David Lavin, president of The Lavin Agency speakers bureau, has a lot of experience working with TED speakers—especially since he’s been one himself! As he tells negotiation and communication speaker Misha Glouberman in this exclusive discussion, the secret behind the success of TED is the people they put on stage. TED doesn’t pick  average, run-of-the-mill speakers to lead their lectures. Rather, they choose people who are “genuinely, passionately, engaged in doing something that’s incredible,” Lavin says. “People are hungry for content,” he continues. TED provides their attendees with an assortment of speakers who deliver quality content that inspires their audiences. We here at Lavin agree, and we represent an assortment of TED speakers sure to deliver rousing speeches no matter what the subject matter.

Susan Cain’s breakthrough research on introversion has been turned into another live animation video series (the first one was drawn by Molly Crabapple for RSA) and its gone viral! Composed by dwlFilms, the series features several episodes that have taken material from Cain’s bestselling book Quiet and turned it into an animated short feature. So far, the first episode has already gained over a million views! It’s no surprise that the video has become so popular given that Cain’s work on introversion has earned her many awards and accolades in the past year. Her TED talk has gained millions of views and even earned the stamp of approval from Bill Gates. Cain proposes that the introverted part of the population has vast potential, and that introverts make some of the most creative and effective leaders.

In a recent interview with TVO, human rights speaker Stephen Lewis talked about ways to get involved with a good cause when the government has so drastically cut foreign aid spending. New agreements for budgets and funding allocation has dramatically decreased the funding going to help humanitarian causes, he explains. Due to this, Lewis argues that “countries which deserve humanitarian support won’t get it and we will focus all of our relationships on trade arrangements and trade agreements which ultimately could be prejudicial because they will benefit major multinational corporations.” While he agrees that many of the millennium goals we set out to achieve in terms of diminishing global poverty have been met, there is still more to do. While he tells the audience that he doesn’t want them to feel deflated, as a lot of good has taken place, he does say that they should not give up on trying to make a difference.

In this clip from a recent keynote, How Children Succeed author Paul Tough talks about the importance of grit as a personality trait, and explains why grit and other similar character traits are as important as IQ in determining a child’s development.

With enough hard work, anyone can become a leader, says Retired General Rick Hillier.

Bioethicist Arthur Caplan, in NBCNews.com.

In a recent keynote at the One Young World Summit 2012, Fatima Bhutto spoke to a group of young “ambassadors” about the importance of collaboration in inspiring global change.

“If I got bored I would stop [writing],” says Stuart McLean, creator and host of CBC Radio’s The Vinyl Cafe on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. “It would be awful to work at something that you hated.”

Nathan Wolfe, founder of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, in National Geographic.

What is the key to improving a company’s bottom line while adding jobs? Increase a product’s value by making it better, says Rotman School of Management Dean Roger Martin.