(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.
About the author
[…] have, I know how nerve wracking it can be! Fellow travel blogger Liz from The Young Adventuress got the opportunity to give a TED talk (awesome!!) and posted it, with her thoughts on the experience, on her […]
Hi Liz,
Thanks for clarifying your points. 18 min might seem long when doing the talk but certainly doesn’t leave time to squeeze every nuance in. You’re right, the age thing wasn’t super relevant within your talk which is probably why it rang loud to me when you did bring it up. I’m someone quite a bit over 40 and have been accused of being addicted to my smart phone since way back in the days when Blackberry was king. Guess I felt I was being left out of the cool group 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to reply to one of your readers (found you via twitter when someone linked to your blog).
Nice TED talk and so many of us can identify with it. But as a person older than 40 I was a little taken back with some of your comments as if we’re in the dark ages due to our age. We are the people who pioneered the phones and their continual use, We created the first apps etc. Your comments that said addiction to your generation keeps going up and “its also on the rise with middle aged moms..interpret that however you like, ha ha” seemed rather flippant and sarcastic. Or ” Even if you’re teenager and your parents are sucked in to their NEW devices” was somewhat offensive offensive to me. I guess I’ve always been one of the those who always experimented, adapted, bought and used the first mobile devices and introduced them to my kids who are probably your age. They still come to me..a middle aged female, to upload, troubleshoot, fix their ipads,itunes issues. I’m sure you didn’t mean to offend but it did. FYI,Ted Talks began in the 80’s so keep that in perspective. On another note, congrats! Your topic was great, you did a good job putting your thoughts across in 18 min!
Thanks for your comment but I am afraid you might have mistaken my meaning. Also I feel like what you’ve said is a bit contradictory, first I am accused of saying that older generations are in the “dark ages” when it comes to mobile technology but also question my point about the rising rate of smartphone addiction among the same generation – which is it?
I am aware that the technology has been growing and growing over decades and my generation are not the pioneers, but I think we can both agree that more often than not younger people are MORE addicted to mobile phones, the younger you get, I can send you the statistics that back this up if you’re interested. It sounds like your case is a distinct one, but I’d happily argue that if you have a group of teenagers together and a group of 40 year old adults together, the teenagers are the ones that are going to be the ones showing higher signs of the rate of addiction. You see this over and over again but at the same time there are plenty of tech savvy older people around and I think a teenager or even myself wouldn’t automatically assume they wouldn’t know how to troubleshoot a device. However, I think it’s not so white and black and the addiction rate is also rising among (specifically) middle aged moms, and I thought it was important to point that out. It’s not only teenagers that experience mobile phone addictions. and yes, NEW devices, I know so many people my parents age who are just getting smartphones now, so I see that as being an accurate adjective.
I am a sarcastic person, it’s my personality, and it’s really obvious on my blog, thought i tried to tone it down in my talk. at the same time, I thought this was an important enough dialogue to be shared that I wanted everyone (even teenagers) who watched it to be able to understand my points and relate to it, which is why I kept it casual and slightly funny, and be myself instead of drowning people in data. I also presented directly after a retired psychiatrist who is pretty elderly talking about a similar topic to create a contrast of ideas.
http://www.tedxwanaka.com/kenneth-bragan.html
All in all, I don’t really understand how I offended you exactly. I don’t even see an age thing being a super relevant part to my talk. The whole “idea worth spreading” was both recognition and managing of smartphones addictions, whether you are 14 or 40.
Liz! What an awesome speech! You did a brilliant job and for a person who has a fear of public speaking: Not any more girlfriend! Well done you. 🙂
I’m aware of TED but have never seen one but yes, I’m guilty of iPhone addiction. My husband too. Are we the new generation middle-aged parents you speak of? Yikes!!
It’s a realistic topic that I think many people can relate to. And to think that mobile phones in Europe only got going 15 years ago. When I was pregnant, I had to beg my husband who’s a computer/telecommunication/music expert, to get us both a mobile phone so that we could connect in case I went into labour. At the time, he was quite reluctant. Our son is now 12.
We have 3 computers, 1 laptop, 1 iPad, 4 smartphones, 1 “child-friendly” mobile phone, numerous PS Vita, Nintendo, and the like, and we are only a house-hold of 2 adults and 1 child! To ensure quality family time, at the weekend, I switch off completely until late on Sunday evening, when I send off my blogpost!
Fantastic post Liz. Congratulations once again. 🙂
It’s amazing how much things have changed in 10 years, but it sounds like you are on the right track! It’s not even a question of having a lot of devices, I think it’s more about how you manage them. Now that I am aware of the issue I see all sorts of smartphone behaviors, good and bad, and with parents too.
So true. I guess balance is key. We’re a family of readers so that helps an awful lot. I’m ever grateful that my pre-teen boy likes reading. Perhaps being a teacher helps LOL!
We all read BOOKS before we sleep and no devices for our boy, after 8p.m. Bedtime is 9.30. No TV in the mornings, just the German Radio 1 for the news and “interesting” music. I mean, “Nelly the Elephant” was on the other day. On Radio 1. In Germany! Anyway, thanks for sharing. 🙂
Sounds like you’re getting it right 😀