Video: The Hijacked American Dream

I gave a presentation recently at Pecha Kucha Atlanta. I had a blast. If you’ve never seen a Pecha Kucha speech you should most definitely find your local PK chapter and attend their next event. I was wowed by the creativity of the presentations and at the amazing things going on in my city right under my nose (like my friend Jeff’s awesome business helping refugees find real hope).

The basic goal of a PK speech is to present something interesting and relevant in a timely manner (2o slides that stay up for 20 seconds each). It’s basically a timed power point presentation. This allows for the crowd to learn about a new and interesting topic in less than 7 minutes. Pretty sweet, huh?

My speech was based off of an article I wrote earlier this year called Rethinking the American Dream. Thanks for checking it out! I would love to hear what you think in the comments section below.

11 Comment responses

  1. Avatar
    December 16, 2013

    Excellent!!! Thought provoking, creative, and funny!

    Reply

  2. Avatar
    December 16, 2013

    Joel Larsgaard for President 2016!

    Reply

  3. Avatar
    December 17, 2013

    This is great Joel! For me, your imagery makes me think of the evolution of the “American Dream” and makes me wonder what it is today. Even though it has evolved over time, it used to be so clearly definable. Now I am not sure what it “should” be.

    Reply

    • Avatar
      December 20, 2013

      I think we could talk about what it “should” be for a long time Shannon! I’m hopeful that our country has learned some lessons from our recent economic downturn and that the current trend of the American Dream is changing.

      Reply

  4. Avatar
    December 20, 2013

    Good stuff, Joel. You picked a great topic and hit a lot of significant points.

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  5. Avatar
    December 26, 2013

    I have slowly been getting rid of things that we don’t need. It’s been a difficult process due to my spouse being a pack rat (maybe even a hoarder!…..yes, definitely a hoarder), you’d think I was cutting off his arm. Thank you for sharing your presentation. You explained this so well.

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  6. Avatar
    March 25, 2014

    Fun presentation with Britney and all. I have been wondering what the American Dream is myself as you hear it in politics all the time. Google gave me one definition that they like. Dictionary.com provided the one you mention as #1 but then one around material posession as the #2 definition.

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  7. Avatar
    February 13, 2016

    Great Wendell Barry quote in your presentation. He has some good stuff on the topic of consumerism, materialism and community in his essays and books. Thanks for your work!

    Reply

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