Paul Reed Smith Gives TEDx Talk: Play Your Cards

Paul Reed Smith was one of twelve featured thought leaders for this year’s inaugural TEDx Chester River conference. TEDx programs are a local extension of the widely popular thought-sharing organization called TED. The sought-after TED and TEDx events feature select speakers whose talks focus on the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. Participants taking part in this year’s event were inspired by Paul Reed Smith’s presentation and encouraged to embrace Paul’s unique, provocative method for creating a balanced life and a better future by “Playing Your Cards.” In “Play Your Cards,” Paul’s compelling TEDx presentation and newly posted video, Paul conveys to listeners that we can better fit into our world and be happy using a five step process which he illustrates with five puzzle pieces: “Know Your Cards.,” “Play Your Cards,” “Get a Mentor,” “Strive for Balance,” and “Enjoy the Moments.” Paul articulates that “Everyone is dealt a handful of cards. Our job is to fix any bad cards and act on the good cards.” His “I love Guitars Card,” for example, fueled his desire to build guitars known for their tone and beauty. In the video, Paul’s steps are poignantly illustrated with stories from his own personal journey including overcoming fears, dealing with vision challenges, creating goals, and developing focus to achieve those goals. Paul ends his TEDxChesterRiver presentation with a PRS guitar demonstration of the “Star Spangled Banner” which he dedicates to our troops, without whom there would no freedom to explore the ideas shared at TEDx programs. Paul’s presentation has been added to the TEDx library and is now available on TEDx You Tube channel here