The Art of Asking- John Perrow

After the first thirty seconds of this TED Talk, I had absolutely no idea what Amanda Palmer was going to speak about for 14 minutes. In this video, Amanda shows her positive attitude towards others. She also emphasizes on reaching out to others for help or to ask them questions. She began an art of asking people to help her with her music so that she could become more successful. Engaging in conversations with random and lonely people became one of her hobbies because it made them feel not so lonely. By asking other for help, other performers would help introduce her music to the public and then join her on stage to perform. She also uses Twitter as a means of communications to ask people for help, and she was very successful by her fans. Her viewpoint on communicating with others is quite different from most people we see or talk to in today’s society. Most people try not to ask for help and try to do everything by themselves. Amanda sees asking as an “art,” not a way of begging for things. “Couch surfing” is not a common practice today as it used to be many years ago. Not many people today would give up their own beds for a random person to crash at their homes. This video is very interesting to the audience because it shows them what it is like to be a street performer trying to make their way up to the Top 40 hits. Amanda wants people to realize that performing is her way of life, and is a way of life for many others as well. Hopefully the people who have watched this video have a better understanding of musicians such as Amanda who strive to make a living while connecting with their fans.