Whiteboard Animation Ted Talk Series: TedxSunriver Ted Talk “How to be a Great Observer”

Ted Talk by Paul Draper: How to be a Great Observer

Ted Talk Summary by Alecsy Christensen

Paul Draper is a skilled anthropologist, and spends most of his time performing and entertaining audiences as a mentalist and magician.

Why do we want to be great observers?

If we are a great observer, we can see things others can’t, we can be better business people, sales people, better friends, and we can soak in more valuable information.

Why is our perception limited?

Straighten your arm so it is out in front of you, and give yourself a thumbs up. Believe it or not, you can only perfectly see what’s in front of your thumbnail.  Everything else besides your thumbnail that you can see is not in your perfect line of vision.

Selective Vision is Our Weakness

We tend to gloss over things that we feel are not important, and develop “selective vision” as we get older. Even if something is in our line of site, if we don’t think it has any importance to us, we will miss it.

As humans, we have evolved to soak in everything and learn until the age of 30. After the age of 30 our brains are geared to stop processing information, and by nature we are more susceptible to following the routines we learned up to this age. This is the fallible time for our brain. We then make assumptions about reality, that it will repeat itself and be the same as when we were young. We need to learn how to overcome this, and always train our brains to constantly grow, even after we are 30.

As an anthropologist, Draper studies cultures and people. He has to learn how to think like them, act like them, and fit in with all different types of people.

To learn how to be a great observer and get the best learning experience in every situation, you have to learn how to be like the people you are around. You have to teach yourself to be like a child. Convince yourself that everything you do is wrong, and everything they do is right. Being like a child will help you put yourself in the shoes of the people around you. To learn how to do this, there are three key points to remember:

First, the first two weeks you are in a new environment, write down everything you see. 90% of the notes we take are derived in the first two weeks that someone is provided a new situation.

Whiteboard Animation Challenge #1: Watch this short whiteboard animation video and write down all the key points that have an impact on you. Further instructions are found below.

Second, to think like a child, you have to imagine that each time you are in a new environment, you are seeing it for the first time. This will change the way things are seen in your eyes, and allow you to stay curious with things or places you are familiar with.

Whiteboard Animation Challenge #2: Look at this script video drawing for 10 seconds. Take note on what you notice the most. Read the rest of the article, and go to the next challenge.

Whiteboard Animation

Third, to be a great observer you must try to see everything. Keep your eyes open to your surroundings, by nature we tend to gloss over things that we think are not important, but there is always something new to learn and beautiful to take out of every time and place.

Whiteboard Animation Challenge #3: Re-watch the whiteboard animation video from challenge #1, are there any aspects of the video, whether it be visual or informational, that you did not catch the first time? Now go to the video scribed picture from challenge #2 and observe it for 20 seconds. Are there any parts of the picture that you do not remember seeing when you first glanced at it?

Being a great observer will help you adapt to every situation, be better friends with all types of people, run your business better, heighten your relationships, and better your life. Every situation whether old or new has something great to offer you, something good to teach you, something new you have not learned. Did you get the most out of your whiteboard animation video experience?

 
+Jace Vernon

+Alecsy Christensen