Business
I picked this up not because I have any interest in giving a TED talk, but because I give a few presentations a week and wanted to see if I could pick up some tips on how to present better. There are many tips given in this book, most of which are common sense or known best practices for public speaking. There wasn't much that was specific to TED talks, although Donovan did break down some speeches that were very popular in terms of timing, laughs, pauses, etc. However this doesn't really help you craft your speech. I can't write to say "you" 4 times every 60 seconds, I would imagine it's difficult to precisely measure that out. There are some great reminders in here though. Such as don't be afraid of silence, it doesn't need to be filled with "ums" and "uhs". It's always great to have this reminder as I start consciously thinking about it and find myself saying it less often when I do think about it.
I ended up listening to this on audio, which I don't think is the best way to read this book. The lists became long, tedious, and meaningless. Plus I feel that this would be better as a written book that you could reference when you have a speech or presentation coming up soon.
Rating:
(3/5)
Jack leaves his home town and is making him way to the big city to find his fortune. The city he comes across is Toy City, where toys are alive and nursery rhyme characters are the upper class. What Jack doesn't realize is that Toy City's first serial killer is on the loose, killing nursery rhyme characters, starting with Humpty Dumpty. Jack is befriended by Eddie, a teddy bear detective, and the two set off to find out who the killer is.
In the 1950's, small-town Mississippi, there were still racial divides. In the coloured part of town is Even Grade, a black man who is an orphan and only a few friends. Across the river is Valuable Korner, whose grandmother recently passed away so her mom came back to take care of her but is known to the whole town as a whore. The story revolves around these two and eventually their stories merge. Val is experiencing teenage love with her only friend Jackson and becomes pregnant right before he leaves town when his family moves. Even tries to hook up his elderly friend Canaan and falls in love with Joody who can see things that will happen in the future.
It's 1897 in upstate New York in the dead of winter when midwife Elspeth Howell returns to her home to find her husband and all of her children shot and killed. As she starts to clean up the house and get a fire going, she is blasted back from a shot. Elspeth's only surviving son hid in the closet and, thinking the murderers had returned, shot through the door. Realizing it's his mom, 12-year-old Caleb quickly gets to work on digging out the pellets and making sure his mom survives the night. She pulls through and the two set out on a quest to find the men who did this.
In the 12th book of the series, Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter extraordinaire, is back and trying to pick up the long list of criminals that haven't appeared for their court date. Then Stephanie runs in to Ranger's wife and she's not happy. Who knew Ranger had a wife? She knows that something is going on between Ranger and Stephanie and stays on Stephanie's tail, deciding that Stephanie will lead her to Ranger. But Ranger has left to Miami and soon there's news that his kid had been kidnapped. Stephanie tries to find out what is going on, with the help of on-again, off-again boyfriend Morelli.
Two supernatural immigrants arrive to New York City in 1899 and become unlikely friends. Chava is a golem or a creature made from clay. She was created to be tied to a master but shortly after waking her up, her master dies on the ship bringing them to New York City. As Chava wanders around NYC a rabbi sees her for what she is and takes her under his wing. Ahmed is a jinni or a creature made from fire. A thousand years old, he was trapped in a bottle after being captured by a wizard. He can't remember what happened but a metal worker takes him as his apprentice.
Father Patrick Debois is a French Catholic Priest whose grandfather was imprisoned by the Germans in 1942 in the Ukraine. Inspired by his grandfather, Debois travels around Ukraine looking to unearth stories about how the Jews were treated in these small villages during WWII. He finds many elders willing to share their stories of what they witnessed while they were children. The Jews were trucked to pits that had been dug into the earth, forced to undress, and then shot en mass. Those that were shot fell in to the pits and the next group came waiting for their execution. The same story is told in many different villages.
Lacey and Eric are newlyweds that have just become pregnant with their first child. Money is a bit tight but they want to find a starter home to raise their child in. Lacey has visions of her grandfather's house and when they find an old house that is for sale, she thinks right away that this might be the right house for them. Their realtor tries to convince them otherwise, saying that people have died in the house but no details beyond that. The price is too good to pass up so they take the house but almost instantaneously, Lacey starts seeing a young boy in and around the house named Drew. She soon learns that others can't see him and she acts through her. When Drew eats a cookie, it's actually Lacey that eats one. Eric won't believe Lacey and Drew's temper starts getting out of control, making Lacey worried for the baby. No baby has been born in the house since when Drew lived there, many years ago. Lacey isn't sure what to do with Drew or how to make sure her baby stays safe.
After an unknown event in the old ways of life, Colortocracy started ruling society. Social classes are designated by which colour people can see and there are many rules set upon societies. It's quite different from life as we know it! Eddie Russett is a red and is sent to the fringes because he wants to improve the queueing system. He travels with his dad, who heals people through colour. When Eddie and his dad arrive in East Carmine, everything changes for them. The citizens of East Carmine tend to bend the rules a bit and there's a certain Grey who has caught Eddie's eye. Eddie is a bit too curious for his own good. Trying to figure out why a man pretended to be a purple instead of the grey he was and what happened to the last swatchman of East Carmine.
Nick is a British lawyer that moves to Russia for some excitement. He finds it in sisters Masha and Katya. The three have a lot of fun together and Nick starts to think he's falling in love. He meets the girl's aunt and starts to help them draft contracts to move the aunt out to the country. Nick knows in the back of his mind something isn't right but he's having too much fun to ask any important questions.
Chris meets Jenny while he's working a party, after she runs away from some guys because they found out she crashed the party. It's love at first sight for Chris and Jenny agrees to meet him again. The two get closer, though Chris loses touch when Jenny's home is raided for drugs and she can't return. At the same time, Chris' boss is having Chris help him fix up a remote cabin. The reason he gives is that there's a bad guy looking for him after he helped put his brother behind bars. Chris isn't sure if it's true but helps him out anyways.
Grant Wiggins left his small Cajun community as a young man to attend university, though he returned to his hometown to teach the other children of the community. When Jefferson, a young black man, is convicted for killing a liquor store attendant when he really was only in the wrong place at the wrong time, Grant is asked to help. Jefferson's godmother and Grant's aunt persuade him to try to make Jefferson see that he is a man. Grant doesn't want to confront Jefferson because there are a lot of hidden feelings he has about having to return to his hometown rather than becoming a successful black man in the world.