TED Tuesday: Celeste Headlee— 10 Ways To Have A Better Conversation

"I keep my mouth shut as often as I possibly can, I keep my mind open, and I'm always prepared to be amazed, and I'm never disappointed."

Good Afternoon Folks,

Today's TED selection is an ideal compliment to our leadership development work with Dr. Payne.

When your job hinges on how well you talk to people, you learn a lot about how to have conversations — and that most of us don't converse very well. Celeste Headlee was the Midwest Correspondent for NPR before becoming the co-host of the PRI show "The Takeaway.” After that, she guest hosted a number of NPR shows including "Tell Me More,” "Talk of the Nation,” "Weekend All Things Considered” and "Weekend Edition". Celeste also anchored election coverage for PBS World in 2012 and was a regular guest on CNN.

She knows the ingredients of a great conversation: Honesty, brevity, clarity and a healthy amount of listening. In this insightful talk, she shares 10 useful rules for having better conversations. "Go out, talk to people, listen to people," she says. "And, most importantly, be prepared to be amazed.

I think the tips she gave in her speech were very helpful. Many people do not listen anymore. Like she says, everyone wants to talk and get out what they would like to say. I think people would have better conversations if they would just listen and understand what everyone else is saying. People need to stop talking, and take in what is being told to them.

Here's what two of the million plus folks who have viewed the talk and to say:

"I thought this talk was very interesting and insightful, especially coming from someone who basically has conversations for a living. I like the comment about the importance of entering a conversation with the idea that you will learn something new, and I think it is fascinating to think that everyone we meet knows something we do not (like one of the quotes said). I was able to relate to the point she made about not always trying to relate by bringing in personal experience, because no two experiences are identical. I often get annoyed when people do that, whether it be something positive about their life when I share good news or something negative when I talk about my problems, but I know I do the same thing, so that is something I should be mindful of in my future conversations. I like to watch TED talks a lot, but this one is not one that I would normally have clicked on while watching on my own, and I am glad I was "forced" to watch it!" 

"When you are young, you are taught that you must be active listeners and to always pay attention when someone is speaking to you. However, you are never really taught what that really means. These are the ways to make business relationships and carry yourself with confidence, and I believe the points you made are very valid. Thanks for the advice on how to become a better conversationalist in an era driven by technology! :)"

Have a look:


I thoroughly enjoyed this video and all the ideas that were presented within it. I hope that you did too.

Have a GREAT day, be happy and…

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

*TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference on the West Coast each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.  More at TED.com

TED Tuesday: Ruth Chang— A Better Way to Make Hard Choices

"Far from being sources of agony and dread, hard choices are precious opportunities for us to celebrate what is special about the human condition, that we have the power to create reasons for ourselves to become the distinctive people that we are."

Good Morning Folks,

Here's a TED Talk that could literally change your life. Which career should I pursue? Should I break up — or get married?! Where should I live? Big decisions like these can be agonizingly difficult. But that's because we think about them the wrong way, says philosopher Ruth Chang. She offers a powerful new framework for shaping who we truly are.

Chances are, the hard choice you thought of was something big, something momentous, something that matters to you. Hard choices seem to be occasions for agonizing, hand-wringing, the gnashing of teeth. But I think we've misunderstood hard choices and the role they play in our lives. Understanding hard choices uncovers a hidden power each of us possesses.

When you face your next hard choice, don't beat your head against the wall trying to find the "right" answer. "There is no best alternative." Chang insists. Instead, see the choice as a fork in the road, an opportunity to choose who you really want to be. The alternative is to be a drifter, one of those people who don't declare themselves "for" anything, who allow "the world to write the story of their lives," as Chang puts it, who blindly follow affirmation or avoid the terror of the unknown.

"Far from being sources of agony and dread, hard choices are precious opportunities," concludes Chang. Want to hear more? Have a look: (be sure to skip the ad using the arrow in the bottom right of your screen then click in that same area when the program starts to enlarge)




As INC recently concluded, "you can spend $250,000 and three years of your life to get an MBA or spend a a few moments watching these TED videos. Your choice."

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

TED Tuesday: Steven Addis: A Father-Daughter Bond, One Photo At A Time

"So I want to encourage everyone today to get in the shot, and don't hesitate to go up to someone and ask,'Will you take our picture?'"

Good Morning Folks,

In this attention deficit age where kids are too busy on their cell phones to even look up at their parents at dinner, here is an activity you can do together with your phone and selfies, that will have lasting meaning and help build stronger parent/child bonds.

Todays TEDTalk tells a story that reminds me of last year's Academy-Award nominee and winner Boyhood.

It's of a father, who once took a picture with his daughter on a corner in NYC and decided to replicate it the next year. This goes on for fifteen years and he speaks about how meaningful this tradition became to both himself and his daughter. Steven Addis is a photographer, film buff and writer. He started an agency, Addis Creston, that creates “positive change by working with clients to market meaningful products and to improve their social benefit”. The main point the presenter is making about the topic is that a picture really can mean a thousand words. He literally showed fifteen images and spoke about each one as an individual story to support the point he was making. 

What made him choose this talk were the words “father-daughter bond” in the title?

"It made me thing about my father and our relationship, so I was interested in someone else’s. The presenter has impacted the way I view his topic by in a sense where I now wish my father had done the same thing with me. One idea I will take away from the talk is this idea of how much a series of reoccurring photos can mean and how I would like to continue this tradition when I have children."

So these photos are far more than proxies for a single moment, or even a specific trip. They're also ways for us to freeze time for one week in October and reflect on our times and how we change from year to year, and not just physically, but in every way. Because while we take the same photo, our perspectives change, and she reaches new milestones, and I get to see life through her eyes, and how she interacts with and sees everything. This very focused time we get to spend together is something we cherish and anticipate the entire year.

Concludes Addis,"So I want to share the idea of taking an active role in consciously creating memories. I don't know about you, but aside from these 15 shots, I'm not in many of the family photos. I'm always the one taking the picture. So I want to encourage everyone today to get in the shot, and don't hesitate to go up to someone and ask, 'Will you take our picture?''

Now... Steven Addis presents his TED Talk “A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time”. 


As INC recently concluded, 'you can spend $250,000 and three years of your life to get an MBA or spend a a few moments watching these videos. Your choice."

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

TED Tuesday: Can Watching TED Talks Be Worth More Than An MBA?

Why we do what we do

Tony Robbins discusses the invisible forces that make us do what we do and how to use them to your advantage.

Good Morning Folks,

Since the start of this blog, celebrating its second anniversary this month, every Tuesday I have hand-selected one from thousands of TED Talks to share with you in the interest of providing professional growth and development to make you more effective in your work in your life. I have encouraged you that listening to these speakers, who used to be available only to presidents club winners or to those who paid hundreds for self-help books and Tony Robbins events, would give you an education money can't buy.

Now an article in INC suggests that "If you're determined to get a job that requires an MBA, by all means spend the time and money to get one. However, if you want to know more about business than 99.9 percent of your colleagues, you can spend a day watching these TED Talks. Ironically the lion's share of what the consider the "best of the best" of TED are talks I have already shared with you over the past 24 months.

If you missed any of our features and/or want to quickly see the rest of them, including Tony Robbins, you can view all and catch the other recommended selection all for FREE HERE.

As INC concluded, 'you can spend $250,000 and three years of your life to get an MBA or spend a day watching these videos. Your choice."

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.