I’m lucky enough at my job to get to watch TED Talks and write about them. There are many speakers and topics to choose from, so sometimes I get confused about where to start. My search ended when I saw the picture of an abandoned mall for Dan Bell’s “Inside America’s Dead Shopping Malls” talk. The eerie image immediately grabbed my attention and lead to my decision to write about this TED Talk.
How an Interesting Topic Can Draw in an Audience
Bell begins his presentation with the visuals that drew me in in the first place. He is naturally very funny, quipping “No sale at Penny’s” when describing the crumbling, forgotten shopping center in his video. The topic is a great choice because it is interesting, popular and has incredible images to go along with it.
Next, Bell tells a story about his experience visiting malls as a child, and later becoming an employee there. He describes how our view and feelings about the mall changes over time. As a kid, the mall is exciting and fun. But when you are a teenager and forced to work there, the mall loses its excitement. That feeling apparently caught on with the shoppers too. Around the country, malls are seeing less shoppers, leaving them to look like ghost towns.
But this growing interest in why malls were closing down gave Bell a new inspiration. What started out as a few short videos became full on documentaries about abandoned shopping malls. This has allowed him to travel and meet people who have their own stories about how their malls were once thriving and are now empty.
I think the most effective part of this TED Talk was the visuals. Bell’s images and videos capture the empty feeling of one of America’s favorite past times. These images back up his claims that malls used to make you feel full or potential and excitement. Now, they are a lonely place with no clear future.
Bell could have improved his speech is by giving a better call to action. He doesn’t clearly state one, and ends his presentation with how he found inspiration through the dead malls. I think he could have made a better call to action with his statement on how malls should embrace their history.
“I always think in my head, if I owned a dead mall — why don’t they embrace their vintage look? Put in a bar, like, put vegan food in the food court and invite millennials and hipsters to come and drink and eat, and I guarantee you within three weeks H&M and Levi’s will be banging on the door trying to get space. I don’t know why they don’t do this, but apparently, it’s only in my mind.”
This statement could be really effective for the owners and businesses of these dying malls. Attracting the younger generation, bringing in popular brand stores, allowing modern day industries to establish themselves are just some of the ways mall owners could put some life back into their business. This concept of embracing their look and culture has the potential to create some action that could save another mall from shutting down.
More from the Ethos3 Blog:
Using Props in a Presentation: A TED Talk Review
Matter Over Mind: Carrie Poppy’s Storytelling Tactic
A Way of Life Presentation: Laura Vanderkam’s TED Talk on Free Time
