Recently, I presented a Ted talk called “How Not To Grieve”. Our school was doing their first annual Ted Talk event. I’ve seen plenty of Ted Talks but to write one was another story.
The amount of creative freedom I had was almost overwhelming. I chose a hard topic. One I had to curate perfectly. Grief is one of those things that is a hit or miss with most people. Either you get it or you don’t. I wanted it to affect someone. I wanted to make my audience feel something. I think I accomplished that in one way or another.
Interestingly enough, my self-confidence plummeted the second I walked on stage. The following is a list of what not to do when presenting a Ted Talk.
- Write your entire Ted Talk in 48 hours
- Attempt to memorize a script in 4 hours
- Bring your script on stage
- Forget the clicker to click through the visual presentation you worked very hard on
You can tell I’m shook with fear in this image. I was underprepared. I scrambled my way through it somehow still earning words of encouragement as I stepped off the stage.
I thought it was a disaster. I was disappointed in myself and my work ethic.
Alas, I later learned that my speech was valued, and by people I didn’t even know. There were some tears in the audience. There were people who walked up to me and mentioned how moved they were. I realize now that I said something powerful even if the execution was less than adequate for my standards.
My biggest takeaway? Not to criticize myself. Not to beat myself up. I was awarded and praised by the people around me. It may not have been my best work, but it called to people and that’s all I could ever ask for.
Published by