Tenner Week: Day 2: Attend a lecture
For Day Two of our latest ‘Back to school’ Tenner Week challenge, we’re going to find an interesting lecture or talk to attend. Sometimes you can learn more from an interesting half hour presentation than you can from many hours of reading or other study, especially if it’s given by an entertaining or expert speaker.
Even better, you don’t have to be stuck in some musty lecture hall – the lecture of your choice can often be brought to you, wherever you are and whatever time you feel like attending. It’s time to get curious and expand your knowledge.
Think about it, there are lectures and talks everywhere now, most of them 100% free to enjoy on just about any subject you can imagine. Here are just a few brief ideas for things you can try today:
- TED Talks – Thousands of talks to choose from, on a variety of subjects, in different languages and with a choice of duration
- Online university lectures via OpenCulture – Video and audio courses and lectures on many academic subjects, from Yale, Harvard, Oxford etc (see also iTunes U, YouTube Edu and many more)
- Local public lectures – Check with your local council’s website for free local talks, and also have a look at local press for listings of adult education / public lectures at local colleges or universities
- Royal Institution lectures – Every Christmas the RI produces a popular series of public science lectures which are later televised. You can watch many past lectures for free via their website.
It doesn’t have to be academic, there are plenty of talks about how to become a better cook or sort out your finances, or change your habits for the better, and so on. Take up a new hobby, improve your work prospects or just keep up to date with new developments in one of your areas of interest.
Alternatively you could hunt down an interesting podcast as many have informative or educational themes and function as on-demand talks or mini audio lectures. If you haven’t tried it already, you can use apps such as TuneIn Radio to find and listen to podcasts on your mobile phone.
I think I’m going to look for a funny new TED talk to watch in my lunch break today – you can search using the ‘humour’ tag as well as by subject, in case you’re interested. What subject might you find the most interesting?
How’s your budget going so far this week? Did anyone manage a zero-spend day?
as I will be in today and an injured hand I think I will console my self with a ri series that I missed..by the way yesterdays dish was tasty and helpfully there are leftovers.
We’ve booked tickets for a lecture next month, it’s not particularly local so it’s not going to be a freebie, but we’ve been to a lecture by the same speaker before and he is very good. I’m hoping to learn lots as it’s about body language so should be useful!
Also, I made eggless Yorkshire puddings for the first time yesterday.
Hi there, had to go to the supermarket to buy some cheese. With my loyalties points, I spent a royal 2,24 bucks. I will find out a lecture about a subject that I am interested in, to watch on You tube today during a break, because I am too busy and a bit sick to go out.
Hi Jackie – I love the RI lectures, even if I sometimes forget that they’re on. Nice to be able to catch up with them. Hope your hand is healing up nicely.
Hello thrift deluxe, that lecture sounds interesting! Good for the old grey matter…
Hi Patricia, well done for using those loyalty points and hope you feel better soon if you’re poorly.