel Pink says. He says that if people are rewarded, they tend to lessen their effectiveness. He says that humans learn to learn, because it is a challenge. I think that humans have  a desire to learn and also to be accepted or to be praised. This combines into what Shirky is saying. People want to be praised so they do what we celebrate. I think in parenthood and society reward and celebrate are often used interchangably. I think this should not happen. Reward is if the person gains from the experience while celebrating only makes the person "feel good inside." This only makes sense to humans because we have experienced this. It is not logical,but it is real none the less. Because rewards can lessen effectiveness we as a society must move to celebrating good and not rewarding it.
2. What are the speaker's effective speaking techniques?
He changes his speed of speaking to emphasize.  He slows down when he really wants the audience to hear and understand what he is saying. He then proceeds to speed up when things that he is saying are not as important.
3. What is his/her presentation style?
He uses examples that almost everybody has seen or done. He also uses a graph that shows an obvious image of what happened. This makes the audience see and hear what he is trying to get across which solidates (I'm not sure if that is a word) what they are learning.
4. What matters from this video? How does it connect to you personally? To education? To the world?
A lot of my friends question why I follow the standards that go along with my religion. I feel that I do it because I know it is right. I stand to gain nothing in this life from following these standards. In fact, some would say I am losing some "happiness" by following my standards. I, and many others still follow them. This is because it is celebrated in our little society. Perhaps it is just because we will be rewarded in the life to come, but I think the natural desires that comes along with being human would not allow this to be the only reason. There is something that drives us to follow these standards. This is what society celebrates. Some people look up to those who have strong values. We must desire acceptance and praise enough to follow these standards. This validates exactly what Pink and Shirky are saying.