Most of us know and love the TED Talk lecture format that most of us watch on YouTube, but not many of us have had the opportunity to experience the magic of learning in a live format.

Since 1984, the non-profit organization T.E.D. (Technology, Entertainment and Design) has been committed to spreading ideas through powerful talks that are all less than 18 minutes in length. Today, the three original categories have expanded to include topics like art, music, science and culture.

With the same idea sharing vision as TED, independently run TEDx events are held all over the world. Today I had the privilege of attending the TEDx U of W event on campus. Last year, the event had such a large audience that it was moved to a 700 seat lecture hall for this year’s event.

My friend and I may have been a little too excited because we arrived at the event an hour and a half before the doors even opened. After a log chat (and a power nap for me), we finally got to head into the lecture hall at 10:30 a.m.

The event consisted not only of TED talks, but also three performances and two videos. The event opened with a powerful performance from Furmata, the UW’s acapella group. They had just returned from performing in New York with the top ten acapella groups in the nation (Pitch Perfect, anyone?). The event ended with a witty performance from the UW improve group, “The Collective”.

The theme of the event was “Yes, and…” which is the golden rule in stand-up and improv comedy routines. The idea is to take what has been said or done before, to embrace that information and add your own ideas to the mix. The word “yes” indicates that you agree, while the word “and” shows that you believe there is truth behind their statement and want to add something more.

The first talk was from Erin Jones, who has served many roles in education and local government as an advocate for social justice. The title of her talk was “Be a Bridge” an opened with the notion that we don’t take time to really get to know those around us. Our tendency to judge others based on their appearances is dangerous, both for ourselves and for society. We should encourage people to share their stories and genuinely listen. Remember that social change starts on the individual level, and it starts with you.

The second talk was from Peregrine Church, founder of the Seattle-based company Rainworks. His talk was on the value of novelty in breaking up the mundane cycles of daily life. He opened with a video of a surprise birthday party he and his friends threw for a stranger in a park (it was not the guy’s birthday, so he was pretty shocked). But in addition to his surprise, the man was also smiling. The crazy party trick had brought him joy on that average day. Church argues that novelty can be simple and that things don’t need to be meaningful to have a meaningful impact.

He explained that adding a little novelty to someone’s day can boost morale, reduce burnout and extend life. As people age, they experience fewer new things, so changing up the routine creates instant joy. Finally, novelty builds community and provides people with opportunities to connect with one another. People who would otherwise have nothing in common can bond over their mutually positive experiences.

The third talk was from Steven Matly, who is the founder of SM Diversity, a hiring agency that helps companies create a more diverse and inclusive workforce. The title of his talk was “There’s Never a Wrong Time to Start Doing the Right Thing” and explored ideas of diversity and inclusivity. He suggests that all humans and biased and we tend to include people in our groups that look and behave in ways that are familiar. He went on to propose that inclusivity is the path toward success, which lies  on the other side of fear an failure. The question is, how are we being intentional about engaging with people who are not like us?

We then watched a TED video from Louie Schatrzberg on the documentary, Mysteries of the Unseen World. The talk showed the wonders of high speed, slow speed and magnifying cameras for furthering our understanding of the complexity of the natural world.

The first three TED talks set the tone for the rest of the conference, as they showed what it means to say, “Yes, and…”, how was can do that and why it is important, both for individuals and society.

Following an hour-long lunch break, we listened to two more talked as well as watching a video and a dance performance.

The fourth talk was from William Zhou on “How Five Seconds Can Change the World.” Zhou explained that one choice we make every single day, in a matter of seconds, can be used to change the world. This is the choice to sort our trash into compost, recycle and trash.

We must choose which group we want to support: the big business waste management or the smaller, sustainable companies that want to recycle and compost. Zhou says that we don’t make these choices not because we don’t care, but because we are unaware. It only takes seconds to make a choice that will have a huge impact on the planet.

Following a performance from the UW Bachata (salsa dance) club, we launched into a fifth talk from Kelly Ogilvie, who is the CEO of DeepCell Industries. His talk focused on the medicinal use of cannabis and how it has been used medicinally throughout history. He argued that cannabis was the future of multi-cellular therapy and is on the cutting edge of research. He also mentioned some of the negative aspects of cannabis, suggesting that cannabis can be a positive agent when used wisely and for medicinal purposes.

Next we watched a video TED talk from Elora Hardy, an architect who designs bamboo mansions in Bali. She explained the durability and beauty of the bamboo wood, how the material was more than sustainable for building a house. Her designs are inspired by the individual curves of the wood, which prevents her from creating straight line. Local artisans are eager to learn the craft of home building and join in to make the models into reality. The treehouse style homes she builds are not only beautiful, they are strong and sustainable as well.

These two talks and the video connected to the theme of accepting the resources provided by the Earth and treating them with respect. They explained what it means to say “Yes, and…” to nature and to thinking about positive methods of sustainable use.

The sixth talk was from Jasmine Samy, who is an attourney and member of the Council of Islamic Relations. She spoke about hate speech toward Muslims, especially following the election. Her focus was on hate speech and bullying in schools, drawing on her research titled “The Children’s Voices Study”.

Words can create deep wounds, not only for adults but especially for children. Social issues in education are difficult to define and address since so many different factors are in play. The children in Samy’s study suggested that teaching responsible uses of social media and replacing negative news about Muslims with positive news are two ways to begin the healing process.

The seventh talk was from Jeannie Berwick, former lawyer and current executive director of the One Equal Heart Foundation. Her talk titled “The Wisdom of Walking Slowly” grew out of her experiences with the indigenous Tseltal Maya communities in Mexico. She was studying leadership in this community and how it is different from our approaches to leadership.

Her first point was that leaders wait to be invited. A leader who promotes themselves is immediately suspected by the community. The idea here is that everyone in the community had something of value to contribute. Her second point was that leaders listen more than they speak. Dialogue requires listening as they harvest the words of the community.

Her main point was that leaders walk slowly. This means that they are not slaves to their calendars, but are instead devoted to deep time, or time beyond time. They think with their hearts rather than their heads. Finally, leaders invite others into relationship. They are intentional about making space and time to create relationships out of trust. As a result, the community can create deeper connections, have deeper insights and develop more peace as a whole.

The final talk was from Courtney Sheehan, the executive director for the Northwest Film Forum, Seattle’s independent film nonprofit. Her talk, titled, “Same Screen, New Needs” focused on the changing role of the movie theatre in our rapidly changing society. She discussed public spheres, which are places where people come together for a common purpose. To expand, Sheehan talked about the forum as a public meeting place for open discussion. She described innovations being made at the film forum to interact with patrons and engage in mays that move beyond the traditional movie experience.

The final three talks wrapped the conference with three different calls to action, to change our approaches and innovate for the future. The world we live in will not change unless we take steps to make it happen. We must say “yes” to what has been done before in order to say “and” and take the world into a new direction.

So what will you say “yes” to today? “And” what are you going to do next?