I was watching a couple of videos on TED.com yesterday, and it occurred to me that many of my readers probably don’t know much about this valuable resource. So here’s what TED is all about:

Our mission: Spreading ideas.

We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.

The people speaking at this yearly conference are visionaries from all walks of life: technology, entertainment, design (that’s where the name TED came from), science, sports, medicine, education, business, philosophy . . . the list goes on. They are not paid to speak. They do so because the small audience is full of people like themselves — successful and influential individuals from all over the world.

The site has a pretty good search function, but to get started, I highly recommend browsing around and clicking on anything that looks interesting. I’ve found a ton of cool videos that I never would have come across if I was just looking for something specific.

The links on the left side are really great for helping you find interesting things. You can sort by any topic you wish, or (my personal favorite) choose from the most inspiring, informative, jaw-dropping, or fascinating talks, as voted on by the viewers.

There is such a wealth of knowledge on this site, from a huge variety of speakers. You can go from such extremes as Billy Graham speaking about technology and faith to Richard Dawkins on militant atheism. If you don’t want to get that deep, how about a quick demo of some future toys, or maybe listen to John Wooden talk about the difference between winning and success?

I should tell you that the previous paragraph took me about an hour to write, because I kept watching snippets from different talks. Be wary of that when you visit. So do yourself a favor and check it out – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

And when you do, think about this: if you’re reading this post and watching one of these videos right now, then you have access to more information, tools, and communication options than anyone else in the history of the world. That’s both an amazing resource and a heavy responsibility.

I’m going to use this resource to make a positive impact in the lives of the people around me. How will you use it?

Similar Posts:

• Use Your Influence
• The Smile of the Universe
• Connecting Others and Building Communities: Part of the ItStartsWith.Us Mission
• A Celebration of Life
• 30 People On Twitter Who Care What You Think