TEDxCL Reflection

This Ted Talk is about how little actions can have large effects.  It also focuses on how many little actions can bind together also have a large effect.

Reflection

What I Knew (And didn’t know about my topic when I started out)

             The idea of cause and effect (I believe) is very prominent within our everyday lives, so of course, I knew how to bring it into my presentation.  However, the idea of causality was new to me but was nonetheless interesting to bring into the presentation.  Along with "cause and effect", I already knew the schools of philosophy I brought up (Existentialism, Relativism, Determinism) due to another thing I already knew about, the show "The Good Place".  Then there's also the whole idea of cause and effect within physics and ethics.  The ideas are brought up quite often in my life, probably due to how I go to U of D.

Why I Selected This Topic

             I selected the topic of "little actions having large effects" because I felt it was important to reflect on how every action matters.  I also thought about how interesting it would be to further educate myself on the idea of "cause and effect".  These were both valid reasons to select this topic for my Ted Talk, and it worked out great because I had years of experience participating in this idea.

What I Learned -- Research

             I'll start this part off by saying I didn't know about my section about "The Ecocap Movement".  Granted it was a part of my life, but it was years ago and I didn't remember it.  I learned of my participation within it from my mother and the actual statistics I taught myself through the archived articles about it on JFS (Japan For Sustainability) and Seiju Japan.
             There was also the most interesting part for me to learn about, causality.  I came across a very handy source that explains all about it and its integration in life.  This source was a written out lecture by J. Pearl, archived for anyone looking to learn about causality, and it just so happened that I came across it for that exact purpose.
             Something else that I had no idea about until I decided to look into it was the foundation behind Team Trees.  This foundation, The Arbor Day Foundation, is apparently the largest foundation dedicated to planting trees.  I didn't know anything about the foundation or that it was funded by the generous donations to Team Trees until I decided to include the tree-planting movement in my presentation

What I Learned -- Presentations

             Making my presentation proved slightly difficult in the time aspect.  I was really crunching hours when making my slides for three days in a row.  For two of those days, I ended up sleeping for at most four hours each.  It didn't have a great effect on how I performed during those days, but in the end, it was worth it.  I believe my slides came out exactly how I wanted them (excluding one transition that didn't work, despite going back and fixing it a number of times).

             I practiced a total of three times to three different groups, and I'll preface the following by saying that the conditions weren't ideal for myself.  The first time was a presentation via screen share and two of my friends.  At the time of this, I didn't have notecards and I couldn't remember all of what I needed to say.  The second time was with my parents in person.  I had notecards ready by the time I presented for them, but I couldn't read them all due to being sleep deprived from the day before.  The third time I was alone and simply read through my notecards while viewing my slides.  All of these had individual problems that together would have made for a terrible presentation.  Thankfully though, I learned from each mistake in these practice presentations and made good of them in my final.
             With all these new lessons learned I was ready to present.  Granted I could have kept practicing till I got it perfect, but as said before, time was an issue for me.  With that in mind though, I still think my presentation still went well.  Although I didn't end up using my notecards, they did help me study what I needed to say.  As said before, I think my slides came out great and my speech went well, so really that's all I can ask for.  In the future, I will keep trying to dedicate myself to making visual aids how I want them, but also try to maintain my sleep while doing so.  As for talking, I will practice more than three times and focus on having an actual live audience as well.

What the Audience Learned

             In this Ted Talk, I explained to the audience that every action of theirs matters, no matter how small it may be.  Its purpose was to make them more proactive about being more aware of their actions, hopefully leading them to make good choices.  I believe that my talk had an effect on my audience, despite it likely being minuscule.  By this, I mean that my main idea only restated what I believe my audience already knew.  I believe that my audience was aware of the idea I was trying to get across, so I really only ensured that they would be proactive about their choices.

Advice for Future Students

             For Future Students, I would greatly recommend being prepared for the day they present.  By this, I mean checking if all the slides are how they like it and if they have working transitions, practicing the speech many times, and writing notecards to further guide how the speech will go.  Of these three examples of advice, I would say that practicing the presentation is the most important.  This is the most vital part of preparation in my opinion because as the saying goes, "practice makes perfect".  Practicing the presentation would include having an audience to present to in person as well as having the other elements of the presentation finished and available.  I only practiced three times total and the result could have been better had I practiced more.  So in summation, practice your presentations on a live audience before the day you present because, in the end, it will help you greatly.  Good luck!