TED talk notes: Andrew Stanton on how to tell a great story and James Pennebaker on how pronouns give you away

Listening to TED talks was a regular habit of mine. I’m publishing all of my notes. Here’s the complete list.

This week, Andrew Stanton on the clues to a great story and James Pennebaker on the secret life of pronouns.

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Andrew Stanton: The clues to a great story

  • stories are all about the ending
  • the greatest story commandment: “make me care”
  • at beginning, stories should make a promise, can be as simple as “once upon a time”
  • the audience WANTS to work for their meal, they just don’t want to know they’re doing it!
  • “Pixar’s Unifying Theory of 2 + 2”; don’t give them the answer  (4), make them do the work
  • “drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty”
  • every story needs a strong, unifying theme
  • before they made Toy Story, everyone in Hollywood thought animation = singing

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The Secret Life of Pronouns: James Pennebaker at TEDxAustin

  • writing 15 mins/day shown to help with trauma – rape, assault
    • what you write about didn’t matter – it was the usage of specific articles and prepositions that did!
  • content (nouns, adjectives) versus function words (rest)
    • function words are 65% of language usage; in English they’re usually the shortest words, and so they’re processed so quickly that they’re basically subconscious
  • function words are profoundly social
    • for example, usage of 3rd person pronouns (he, she, they) shows you pay attention to other people
    • first person pronouns: I, me, my
      • the higher your status, the LESS you use them
      • the lower your status, the MORE you use them
      • high status looks at world, low status looks inside
      • suicidal and non-suicidal poets use negative words at same rates, but suicidal poets use “I” more!
      • depressed people – high awareness, self-focused, extremely self-honest, unable to have positive allusions about themselves
      • honest people use “I” more, own what they say, liars distance themselves
    • in relationships and speed dating – the more your function words match your partner’s, the stronger your relationship

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Here’s the full list of TED notes!

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