Mark Schultz and others have been kind enough to indulge me with tips about giving a talk. Mark not surprisingly noted that Mike Madison offers great advice on the topic via links. From Mike’s links (at the bottom of his page on student writing guidelines) I went to PresentationZen (a cool name in general and with some good material as well). That site led me to the TED Web site (“TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design”) and a talk by Bill Strickland. TED provides a quick bio here. In an even shorter nod that merits more, think of a man who started from the poor parts of Pittsburgh and won the MacArthur grant. As the site sums “While moonlighting as an airline pilot, Strickland founded Manchester Bidwell, a world-class institute in his native Pittsburgh devoted to vocational instruction in partnership with big business- and, almost incidentally, home to a Grammy winning record label and a world class jazz performance series.” The institute, well I can’t do that justice. But luckily the TED web site has a lecture by Mr. Strickland. It is a great talk, with great vision, and happens to have the great Herbie Hancock providing the music for the speech. So take the 35 minutes (or at least start it if you rolled your eyes and see whether you aren’t drawn in) and enjoy.