
3 Reasons to watch this talk: Randy Pausch
This is such an engaging talk, packed with wonderful stories and lessons.
- Excellent use of ‘nested lists’ as a simple structure that then allows for great creativity. He tells us the 3 things that the talk is going to be about. Then takes the first of these ‘childhood dreams’ and breaks it down to a further list of 6. This keeps it highly focused, as opposed to just telling a loose series of stories about his life and career.
- Memorable use of props, but in a way that supports the content, rather than distracts. For example, for each of the childhood dreams there is a prop that features for a moment (the American football, the stuffed animals) and then he moves on.
- Great command of the room from the beginning, in an energetic and fun way – for example directly acknowledging ‘the elephant in the room’ (his cancer diagnosis) and then doing a demo of push-ups to show the shape that he’s still in, with a challenge to come and outdo him if anyone is tempted to feel sorry for him.