My Ted Talk Ideas

Below, I outline 3 ideas for a TED Talk that I think would be interesting, engaging, and thought-provoking.

Small Ideas Are The Seeds Of Change

“If you think that you are too small to make a difference, you obviously haven't spent a night with a mosquito” — Afrian Proverb

My first idea for a TED Talk would be to build a case for how the smallest ideas are often the ones that stimulate the most change, and how this concept can foster inspiration in an organization. I would demonstrate through anecdotal & historical evidence that small ideas can have a bigger impact than the creator would have ever intended. I would discuss the importance of acknowledging that ideas and accomplishments that seem too negligible to have a significant effect on the world can be of great value, even though we often have no way of knowing at the present moment.

I would relate this to my own personal experience in founding a business that helped many villages in Zambia, Africa, and how the founding principles of that business came from a seemingly insignificant idea at a science fair when I was in high school.

I would propose that it is important to celebrate small accomplishments as a form of motivational leadership and present evidence for how this is an effective strategy for leaders.

Playlists: The Radio of the 21st Century

My second Ted talk idea is about how playlist curation within streaming services is growing into a highly lucrative music promotion avenue and inciting a major shift in how songs are popularized.

Although it was only a hobby when I started making playlists, I quickly realized the power of playlist curation as my Spotify playlists grew to almost 90,000 followers in the space of a year. I would provide an inside look into my interactions with music artists and how they leverage playlists as a crucial strategy for promoting their art amidst the ocean of music on streaming services. I would discuss the emerging multi-million dollar industry, with labels offering hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy people’s Spotify accounts if their playlists have a large enough following. This has led to the founding of multiple “playlist pitching” businesses where curators get paid for reviewing and adding songs to their playlists.

My main goal would be to provide insight into how anyone can grow their playlist following using various marketing techniques, adapting to Spotify’s algorithms, and maintaining a solid work ethic and disciplining oneself.

The Dark Side of Charity in Africa

My final TED Talk idea revolves around a deep-seated and widespread misconception: donations and charity help Africa. This topic story is one that is very close to my heart as I grew up in Africa and have seen how Western money and aid does more harm than good in the long run. I want to eventually start a business that employs the alternative methods that I will discuss in order to fuel sustainable change.

Many of us feel a moral obligation to give back and help people that are less fortunate than us Most of us provide that help through charity. However, this may be doing more harm than good:

Evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that aid to Africa has made the poor poorer, and the growth slower. The insidious aid culture has left African countries more debt-laden, more inflation-prone, more vulnerable to the vagaries of the currency markets and more unattractive to higher-quality investment. — WSJ

I will outline the alternative ways in which individuals can help people in Africa in ways that will not stunt economic growth, fuel corruption, and continue to exacerbate poverty.