PrepWell Podcast with Phil Black
Jun 28, 2026 · 9 min · 7 segments
In this week’s episode, I review the origin story of “TED Talk Roulette” and how it can be implemented in your child’s life. This activity is designed to help students who claim that “they just…
Phil BlackHost
Today, I'd like to focus on one of the lessons that you have probably come across inside PrepWell Academy, if you're a member, and that is what I like to call TED Talk roulette.
But before we get into the mechanics of TED Talk Roulette, I'd like to discuss its origin story.
Over the past 15 years or so of working with a lot of high school students, one recurring theme that I encountered was the fact that many students had a difficult time articulating what they were interested in.
And this discovery came in the context of helping students select their academic classes, extracurricular activities, summer experiences, or their intended college major.
During these discussions, I would ask students what they were interested in, what they were passionate about, what did they obsess over, what did they do in their spare time.
Another 45% had some vague ideas, such as, I like sports, I like dance, I like computers.
And 10% had a clear vision for what they were interested in and or what they wanted to study in college and or what they wanted to do for a career.
So given that 90% of the students were either completely clueless or pretty hazy about what they even liked, I set out to try to find new ways to help them refine their thinking.
There are several ideas that I came up with, which you've probably seen in the weekly videos, again, for those who are members of Prepl Academy.
And many of them target particular age groups, whether it's middle schoolers, ninth graders, 11th graders, 12th graders.
TED Talk Roulette is an idea that spans all of these age groups, up to and including adults.
Today, I'd like to focus on one of the lessons that you have probably come across inside PrepWell Academy, if you're a member, and that is what I like to call TED Talk roulette.
But before we get into the mechanics of TED Talk Roulette, I'd like to discuss its origin story.
Over the past 15 years or so of working with a lot of high school students, one recurring theme that I encountered was the fact that many students had a difficult time articulating what they were interested in.
And this discovery came in the context of helping students select their academic classes, extracurricular activities, summer experiences, or their intended college major.
During these discussions, I would ask students what they were interested in, what they were passionate about, what did they obsess over, what did they do in their spare time.
Another 45% had some vague ideas, such as, I like sports, I like dance, I like computers.
And 10% had a clear vision for what they were interested in and or what they wanted to study in college and or what they wanted to do for a career.
So given that 90% of the students were either completely clueless or pretty hazy about what they even liked, I set out to try to find new ways to help them refine their thinking.
There are several ideas that I came up with, which you've probably seen in the weekly videos, again, for those who are members of Prepl Academy.
And many of them target particular age groups, whether it's middle schoolers, ninth graders, 11th graders, 12th graders.
TED Talk Roulette is an idea that spans all of these age groups, up to and including adults.
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