The Rookie
By Blayke Drury on July 21, 2014
My involvement in TEDxKids@SMU Auditions 2013 started out as a fleeting idea, a suggestion from my Academic Decathlon teachers to take a topic I’d prepared for competition and put it out there for people to hear. I was both shocked and honored to receive an invitation to present my topic, and anxiously counted down the days until the conference.
Sitting like a giddy child in the Green Room, I allowed the sound of bustling presenters and casual conversation to wash over me, as I finally felt the significance in being a part of the convention. There was an energy in that room like no other, as we all prepared to share our ideas and passions with the audience. Walking into the auditorium, I felt my face flush, my heart racing as I took in the room, seeing for the first time all of the people who had come to hear us. “What if I bore them?”, I thought. “What if I forget my intro. or trip onstage?” My nerves were quickly forgotten as I listened to the presenters that preceded me. I became enamored with their stories, sitting not as a presenter, but as an inspired audience member. When it was my turn to go onstage, I held on to that awe I’d felt listening to the others, and set out to inspire that in someone else. I jumped into my talk, a look at the physical and emotional side affects that lying can have on an individual, and what this means for the future. Before I knew it, my presentation was over, my last slide gone. I stood there for a moment, holding my breath and desperately hoping for applause. The audience’s clapping muffled my audible sigh of relief, and I quickly returned to my place offstage, happy to once again be on the other side of the exchange. Being a rookie presenter and audience member, I was both astounded to hear the other presenters’ messages, their stories and ideas, and honored to be in a room full of young people looking to be enlightened and inspired. That experience was like nothing else.
For anyone hoping to submit a video for this years TEDxKids@SMU Auditions 2014, I encourage you to be yourself! Don’t be afraid to have a silly attention getter, or a relatable topic. You’re talking to kids just like you, so don’t try to give a stuffy dissertation full of words that you’d never actually say. Make it a conversation, keep it comfortable, and above all, choose an idea that you yourself are entertained or inspired by, one that you can’t wait to share with an audience!