I recently had the honor to deliver a TEDx talk at Wilmington on August 16th, 2017. Part of our requirement was to write a 300-word blog on our experience. Whilst it was live-streamed, the final video of the talk will be available for viewing from mid-September onwards. We will share the link here.

My reflections:

The high-octane energy required to deliver a TEDx talk live will sear itself into your psyche and become a highlight experience forever, incorporating not just your own talk but the camaraderie and connection with the speakers and organizers that you shared the red circle with.

My initial exhilaration at being selected soon gave way to intimidation as I pondered what to share out there. Yet all the practice, editing, image selections and distillation came together with an intense and explosive 12 minutes of rawness and vulnerability, as I stared out seeing not only the audience in front of me but aware that beyond that room many people will find and connect online with my story.

In ancient times in communities, the narrator storyteller was revered, holding collective wisdom in their grasp and passing on the kernels of truth carefully, looking for the open-hearted individual to absorb this truth and then carefully pass it on to the next generation.

Today, our storytelling is much easier to impart, yet still we have a responsibility to share what is deep, meaningful, necessary and important. I trust that when you open yourself to my talk on vulnerability and the lessons I have learned, you find some kernel of value that you can apply in your life – and share. While I am not sitting at a campfire talking with you individually, the reality is that the TEDx red circle has become today’s campfire.

The experience of listening to such differing stories, views, experiences and lessons from my co-speakers produces an awesome sense of unbounded nature, individuality and the uniqueness of humankind!

To speak at this event was intimidating, intense and amazingly incredible. I am grateful I have had this experience.