TEDTalks

Joyful, sobering, gutsy, ingenious, poetic, hilarious, harrowing, inspirational — TEDTalks presentations show what’s possible when we turn our hearts and minds on full blast. You’ll see jaw-dropping technological and scientific breakthroughs; off-the-wall comedy and soul-catching music; next-gen business practices; elegant solutions to global issues; And appeals to the senses and your sense of justice.

Bottom line: Watching TEDTalks videos will make you glad to be alive, give you hope, and push you out of your comfort zone. And who knows, they may even spur you to do something big and wonderful yourself (if you haven’t already).

To make TEDTalks accessible to more people, TED is now partnering with dotSUB to subtitle them in multiple languages, including Japanese. (Over 150 of the latter are now available.) We’ve posted several proven TED crowd favorites below to show you what the fuss is all about, with more on the way. You can delve into the hundreds of other riveting TEDTalks already available by following this link.

Richard St. John’s 8 secrets of success (2005)

A self-described average guy who found success doing what he loved, Richard St. John spent more than a decade researching the lessons of success, and distilling them into eight words and three minutes.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity (2006)

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures, rather than undermines, creativity.

Hans Rosling’s new insights on poverty (2007)

Researcher Hans Rosling uses his cool data tools to show how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty.

Jill Bolte Taylor’s stroke of insight (2008)

Brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor studied her own stroke as it happened and has since become a powerful voice for brain recovery.

Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense (2009)

This demo from Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry, was the buzz of TED. It’s a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment. Imagine Minority Report and then some.