Daniel Pink- TED Talk #3

What are your take-aways from this video? What are the speaker's effective speaking techniques? What is his/her personal style? What matters from this video? How does it connect to you personally? To education? To the world?


Through this video, I believe Daniel Pink wished to educate the world on the type of motivation that would work best in our progressing nation. This drive would not fall under "if, then rewards" but rather self direction. Pink described self direction as a type of motivation that one wishes to complete a task purely on internal will and engagement. According to Pink, this type of right brained ability will create high productivity rates in today's businesses. Pink believes that incentives and rewards do not promote productivity in our society instead they hinder creation and creativity. To support these ideas, Pink shared numerous studies with the audience. For example, during his presentation, he showed the audience "The Candle Problem." This problem demonstrated the need to think outside the box and promoted the ability to use a different perspective in order to solve the puzzle. This ability can be used in everyday lives as we as a nation can choose whether to see conflicts in a different way. By being internally motivated, our nation can achieve more than any previous time, in which we strived for rewards rather than internal satisfaction.


During the video, Daniel Pink used extreme enthusiasm to share his new ideas and revelations. His enthusiasm made his studies more interesting and entertained the audience, making Pink's speech more enjoyable and intriguing. Pink also offered visual examples to the audience, making the talk more interactive rather than simply being informative. This strategy enabled Pink to gain the interest of the audience, as well as support his findings with previous studies and proofs. Daniel Pink also maintained a clear speaking style, making the information easy to receive and understand. Through his own excitement for the new revelations in science, Pink was able to maintain the audience's attention and receive a genuinely amazed reaction from the audience. Also, throughout the TED Talk, Pink continued his friendly banter by adding a few jokes about his past, as somewhat of an attention getter. I believe that this strategy helped Daniel Pink appear to be more relatable and down to earth, instead of an intimidating, best-selling author. He was able to use his experience's in law school to appeal to the masses through facts, by making a case. This expressed his creativity, as he promoted in his speech, while at the same time demonstrated his intelligence and credibility to the audience.


Through this video, I believe Daniel Pink wished to share that despite prior knowledge, receiving incentives and rewards for doing a job will ultimately hinder productivity rather than promote it. He encouraged our world to put aside greed and materialism and instead reach for something more, something that pleases the individual rather than the boss or corporation. From personal experience, I can relate to and support Pink's theory. Although getting good grades does encourage me to work harder in school, the reward of an 'A' has lost its massive appeal it once had. I still do wish and strive for an 'A' in my classes, but it's my internal drive that motivates me rather than my previous wishes only for a good grade. With this reward, one may feel as though they must complete this task to please others, such as colleges or future teachers, rather than to enjoy and be proud of oneself through their own accomplishments. We grow up being told to get good grades, go to a good college, and get a successful job; but instead students should be encouraged to learn, enjoy oneself, and do what they love. I also believe this theory would promote the will of modern day's students to learn for themselves, just for the sake of learning, rather than receiving a good grade. This advancement in our society would greatly impact our productivity in jobs as well as everyday life. As Pink shared, rewards are for the mechanical aspects in life, and not to be used with skill. Skill is something every human being should value, be proud of, and internally wish to do great in. With this mentality, the world can become more dedicated and creative with our lives.