I had a resolution to watch a TED talk every day. I'm falling short but working at it.
TED talks have evolved exponentially since 1984. These 18-minute talks inform, engage, and inspire listeners across a broad expanse of topics around the world. The magic of the Internet allows us to access them easily and hundreds of millions have been viewed.
What would a great basketball talk deliver? Coach Wooden shared his memorable perspective in his.
We teach every day. What are our 'worthy ideas', our priorities, and experiences worth sharing? How can we engage our students better, teach well, and inspire more?
We need their attention. How we connect and communicate with them matters. Are we culturally literate in their space?
What gets you passionate about the game of basketball? Basketball challenges us to seek and share mastery. We'd want our talk to have listeners on the edge of their seats. I'd want multimedia - slides, video highlights of great basketball, and music.
The great TED talk connects on an emotional level. It should be memorable. It might be innovative, but at a minimum differentiate itself with new material.
Build a platform.
1. What are worthy ideas to be sold?
2. How will I sell the narrative?
3. Bring the ideas alive.
We're in sales. I'm selling excellence through energy, effort, and preparation. Excellence means everyday excellence - within your home, the classroom, and on the court. Excellence never gets old.
Maybe the "Merchant-in-Chief" of Toughness is Jay Bilas. In his eponymous book, Bilas explained what toughness means in life. He shared an episode where he wasn't tough, where his hardworking father asked him to make some minor adjustments to his sister's vanity. He did the job poorly and when his father came home late from work, his father said nothing, but took the time and the effort to do the work properly. A humiliated Bilas explained that he learned a toughness example that evening.
Basketball demands both physical and mental toughness.
We can build physical toughness in the weight room or on the track, but also how we drill. Advantage-disadvantage play (e.g. 1 on 2, 3 on 4, 5 on 7) and all live rebounds (including after made baskets) teach persistence.
Model excellence.
We demonstrate excellence at the highest level by using models like Diana Taurasi. But players get the opportunity to represent themselves daily and carry out the specifics showing maturity (how they go about their business, how they treat peers).
We can ask ourselves, "how am I going to 'bring it' today?"
