20 inspiring TED talks on storytelling, writing, filmmaking, and creativity.
Welcome to our curated list of the top TED talks on storytelling. Originally established in 1984, TED media organization It has grown exponentially in recent years. Their free online speech library has become a wormhole of inspiring speeches on a variety of topics.
Luckily for you, we’ve dived down that wormhole and delivered top TED talks about storytelling from filmmakers like J.J. Abramsnovelist such as JK Rowling and screenwriters, e.g. Shonda Rhimes. as well as numerous film industry professionals, motivational speakers, professors and entrepreneurs.
So, without further ado, it’s time to grab a cup of coffee, dim the lights, and get inspired…
The best TED talks on storytelling.
1. How to write a story: John Dufresne.
Author, screenwriter, and creative writing professor John Dufresne talks about how no matter how brilliant your prose is or how captivating your central character is, you need a plot.
If your central character isn’t trying to accomplish something meaningful, readers will abandon your story.
2. The secret of storytelling: Julian Friedman.
Senior Special Agent Julian Friedmann’s talk focuses on how to make the audience feel pity for your protagonist, usually by having them experience some kind of undeserved misfortune.
This allows the audience to emotionally connect with the characters, and when this happens, you, the writer, begin to control the audience. One of the best TED talks on online storytelling.
3. Rewrite collective instinct: Lord Phil.
Hollywood screenwriter Phil Lord is The Lego Movietalks about the process of rewriting—a crucial process, no matter how stressful it puts a writer.
One interesting fact he provided was that the Writers Guild of America has more mental health visits than any other health care group in the United States.
4. Clues to a great story: Andrew Stanton.
This is one of the best TED talks on storytelling. Andrew Stanton, member of Pixar’s writing dream team toy story, Finding Nemo, WALL-ELet’s talk about writing mood.
He implores us to let Him care emotionally, intellectually, and aesthetically about our stories and characters. Because we all know what it’s like not to care…
5. Screenwriting and fear of discovery: Tim Sullivan.
Tim Sullivan is a British screenwriter whose latest film is letter to julietstarring Amanda Seyfried. In this TED talk, he describes how screenwriting is always about sales.
When you have an idea for a movie, the first person you have to convince is yourself. If you don’t, somewhere along the way, someone will find you…
The best TED talks on storytelling and filmmaking.
6. Do whatever it takes to make your first movie: Nicholas Fauci.
Nicolas Forzy, an independent filmmaker, explains that if you want to make a feature film, you usually start with what you have: a car, an apartment, A friend’s restaurant and then build a story around those things.
Folds went against the grain and made a feature-length film with shootouts, sword fights, and lavish set pieces, but somehow managed to get it made and adapted for the big screen.
7. What it’s like to be a woman in Hollywood: Naomi Jones.
What really helps you with your script writing is seeing what you’re writing on the script from an actor’s perspective. As actress Naomi McDougal-Jones highlights, the typical female character description in the script goes like this: “Brian’s love interest. Charming, lovable, and sexy, she is the ideal girl and Brian’s character in the whole story. Prizes from the movie.
A very useful talk on how to write more interesting female characters.
8. The film industry today: Frank Smith.
It’s always good to have a general understanding of the industry you want to work in, and in this talk, Frank Smith gives a great overview of Hollywood today. He discusses how many people have made their fortunes in Hollywood, and how many people have squandered their wealth in Hollywood. but why?
The reason is that they are entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs thrive on constant change. This certainly describes Hollywood perfectly.
9. How I made an impossible movie: Martin Villeneuve.
Filmmaker Martin Villeneuve (brother of film director Denis Villeneuve) Enemy, Sicario, Blade Runner 2049etc.) talks about his production experience here March and AprilThis sci-fi fantasy is based on his own graphic novel.
Bringing his unique vision of the future to the big screen was a challenge, mostly because he had next to no money. Hear how he overcame all the odds to achieve this feat.
The best TED talks on storytelling and creativity.
10. Try something new for 30 days: Matt Katz.
In less than four minutes, former Google engineer Matt Katz tells us how you should think about something you’ve always wanted to add to your life and try it. every day for the next thirty days.
