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[Music]
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[Music]
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thank you very much leaders of the past
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would love to be in our shoes leaders of
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the past would love to have the
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opportunities the generations that have
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to live beyond the box every generation
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has had individuals who live beyond the
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box people who did things differently I
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subsequently changed the world whether
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it be through music running a business
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or leading a movement gripping change
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these individuals transformed the way
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humans behave not many of us in this
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room would have lived through the
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groundbreaking events of the 20th
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century but we live with and benefit
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from the changes they brought about and
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I'm sure we all admire the works of
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Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks how
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both they and the civil rights movement
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the world creating meaningful and
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lasting change they are just two
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examples of people who live beyond the
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box so here's a question for you can you
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imagine the impact leaders of the past
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would have had if they were born within
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generations ed generations ed of the
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cohort born between 1995 to 2010 we've
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become the first limitless generation a
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generation who no longer needs to create
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a full strategy in order to reach an
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influence thousands of people we just
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create a tweet think of the power this
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holds every single gender has a platform
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with which they can voice their opinions
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and ideas I mean you only need to open
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your phone and you'll probably find any
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one of your friends talking about a
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trending news topic as if they were a
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some sort of expert
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this concept alone takes our entire
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generation and puts us beyond the box
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why well because my parents grew up
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being told you'll be seen and not heard
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whereas I'm growing up in a generation
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where I can reach a thousand people like
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that so instantly our generation is
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super different but what does this mean
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for a gender well it means that for the
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first time ever we are able to pursue
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our passions at any location at any time
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with any identity but most importantly
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to any uncapped level
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let's take a look at the world of music
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firstly learning music a usefully
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super-expensive it leaves us without
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surprise that here in the UK the Royal
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College of Music in London has the
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highest number of privately educated
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students of any university in the UK at
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fifty five point nine percent which is
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staggering compared to the national
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average of seven percent but this is
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changing now education is more
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accessible than ever before who here
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hasn't been educated by the school of
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YouTube free of charge if you have a
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passion you can pursue it education and
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money is less of a restriction but
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looking at music specifically there are
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other seismic shifts that have caused
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the industry to change for example
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previously in looking to make a career
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out of music you needed a label there's
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a fundamental requirement it required
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you to reach out to the right people to
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then have your music invested in only
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then could you go out to the masses well
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you would be hidden behind a PR team
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they created your narrative they push
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for you to have sets on TV and radio
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they grew your following you the artists
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were just a small cog in the machine you
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were firmly positioned within the box
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but now now we're seeing Jen's editors
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grow huge followings and gain huge
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success of the music from their bedroom
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a bedroom that's probably in their
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parents house but these individuals
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aren't just artists they're lyricists
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publishers tour manager PR team backing
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vocals bass guitar they do it all and
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they don't even need to leave their
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bedroom so no longer are we just a small
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cog within a machine we the entire
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ecosystem in which the machine is placed
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I'm sure we all have a dozen or so
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friends who regularly upload music to
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streaming sites probably for fun what's
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really interesting is out of those dozen
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you've probably got two or three who
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receive tens of thousands of views which
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means that for the first time ever a
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young person is able to derive an income
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from their passion I mean previously if
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you was 16 and you wanted to make an
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income from music let's say you've had
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to go busking on a street corner
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practically begging for cash but now we
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don't need to ask our passions in this
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case music are being seen by enough
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people to be deserving of an earning and
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its own right and I want to reiterate
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this is not uncommon one example would
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be a friend has had a piece of music go
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platinum on a streaming site and this
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has led to him winning a prestigious
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place at the world's leading music
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school
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he was just pursuing his passion using
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the opportunities available to him
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creating music in a niche area that he
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enjoyed listening to and now he creates
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music on a professional basis but it's
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not just in music where we are following
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our dreams and our dreams are
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subsequently gaining us a following but
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we're seeing gen zetas pursue modeling
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acting journalism comedy even athletics
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and these are just some examples of
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passions and potential careers that
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generations that are pursuing while
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still in school but it goes beyond just
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careers or just making a bit of extra
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pocket money gens letters are now even
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starting businesses did you know that
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the cost of 10 business failures today
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is the same as one business failure 10
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years ago so the roadblocks for Gen
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zeros in terms of starting a business
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have been lifted one challenge that even
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I faced was you look young right so
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people judge you based on what they see
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not on what you say they look at you and
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instantly write you off because just by
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looking at you they're going to
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presumably have no real-world experience
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whatever that means but gen Zed is now
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thanks to online platforms able to show
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their passion and knowledge for a field
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without age discrimination but it goes
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beyond that
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it's not just how we look is how we're
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programmed it's not just the 2d it's the
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3d we are programmed so differently to
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any part generation we are growing up
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super savvy we are all marketing experts
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and we've all been developing a personal
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brand from the minute we join social
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media so what does this mean well the
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new world has been molding us into these
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mini Trailblazers and we don't even
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realize it because to us is all natural
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so it probably leaves us without
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surprise that 70% of Jan's Edwyn
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surveyed said they want to start their
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own business
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and statistically 15% of them will do it
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before they leave high school but the
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real amazement comes from those who are
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going beyond enterprise to even starting
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charities can you believe it young
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people starting charities now starting a
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charity site which seems unimaginable
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and securing government funding that's a
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different world away but everywhere you
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look within generations ed there are
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young people doing it every imaginable
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issue agenda is running a campaign of
