It was striking to see in Benjamin Zander’s Ted talk his capacity to “move” people. Note how he delivers his talk, how he brings attention and accent to different parts of it, how he uses stories, how he makes it so inspiring and emotional.
His stories were meant to make people emotional, so that the impact is far greater.
At the end it shows how leadership is about moving others to action. And nothing works better than appealing to emotions with stories and with a vividly intense delivery that bring attention to the important messages.
“Move” them in order to get them to move and act. “Move” them so that they gain a new perspective and can see new possibilities. “Move” them because emotions make things memorable and contagious.
Coming from a musician, from a conductor, it is really inspiring, because artists are about that, about “moving” people, about creating emotions that change perspectives and transform how audiences see the World.
That is the immense power of Arts. Stories, music, paintings, photos, films, even TED-talks, all of them can have profound effects in society by touching people and altering the way they perceive an issue or a reality.
Art can uncover new perspectives by bringing attention to inadvertent details, to those subtle differences that turn out to make the difference.
How do you know if you are moving them? You can see that in their shining eyes.
“Who am I being that my children’s eyes are not shining?” says Benjamin Zander in his TED talk in 2008