On being there in person, getting face to face, and falling back to simple video communication when time and distance keep us apart.

I enjoyed the privilege of producing and delivering a TED talk on these themes at the inaugural TEDxUCCS.

Right off the top: Thank you to EPIIC and UCCS for inviting me to participate.

Rather than provide a written version of the talk, I’m borrowing a concept from some of my favorite podcasts – the recording itself, plus “show notes.”

Included in these notes:

• Links to ideas used to construct the presentation
• Info and credits for the photos in the slide deck
• Additional, related links
• A few closing thanks

Recording: TED Talk at UCCS

“Show Notes” Outline of the Talk

Listed in the sequence in which they’re included in the presentation, many of these are links to BombBomb blog posts; this topic is one I’ve been speaking and writing on for a few years.

Are You Better in Email or on the Phone? On the Phone or in Person?
A device created by my friend and colleague Stephen Pacinelli

The Epidemic of Facelessness by Stephen March
[Click – New York Times]

“93% of Your Communication is Nonverbal” … Or Not
[Click – BombBomb Blog]

Human Facial Expression of Emotion – Universal & Innate
[Click – BombBomb Blog]

John Lewis: The Art & Discipline of Nonviolent Protest
[Click – On Being with Krista Tippett]

Kerry Egan: What We Talk About Before We Die
[Click – CNN Religion Blog / Book – On Living]

Video Email Research with Team at Harvard Business School
[Click – BombBomb Blog]

Fun facts: there’s a company in Texas that sells the TEDx lettering to all TEDx event organizers. And the red carpet circle is a real thing.

Photo Links for the Slides

For the slides, I used several of my own photos, as well as others gathered through Flickr searches.

Flickr allows you to search by license type, including Creative Commons licenses that allow modifications and commercial use. Though this isn’t commercial use, I opted for that level of permission (CC BY 2.0 and CC BY-SA 2.0).

First up: the final slide. As I did a handful of times in run-throughs of the talk, I failed to click through to the final slide. So, I’m featuring it here.

The Full Slide Deck as PDF [Click]

Slides 1, 2, 3 – Mirrored figure installation in Ah-Nab-Awen Park for ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Slide 4 – Detail of Kumi Yamashita’s Origami – paper and shadow treatment of 50 faces at the Grand Rapids Art Museum [Click]

Slide 5 – Dragan Brankovic, What would we do without our smartphone? [Click]
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Slide 6 – Karlis Dambrans, Munich [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 7 – Per Gosche, Stereo texting [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 8 – Garry Knight, Two Mobile Phones [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 9 – Creative Sustainability, Creative Teamwork [Click]
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Slide 10 – Our son, Owen, on the rim of Bryce Canyon in Utah.

Slide 11 – Lars Plougmann, English lesson [Click] CC BY-SA 2.0

Slide 12 – Rolands Lakis, Mother&Daughter [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 13 – Our niece, Natalie, running to hug my wife, Megan. We made a surprise school pickup on the first day of our visit to Phoenix.

Slide 14 – LBJ Foundation, DIG135625-076 [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 15 – Scott Robinson, Figures of Justice [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 16 – Luigi Menato, Teamwork [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 17 – David Goehring, Allegiance [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 18 – Andrea Passioni, Embrace [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 19 – Ryan Tir, Global Hello [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 20 – Matt Deegan, 2013-01-01 00.58.12 [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 21 – John DiSalvo, video chat 4ever [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 22 – Tats Yamashita, 今日のFaceTimeとらちゃん(2012/3/10) [Click] CC BY 2.0

Slide 23 – h_lira, facetime [Click] CC BY-SA 2.0

Slide 24 – Megan and our friend Cori Mozilo at Boulettes Larder in the Ferry Building, San Francisco.

Left column: Slides 1-12
Right column: Slides 13-24

Links on Directly Related Themes

Rehumanize Your Business: How Personal Videos Accelerate Sales and Improve Customer Experience
[Click – Published by Wiley 2019]

5 Minute “Ignite” Version of this Talk
[Click – ethanbeute.com]

The Deeper Reason You’re Not Sending Video
(Brene Brown on Vulnerability & Human Connection at TEDxHouston)
[Click – BombBomb Blog]

The Benefits of a Smile
[Click – BombBomb Blog]

Library of TED Talks
[Click – TED.com]

More Thanks

Thanks to Sean Mitchell for the photo immediately above and for coming down from Denver to experience the event.

Thanks to Kurt Bartolich for help and feedback through the process of constructing this presentation. Get some branding insights from him here.

Thanks most to Megan for the featured image at the top of this post and for endless love and support at all times and through all things.