Tedtalk Blog

TedTalk Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/mike_gil_could_fish_social_networks_help_us_save_coral_reefs

    In this ted talk the speaker is talking about how different species of fish are communicating and coming together, to work together. At the beginning he asked who loves life under the sea and a bunch of people raised their hands. With this, he related it to when one person raises their hand, it gives other people the confidence to also raise their hand. It is the act of copying one another. When one does something first, then others have the confidence to follow. The copying behavior is the same in wild animals as well. In this particular scenario, it is regarding fish species. When one fish would go to eat algae on coral reefs, the other fish would as well, because they knew it was safe from predators. When a fish would leave and swim away, then the other fish would also leave because they would communicate that danger is approaching. This is exciting information because the fish are from different species and schools (schools of fish), but they work together to help each other and make their own social connections. So this copying behavior can affect entire ecosystems that we all rely on (ie coral reefs).

5 canons of rhetoric

    Invention: The speaker of the ted talk came up with an invention to see the patterns/social connections of different species of fish. He and his team built a little area underwater hooked up with cameras to watch the fish. He wanted to see if the different species of fish would come together and communicate with one another when to eat the algae, which in turn keeps the coral reefs healthy, clean, and most importantly, living. He thought about the copying behavior that humans and animals do, and with that information wanted to prove why it can be beneficial. 

    Arrangement: He first started off with a silly question, and related that back to his findings. He first brought up what the problem was and what he was trying to accomplish. He then presented his findings through charts and videos. After he presented his findings, he talked about how their hypotheses were correct and brought the whole thing back together. Why the tests were being done, what happened during the tests, and why it was important and beneficial to figure out. He presented the findings throughout the speech and in the end explained the results. Like a formal arrangement. 

    Style: He had good style in terms of what he was using. He had many different charts/powerpoints for people to look over while he was talking. He also had many videos from when they did the underwater experiment. He had videos shown of their process building the area, and many videos showing what had happened. He seemed very knowledgeable on the subject.

    Memory: He definitely knows what he is talking about. Since he was the leader of this certain experiment they did, it makes sense as to why he knows all of the information and facts off the top of his head. He had no notecards or powerpoints to read over, everything was from his memory. He also spent practically the whole time looking at the audience and maintaining eye contact with them. He was a strong speaker and had no mishaps. Since he seemed to be the main leader of the experiment, memory didn’t seem to be an issue.

    Delivery: He had a pretty strong delivery. He spoke well and loud throughout the ted talk. He had a fun opener question and related that back to his overall point. He had a strong inflection of his voice when speaking throughout the video and a softer voice if something was more serious that needed to be addressed. It was a very serious video, but he was able to keep it interesting so people would not get bored throughout the presentation. The ending was very interesting because he brought up that we, humans, can be affected by an individual fish, whether they keep the coral reefs clean or not. 

    Overall for this being a shorter speech, I think he was able to use all 5 canons of the rhetorical strategies. The main one being invention. He was able to come up with an invention that would be tested to prove if their hypothesis was correct, and if this invention would give them the information they needed to further their research and have more data collected. Because of this experiment, it points to better ways to sustainably manage coral reefs.