Amanda
Palmer starts her TED talk off with explaining her job as a “statue.” This is a
great intro because it explains where she grew her passion for people and
interaction. She explains how there was a powerful feeling of trust and
compassion between her and her viewers as they interacted. As they gave her
money, she would give them intense eye contact and physical emotion. At the end
of their interaction, they would both say “thank you.” This “thank you”
symbolized what the job meant for her. It symbolized a powerful and needed
tradeoff between her and her spectator. They gave her money, and she gave them importance
and feeling. As time passed, she realized that money was not her overall goal.
Money became her means for her ends. She cherished the idea that she could
simply connect with random people and give them what they needed to such an extent that they would openly give her money.
She
could feel the power behind this new artist and fan relationship. This
relationship made her realize that her interaction with fans was much more than
just a show. She then took this relationship and applied it to her band. With
her band, she reshaped the “business” of music. No longer was the ultimate goal
to make money and “hit it big,” but to connect
with people and continuously experience the powerful trade-off between fan
and artist.
Similarly
to her work as a statue, her band would occasionally pass a hat around the
crowd for donations. She explains how one member of the band felt very
uncomfortable because doing this felt like “begging.” From this, she revitalized
her point. She told him how the hat was not being passed around because the
band was “needy” or “poor,” but because the fans want to give money. She shows him that the relationship between her
band and the viewers is one of “give and receive”—a powerful tradeoff. She goes
even further by telling how crowd surfing and stage diving became a regular
thing for her band. The direct interaction and physical contact with the fans empowered
this relationship and gave it even more significance.
For
her, the music business became all about the fans. She tells of a time when an
eighteen-year old-girl invited her to stay at her home for a night, but it was
not the typical stay. The girl’s entire family slept on couches while the band
slept on the beds. Then, the mother told Palmer how much of an impact her music
had on her eighteen-year-old daughter. This incident epitomized Palmer’s faith
on the artist/fan relationship.
Ultimately,
she took this whole idea to another level. She decided to do something to
really symbolize what she and her band were all about. She gave out free music
online and allowed people to donate any amount of money they chose or not
donate at all. The results were staggering with over a million dollars in
donations. This project represents the culmination and power of her perception
on the artist and fan relationship.
Her
presentational style took her speech to another level. She seemed to translate the
interaction she has with her audience at concerts to her audience at the TED
talk. First off, she starts her speech on top of a box just as she was when she
performed as a statue. This immediately takes the crowd into first hand
perspective of what it feels like to be a spectator of her show and feel the
fan/artist relationship. Also, she dressed in her rock attire. This was
important because it displayed who she is and how her topic was pursued. In
addition, this attire makes it seem to the audience like she is actually at a
concert and is going to connect with the TED audience like a concert audience. Finally,
the way she speaks is very infatuated and powerful. Her tones comes off that
she is enthralled with her topic and fully believes in it.
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