The Making of my TEDx talk– Part 2 

Katina was my best friend in 2nd grade. She moved away shortly after, and we lost touch. Out of the blue though, she friended me on Facebook about 10 years ago which was a nice surprise! At that time, I found out that not only was she active in Toastmasters, but had made it to the world championships. Despite 10 years passing, I remembered that fact about her, and I reached out to see if she would be interested in helping me with my talk. It turns out that she was not only interested but was ENTHUSIASTICALLY interested. We met over Zoom and of course, we spent the first 20 minutes reminiscing about the good ‘ole days! Over the next 40 minutes, she gave me some very creative ideas for how to talk about Direct Primary Care in a way that would resonate with the audience. After we hung up, I felt energized! I went to bed, but around 12:30am, I woke up, and the writer’s block had lifted. I spent the next hour writing my TEDx talk. From there, I emailed with Katina 3-4 times over the next few months and she provided amazingly helpful feedback.

The TEDxCongaree Vista organizers also connected us with local mentors who helped craft our talks, and Jan Smoak, Assistant Dean in the University of South Carolina Honors College, was my assigned mentor. Jan was gracious with her time, and she helped to put me at ease.

Our classes lasted for 5 months, so it was quite a haul! During this time, I realized that the student organizers were problem solving machines! Not only were they open to feedback, but they effectively wrangled 16 speakers, all of whom were older than they were and all of whom had lots of different opinions! Although it was a baptism by fire, the organizers learned how to fundraise, plan a large event, manage technical requirements, and other lessons that take folks years to learn. The students became professionals during this process and quickly calmed any hesitations I had about their lack of experience.

Once I had written my talk, I had to memorize it. I’ve given many lectures on Direct Primary Care, but giving a 12-minute talk without notes to an audience of hundreds, was not familiar to me. Even though the talk felt natural, I rehearsed it over and over and over again every day. It took me about 2 weeks to get the whole speech down. Several “official” rehearsals later, and the big day was here. I ran up to the red dot (literally) and off I went! I have to admit that I had a few brain glitches during the talk, but thanks to the power of editing, those have been removed. It was gratifying to have people come up to me afterwards and say how much my talk resonated with them. Suddenly, all the work was worth it. I won’t say much more about what I said in my talk. You’ll need to watch it to see ????

So was it the best talk of my life? I hope so. Could it have used some further refinement? You bet! The more time I spent with it, the more possible improvements I saw.
This was likely a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience for me, my fellow speakers, and the organizers. I’ve never worked with such a supportive team before, and that’s saying something, because I’ve worked as part of many healthcare teams since going to med school. The genuine care and respect that was shown by members of the final team restored my faith in humanity (and the younger generation!). Seems like a big thing to say, but my heart was truly filled over the 6 months of TEDx preparations. I am grateful to Katina, Jan, and my husband, who endured listening to my talk far too many times. Thanks to my fellow TEDxCongaree Vista speakers for being my cheerleaders, and a big congratulations as well. We did it!

I’ve told quite a few people about this talk, and I’ve heard a common theme – “I’ve thought about giving a TEDx talk too!” If you are on the fence about it, let this be your sign to apply to be a speaker. It was such a great experience for me, and you just never know who is out there and could benefit from hearing your message!