Name: 【TEDx】How to introduce yourself | Kevin Bahler | TEDxLehighRiver
Uploaded: 2017-09-26T15:39:36.000Z
Duration: 10 min 32 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

I am the grant writer for Allentown Symphony Association.

I always find that a strange way to introduce myself.

It's not that I don't like my job - I'm very proud of it -

When I was five, I have lots of introductions.

"Hi! My name is Kevin, and my favorite color is green."

"Hi! My name is Kevin, and I have a cat named Tiger."

"Hi! My name is Kevin, and I love finger-painting!"

Admittedly, that last one was kind of playing it safe

because, let's be honest, who doesn't love finger-painting?

But I didn't pick it because it was safe,

because I was always honest and upfront about who I was and what I loved.

I changed my introductions to match my newest interests.

"Hi, my name is Kevin, and I like watching Power Rangers."

"Hi, my name is Kevin, and I do the martial art Aikido."

"Hi, my name is Kevin, and my favorite food is quiche."

Yes, I was a very weird boy, and I admit it.

when being honest and open about yourself

is the social equivalent of getting "kick me" tattooed across your forehead.

So as I got older, I slowly picked the safer options.

I had changed my introductions to match what was normal.

"Hey, I'm Kevin, and I like watching The Simpsons."

"Hey, I'm Kevin, and I like eating corn-pops."

I didn't even tell people I did martial arts.

I just told people the parts of me they expected to hear.

Well, in case you don't remember high school very well, you need to fit in.

And whether you want to fit in with the popular kids

or if you want to fit in with a counterculture,

you need to have something in common with somebody.

And the safer your introduction, the more likely you are to connect.

So I figured out how to say the right things

and I survived high school without being ostracized

But when graduation day came, I was so excited for college.

This was a place where people paid the money to learn.

It had to be filled with incredibly passionate people, right?

Yeah, guess how wrong I was; I'll give you a hint.

It turns out that passionate or not, everybody on campus had one introduction.

It was just the only allowable introduction.

It was this way to kind of define yourself,

but always within the safety of the established programs.

the charming, charismatic, sharp-dressed man you see before you.

In fact, I used to be a huge nerd that would do anything to have friends.

So when I was in college, I mastered the safe introduction,

and I mastered the safe conversation, and I mastered the safe friendship.

And you know what? Safe friends are boring!

We sat in our dorms, complained about teachers and homework,

I had more 'friends' than I had time to spend with them.

When I realized this, it pushed me over the tipping point,

and I finally stopped caring about fitting in,

So instead of being safe, I started being honest.

"Hi, I'm Kevin, and I'm fascinated by chemistry and physics."

"Hi, my name is Kevin, and my favorite band ever is Muse."

"Hi, my name is Kevin, and I love finger-painting!"

And the funny thing about allowing myself to just be me

is that all those boring people stopped wanting to hang out with me

And all the people who stuck around were awesome!

These were people who did things: we hiked, we swam,

from black holes to stand up comedians, from Wittgenstein to Winnie The Pooh,

And it is so easy to get lost in having a good time.

So I made sure to remind myself of one simple fact:

if I wasn't willing to be rejected by everybody else.

So when I graduated college, I was ready to enter the real world.

I'd learned to let go of the safety of conformity,

and I was ready to meet other self-actualized adults.

It turns out that it was just the same introduction from college,

"Hello, my name is meaningless, and I am my job."

Now, like I said at the beginning, I am proud of my job.

I'm privileged to be able to earn my living

Subtitles ListPlay Video

【TEDx】How to introduce yourself | Kevin Bahler | TEDxLehighRiver

weird

equivalent

awesome

grocery