Julian Treasure

Business leader, Change Agent, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Idea generator, Musician, Parent, Writer/Editor

My vision is a world that listens. I write books, give keynotes and teach about the critical communication skills of listening and speaking. My new book 'Sound Affects' explores the relationship between humanity (that's you) and sound and discovers endless reasons to listen in a world that's forgotten how. I love TED and feel very much part of this community. I have given five TED talks and 11 TEDx talks that have been seen over 150 million times; my talk on powerful speaking is the sixth most-watched TED talk of all time. My first book 'Sound Business' was about harnessing the power of intentional, well-designed sound in business. My second, award-winning, book 'How To Be Heard' was about how to speak powerfully and listen consciously – skills that dramatically affect our life outcomes but that we are not taught at school. Inspiring the world to listen may take some time, but I'm nothing if not stubborn! I always love to hear from TEDsters, and look forward to many TEDs to come.

transforming the world's listening; my family; making and listening to music, Orkney, silence, consciousness.

In modern living we have promoted the eyes to rule the senses and become used to suppressing sound, but it still affects us all. Regaining our conscious listening is a vital task because noise creates ill health (a million years of healthy life lost each year in Europe alone according the WHO) and antisocial behaviour, to name but two consequences. If we teach our children how to listen consciously and mindfully then in a single generation we can transform our world to a place of understanding, compassion and beauty. Now that is a prize worth having.

Aural architecture, Communication, Conscious listening, Designing with the ears, Healthy sound, Powerful speaking, Public speaking, Sound, Sound in business, Soundscapes

I came in 2003 and loved having my brain scrambled by a series of brilliant talks, having permission to talk to over 1,000 fascinating and extraordinary strangers (that's what the TED pass means, and many of the strangers are now friends) and taking home stuff that changed my life and my work, Next was the inaugural TED Global in Oxford in 2005 because all the Monterey events landed on my daughter's birthday... until 2008, when I was overjoyed to be back and to experience a vintage TED, the last at Monterey. I attended and spoke at all the Scottish TEDGlobals, did a talk with Jon Ronson in Long Beach and in 2026 I was honoured to guest-curate a whole session called Reasons to Listen at the final TED conference in Vancouver. You cannot have too much TED! I'm honoured to have five talks on TED.com, and overwhelmed to reflect that more than 150 million people have watched them online. TED has been responsible for so much good in my life. I cherish it.

drumming - I've played since I was 15 and made records with Transmitters and Fish Turned Human back in the 80s golf - when I get time to play