This is the right time to add a new habit or subtract one. For example, when it comes to screenwriting, this might mean adding something positive, like an hour of solid writing every day, and subtracting something negative, like Facebook.
11. Mystery Box: J. J. Abrams.
J.J. Abrams needs no introduction, and in this entertaining talk he delves into one of the most fundamental aspects of imagination: mystery. Each scene should be a teaser, drawing the reader into the next scene through question after question.
He gave an example Star Warsin which a robot meets a mysterious woman we don’t recognize: Mystery. Then we meet Luke Skywalker, who sees a holographic message from a droid saying she wants to find Obi-Wan Kenobi, but who Obi-Wan Kenobi really is: mysterious. constantly.
12.Before Avatar…a curious boy: James Cameron.
James Cameron reveals the origins of his film alien, terminator and Avatar A childhood fascination with the fantastic – from reading science fiction novels in high school, to man landing on the moon in the late 1960s, to Jacques Cousteau’s deep-sea diving.
An entertaining and personal account of the creative process of one of today’s major forces in cinema.
13. Success, failure and the motivation for continuous creation: Elizabeth Gilbert.
author of the novel that later became the film eat pray loveIn “Elizabeth Gilbert,” Elizabeth Gilbert describes how she continued to fail in her attempts to publish papers for six years.
She talks about how each rejection letter was devastating, but how ultimately she was able to move on and keep writing because her love for writing outweighed her hatred for failing at it. Inspiring stuff.
14. Secrets for writers to capture creative ideas: Brad Herzog.
Author Brad Herzog’s talk is based on the fact that creating an idea has different aspects: conceiving the idea, developing the idea, and communicating the idea. The trick is to put them together in order to come up with something truly special.
He suggests you do this by bucking conventional wisdom, surprising people, and making them expect the unexpected.
15. How to build your creative confidence: David Kelly.
Legendary designer David Kelley urges us to recognize that we are all naturally creative and tells us how to let our ideas fly and do what we set out to do.
In this inspiring talk, he emphasizes that we can all reach a state of creative confidence if we put our mind to it.
16. The year I said yes to everything: Shonda Rhimes.
Shonda Rhimes has written over 300 episodes Grey’s Anatomy One of the hardest working people in television. In this eloquent and passionate speech, she describes how much she loves her work and the writing process, which she calls her “buzz.”
But what do you do when you’ve lost your “buzz”—that feeling of joy you once had about something you loved? Watch the talk to find out.
17. How to stop screwing yourself up: Mel Robbins.
Award-winning life coach and motivational speaker Mel Robbins tells us how to be motivated to do the things we really want to do in life. For example, she noted, scientists calculated the odds of each of us being born: 1 in 400 trillion.
Yet, as amazing as it is to be here in the first place, we take it for granted and continue to be ruled by our “inner snooze alarm.”
18. The amazing science of storytelling: David JP Phillips.
Absolutely brilliant talk about the stories and chemicals in the brain. When we write a story, we are actually trying to trigger a hormonal chemical reaction in the reader’s mind. A way to engage them in the story you are telling.
Phillips suggests that all your stories should be ordered by genre, based on which ones make people laugh (via endorphins), which ones make people empathize (via oxytocin), and so on. Not to be missed.
19. Why you can’t have a great career: Larry Smith.
Economics professor Larry Smith has a blunt challenge for all of us who have put off pursuing our dreams: “Everyone tells you to pursue your passion and follow your dreams. You hear it over and over again, Then you decide not to. You worry that you’ll look like an idiot if you look for your passion and can’t find it, so you make excuses for why you don’t follow your passion.
20. Inside the heart of a master procrastinator: Tim Urban.
Still trying to finish (or start) your screenplay? Want to shoot your own short film but can’t find the time? Entrepreneur Tim Urban urges us to think about why we actually procrastinate because everyone procrastinates on something in their life.
In this entertaining talk, he talks about how we need to realize the power of the “instant gratification monkey” and make sure we start today. Well, maybe not today.
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Let us know in the comments below what you think of our picks and whether we missed any of your favorite TED talks about creativity, storytelling, or filmmaking.
Like these TED talks about storytelling? Get more inspiration from these posts…
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