When Is a Lecture Not Like a Lecture?

A book of reflections on the Legacy of Randy Pausch

When it’s not from your Mum or Dad.

When it's not from your boss.

When it's not from a disapproving relative or friend.

When you are listening to it out of your own free will.

When you are on the delivering end of it rather than the receiving. 

When you are paying for it with unused 529 money.

When it's not in a classroom or lecture hall. 

When you can listen to it or watch it in your pajamas. 

When there are no homework assignments or grades linked to it.

When it's not a deal-breaker for your career.

When it includes eye candy.

When it doesn't make you fill a scratch pad with doodles,or set off your yawn reflex. 

When it’s Show and Tell, not Drone Zone.

When you stumble upon it on You Tube.

When it's on the History Channel.

When it's a TED Lecture.

When it's that riveting most famous lecture of all time "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, delivered shortly after he was told he had terminal pancreatic cancer and had less than a year to live.

When it's the timeless  "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King.

When it's a lecture on Happiness by Dan Gilbert. (Surprise - you might be just as happy a year after becoming disabled as you would be a year after winning the lottery) 

Whatever your reason to find some lectures more interesting or pleasurable than others...

If you are a history buff  - with time, money and passion on your side... the Teaching Company's history courses are for you.

Curious?

My brother-in-law Jim, who majored in history, doctored in history and has an encyclopedic knowledge of history can be your guide.

Jim regularly writes up synopses and reviews of historical courses for the Teaching Company.

He has offered to let me publish some of these on my blog.

Coming soon...Jim's synopses of the best historical course ware offered by the Teaching Company. 

Don't miss it.

Glossary and links:

529 plans: Tax-sheltered plans in which you can save money for college education. While this is targeted for parents to save money for their child's college education, anyone can save money in a 529 plan for anyone else.  Grandparents can save money for their grandchild's higher education, relatives can save for their nieces and nephews; the custodian has complete control of the plan and can change the beneficiary (to himself or herself, even) at any point of time.  You can read more about 529 plans here.

You Tube:  That Google owned website you probably spend too much time on. 

The History Channel: Now called History, a TV Channel belonging to A&E, a feast for history buffs.

TED: a non-profit which brings together the best minds in different fields to deliver short talks every year.  If you have not discovered TED, you should do so now.  Here's the link.

The Last Lecture:  A Must-Watch. Here's the You Tube link.

Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech:  Here's the link on American Rhetoric, a source for other great speeches that have entered the history books.

Dan Gilbert on Happiness at the TED symposium: Here's the link.

The Great Courses by the Teaching Company: Here's the link.

P.S. The Last Lecture is also available in book form. Here's the link:

P.S. 2:  The highlight of my week was attending Xactly Comp Cloud.  As you know, I implement Xactly Commission Software for Solutions PI.  Solutions PI was a sponsor of the Comp Cloud event and had a booth.  As a team-member of Solutions PI, I was privileged to attend some fantastic presentations (you can call them speeches or lectures, just as well) including Forecasting Commission Expenses and 5 Implementation Must Haves for Managing the Challenges of Global Comp. The event also included an inspiring presentation "Unlock the Potential Within" by Mt. Everest climber Sharon Wood on what it took her to get to the peak. If you are involved in Sales Compensation or Commissions Administration, you should make it a point to attend Xactly Comp Cloud when it rolls around next year.