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some sort oh Sh in plastic mental health
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animal rights you name it there is a
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gens etta promoting and unifying the
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voice of young people but why they doing
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it is it because for the first time ever
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we've actually got a platform to voice
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our opinions or is it because for the
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first time ever we are being brought up
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told you can do this voice your opinion
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we want to hear what you think so when
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we look at stories like Greta Sundberg
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maybe we're left without surprise that
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Greta thumb burg a leading climate
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change activists who recently spoke to
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our MPs in the UK calling for fast and
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real action explained that Britain has
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an absurd response to climate change
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even arguing that our future has been
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sold for us now
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Greta thumb burg slotted the school
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strike for client movement in August
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2018 and this has since taken off
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gravely let's just take a step back for
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a second
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Greta Thun burg a fifteen year old at
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the time started a movement initially by
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skipping school and six months later
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this movement has taken off to become a
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worldwide phenomenon not only is Griffin
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mobilizing thousands across the world
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but she's influencing millions via the
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Internet she's influencing discussions
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in multiple Parliament's around the
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world and influencing new movements to
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form all around the world due to her
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inspiration Greta is the perfect example
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of a generations ad campaign gone well
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generations ed campaigns are groundswell
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of genuineness
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now thousands of new genset campaigns do
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slot every single day because it's so
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easy to do so a lot of what is produced
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is often empty by that I mean it lacks
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substance so how many times have you
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seen a company use charity as a vehicle
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in order for them to gain hype and sales
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for their company so if you're a gens
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etta or someone looking to attract Gen Z
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you need to be really careful because
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gens that are more astute than ever
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it's said that we have an 8-second
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attention span meaning that anything
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generic simply does not stand out if the
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ABS we swipe on so if you're a musician
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looking to gain a following or a
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business owner looking to gain sales or
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maybe you're the leader of a movement
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wanting to grip Generation Z you need to
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be socially aware promoting a 100%
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authentic message and that message needs
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to be consistent because if it's not Jen
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said we'll see right through you some
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people may question you know is this
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opportunity for everyone to create a
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campaign or mass actually a good thing
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but in my eyes is truly awesome never
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before has there been more competition
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but what that means is if you have the
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ability to stand out that means whatever
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you're doing is really special it's
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something which maybe is a one in a
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generation campaign so if you're
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standing out people are buying into your
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movement people are supporting your
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motion your potential reach is now
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infinite thanks to mainly platforms like
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social media so young people now have
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the opportunity to do bigger things than
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ever before small people can now do
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incomprehensibly big things so when we
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generations had come together for a
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collective cause we don't just leave the
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box behind we blow it out of the water
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but that brings me back to my original
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question can you imagine the impact
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leaders of the past would have had if
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they were born with a generation said
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could the suffragettes of 1907 who
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recruited 50,000 members in the UK have
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instead recruited 55 million across the
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world
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or could the bus boycotts of Montgomery
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in 1955 have instead been the bus
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boycotts of the United States of America
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the world is changing an ever-increasing
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pace the fabric of life progressed more
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in the 19th century
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than the two previous centuries combined
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the 20th century even quicker still led
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first by industry then technology and in
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the latter half of the century obviously
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there was a huge push for equality
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across the board namely with the civil
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rights movement but now we're
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progressing at a quicker rate than ever
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since the year 2000 in just the last 19
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years we have seen the development of
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cars that drive themselves computers
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that teach themselves currencies
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sustained by algorithms with no further
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human input we've even had medical
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discoveries notably with stem cell
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research and arguably the coolest we've
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taken a photo of a black hole so you
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name it it's happening we're living
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rapid change but not only are we living
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rapid change we're driving it there are
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some queries if it's that easy
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why isn't every gender a
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multi-millionaire or a leading activist
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in fact if gens that are so impressive
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why they only influencing government and
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not running government maybe it's
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because we're not currently utilizing
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the opportunities we've got out our
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fingertips on mass sure some people are
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using them and we're seeing more and
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more young people creating and driving
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change than ever before from a younger
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age but how can we encourage more to
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make the most of this opportunity are
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you are you using your opportunity to
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live beyond the box
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it's tricky by no means do we have the
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perfect hand we have new expectations we
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are expected to be wise beyond our years
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we are expected to be a force for good
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and we are expected to be a global
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citizen all whilst being ourselves by no
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means two generations that have the
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perfect hand we haven't know easier than
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any other generation
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we just face different challenges but
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then again you could argue that other
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generations don't have the same
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opportunities that generations that have
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so surely we're in a better position if
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you look at it that way now I really do
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want to emphasize this is not a social
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media talk I'm not here to say that
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social media is what has made Gen Z so
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amazing because it's way more than
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social media but what online platforms
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have allowed us to do is we can now
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create learn try fail and publish in an
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easier way than ever before which is
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meaning that we're developing skills and
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traits that kids our age have never
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historically been able to develop
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because these are traits you would have
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only been able to develop once you're in
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the working world so this new world
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around us is allowing us to mold into
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more mature human beings I mean it the
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we're able to pursue our passions in a
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more impactful way than ever before
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generations ed you have no limits have a
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look at the leaders of the past whether
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it be the modern-day leaders amel
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gonzales married Courtney or Greta thon
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Berg or compare them to Thomas Edison
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Rosa Parks those kind of leaders all of
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them had one commonality passion they
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had a genuine passion for their field so
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if you as a gen setter have a genuine
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passion for your field embrace this
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opportunity you've got to live beyond
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the box because I have no doubt that
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leaders of the past would love to be in
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your shoes thank you very much
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[Applause]
