That one time I gave a TED talk!

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(whoever chose THIS as the cover image of the youtube video – you are dead to me)

So about a month ago, I did the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.

No, it wasn’t bungee jumping. Nope, not diving out of a plane. And definitely not riding another camel. Won’t catch me doing that again in this lifetime.

I gave a TED talk! 

OMG, OMG!

So first things first, I have been a fan of TED talks for years, ever since my friend Inga at Tiny Iceland sent me the link to Liz Gilbert’s amazing talk about Your Elusive Creative Genius – seriously, if you are a creative person and haven’t seen it, go watch it right now.

I am absolutely addicted to these videos, and I even had TEDx marathons sometimes, or rewatch my favorites when I need a kick in the ass and some motivation.

So if you haven’t heard of TED or TEDx, no worries! The premise behind the platform is simple – ideas worth sharing. A nonprofit conference, that gets speakers to give an 18 minute talk on anything and everything that they believe is an idea to be shared.

While I’m no scientist or physiologist or any trained specialist unless you count coffee addict and blogging freak as a specialist, which I suppose I do, that doesn’t mean I don’t have some deep and profound thoughts. Sometimes. It’s been known to happen, ok?!

So when I found out there was going to be a TEDx conference in Wanaka, I was excited I flipped my shit. At first I asked to be involved volunteering and help set up the event, thinking it would be a great way to get involved with the community here and make new friends.

Also, we can talk about how freaking serendipitous that of ALL the places in New Zealand to have a TEDx talk, they were setting it up in my new home of Wanaka? Talk about fate and meant to be and all that crap.

But then I started thinking (uh-oh), hey wait a minute, it’s always been a dream of mine to GIVE a TEDx talk. Why shouldn’t I try and submit some proposals? In an effort to value myself more, something I’ve always struggled with, I decided to put my name forth.

As we all know, I have plenty of ideas that are worth sharing (in my humble opinion). Cough cough, hence this BLOG and my Get Inspired section.

After harassing the awesome crew who were putting on the event, and refusing to take no for an answer, I was in!

While I feel like half my blog posts could be TED talks in and of themselves, something that has been stuck in the back of my mind and been bothering me for over a year is the topic of smartphone addictions and how we both manage and recognize them.

Hello, I am basically the world’s biggest iPhone addict. No, no. Don’t even try to argue.

So TED is a big deal. Like a really big deal, and it’s a huge community to become a part of and it can lead to great things. So no pressure right?

If you’ve watched TED talks before then you know how they work. 18 minutes. No notes. No text-y slides. No screen. Just you and your ideas.

Now for a minute, try to imagine just how terrifying that is? To get up there in front of hundreds of people and video cameras with nothing but yourself and your thoughts that you *hope* are worthwhile. Oh, and I hate public speaking. I even stammer my coffee order if there are more than 2 people in line behind me!

So I’d love to say I kept it cool as a cucumber and real and fresh, but the morning before my talk not only could I not eat anything I also refused to talk to anyone, and it was all I could do not to barf on myself. But afterwards, man, what a RELIEF! Best feeling in the world! It’s like I conquered something deep inside myself I didn’t even know was there.

I don’t want to give too much away (go watch my talk here).

Now please, let me know how I did! I haven’t even been able to watch the whole video yet – is that really what my voice sounds like?!

Are you a fan of TED talks? Could you relate to my message? Do you struggle with managing your smartphones? How did I do?

Photo sources here.