KLG Communications’ own Karyn Gonano shares her insights on the key strategies and perhaps the winning formula on how to present your idea to the masses. Well worth a read, click through now!
And our screening interviews have started. Again, there were hundreds of nominations with people proposing themselves or others, with an idea they believe is ‘worth sharing’. That’s TEDx, and its mission is ‘ideas worth spreading’. TEDx, has a particular program, “designed to help communities, organizations and individuals to spark conversation and connection through local TED-like experiences”.
Caitlyn Dexter is the Licensee and independent organizer creating this TEDx event amongst a learned QUT community. I think Caitlyn was thinking of Oscar Wilde when she took on the role to curate TEDx events, believing that, “An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
Having managed 3 TEDx events now, Caitlyn’s vision for TEDx , is to “provide a platform for the propagation of great ideas, storytelling, creativity and innovation, regardless of discipline and culture”. Caitlyn is passionate about “lighting the fire in the QUT community, to ignite meaningful conversations”.
Caitlyn is a Campus Life Coordinator; Social & Community Development at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), coordinating volunteer programs to ensure students find the support and a sense of belonging needed to succeed.
Caitlyn moved to the next level of TEDx curation when she was selected to attend the TED Global summit in Arusha Tanzania last year. So, this year has moved in a different direction in terms of the process of finding speakers, by diving into the hidden corners of research, by tracking alumni, by liaising with faculties and scouting students.
Narrowing the list of people who ‘would like to present’ to one that included a list of people ‘with ideas’ that piqued the interest of the TEDxQUT committee took a month of interviewing.
If you are thinking you’d like to give a TEDx talk – you need to think seriously about why you want to give one. First you need to check:
- What is your idea worth spreading? This might seem quite straight forward but if you were asked to write this in one sentence you may understand the challenge. Try it! My idea worth spreading is that…..
You then need to ask, is this idea new, is it different, is it worth knowing and spreading?
If you answered yes to these, then the next step is to…
See if you can name your favourite Ted Talk, and then explain
- Whether it is a presentation that aims to Educate or Entertain or serve as a Change Agent.
- The Educators include the inventors, life and natural scientists as well as the social scientist. My favourite here is the social scientist Sir Ken Robinson – Do schools kill creativity?, because he challenges us to rethink the way we educate our children and the systems we put them in. The issue is that we don’t know what the world will look like in 5 year’s time yet we have to educate children to live and work in this new world.
- Entertainers include the comedian, magician, writer, performing and visual artists. Who would your favourite be?
- Change agents are the focus for TEDxQUT. If we accept that the primary purpose of a university, philosophically, (and forget the market economy in higher education) is to encourage students to learn (how) to think, then this year’s speakers are likely to come from the group of activists, authority, the business and personal guru, explorer, and the ever increasing number of social entrepreneurs.
Now that you have viewed your favourite TEDx talk again and worked out whether the presenter is an Educator, Entertainer or Change Agent, and if you still think you can give a TEDx talk then see if you can use your favourite TED talk to identify the exact idea they are spreading – in one sentence. Chances are they have spent up to 6 months crafting, developing, drafting (and redrafting) and practicing their presentation! Is your idea that important?
Caitlyn has provided a series of workshops for the presenters who make it through the screening process. And yes, these do go over 6 months! And as the Speaker Coach – that is my role, to work with the presenters, in groups and individually, to develop their presentations so their ideas are worth spreading.