This talk is so out of line with the other TED talks that I was a bit disturbed the first time I saw it, but actually this is the one that I still remember the most vividly five years after. Of course, it takes a real genius, and not just a marketing "genius", to deliver such a particular performance, and get away with it.
There is an interesting (actually) counter-example to the preformatted typical Ted Talk: French designer's Philip Stark https://www.ted.com/talks/philippe_starck_thinks_deep_on_des...
This talk is so out of line with the other TED talks that I was a bit disturbed the first time I saw it, but actually this is the one that I still remember the most vividly five years after. Of course, it takes a real genius, and not just a marketing "genius", to deliver such a particular performance, and get away with it.