TedTalk -- Jason Porter

While watching this Ted Talk, there was one thing that caught me off guard right from the start. Amanda Palmer’s eyebrows were really bothering me. I hate to bring it up, but when she walked out on stage, I had no clue what I was about to hear or what to think of her opinion. I think that I kind of judged her before she even opened her mouth, which was, to say the least, not a very nice thing to do. As the video progressed, I really did not know where she was headed with her speech, much less what it was about. But then, out of no where, it all clicked. I think that I realized what the Ted Talk was about was when she started talking about how one of the band members did not like asking for “help” but that the rest of the band did not mind. I really liked her outlook on how fans will “give” to people that they idolize like Amanda, but might hesitate to pay a sticker price and might download it illegally just because they can. When Amanda Palmer dropped her label and no longer made people pay to listen to her music, she gained an incredible insight. She found that if she simply asked for help from her fans, that they would donate an overwhelming amount of money, just to support her. When the fans were not being told that they had to pay a certain amount, many of them gave money anyways just to help Amanda out so that she could get by and live off of music and continue producing the music that her fans have come to know and love. At the end of this Ted Talk, the whole message was clear and  evident, don’t be afraid to ask when you need help and have trust in others, because most of the time, people will surprise you.