Let's Talk About TED: An Incredible Experience! Part 2

JENN McKINLAY:  Here's what I loved most about participating in the TEDx talks. The other speakers. They were simply incredible. Because they were all so inspirational to me, it was very difficult to pick just a few to share but we'd be here forever if I chose everyone. So, here's a sampling. 

Dr. Sian Proctor: She spoke about Imposter Syndrome and how she fought it to become a hockey player, a candidate for NASA, and an analog astronaut, who lives in simulated space environments for months and weeks at a time. She convinced me that if a person can dream it they can do it.

Misty Hyman: Olympic Gold Medalist in the 200-meter butterfly in the 2000 Sydney games. Misty had us on the edge of our seats talking about that perfect swim, but she also had us equally riveted as she talked about embracing the shifts in life, bringing the old you into the new as she moved on from competitive swimming to entrepreneurship and motherhood.

Queen and Hakeem: These two amazing individuals are visual anthropologists. Combining their activism with their art, they have a mission is to demystify preconceived notions about Indigenous and underserved communities around the globe. Using augmented reality, their interactive art displays give viewers a glimpse into the real lives of Indigenous people and they encourage the youth of today to get their passports and go see the world. 

On a personal note, these two were my support system during my rehearsal and final as they sat off to the side in the front row. I could see them smile at me in encouragement and laugh at my jokes, making my own TED talk so much easier. I adore them.

Catherine Lockmiller: What an incredible speaker. She posed the question, using her own personal journey, what if we weren't assigned a gender designation at birth? What if we were allowed to form our own personalities without the assignment of an M or F on our birth certificates, which with all their preconceptions determine so much more of our lives than we realize? It was one of the most thought provoking discussions of the day. 

Michelle Dumay: This mama broke my heart, put it back together, broke it again, and then glued it back together one more time. She is living a life of advocacy for her daughter, who was born with a rare brain abnormality, and in doing so she had to answer the call that challenged a lifetime of beliefs. Hers is a compelling story that left us all in tears but filled with hope.

THE WHOLE CREW!

Other speakers included:

Erin Maxson: The Dog in Me: How in rescuing a dog she saved herself -- and a lot more dogs.

Larry Sandigo: The Voice of Immigrant Children: An immigration lawyer, who has tried find the balance between being the voice of immigrant children and helping them find their own voices.

Beatriz Mendoza: Boys Club: A young Hispanic engineer, she talked about being the lone ethnic female in a world of guys and how it can change for girls in the future.

Cricket Aldridge: She Speaks for the Bees: A fear of Africanized honeybees led Cricket to becoming a beekeeper and now she's trying to save the world one hive at a time.

Sue Berliner: If Chocolate Could Talk: She explained to us why chocolate really is the food of the gods. Plus, she brought samples.

Danielle Delgado: Breaking the Glass Ceiling Despite Not Being Tall Enough to Reach It: She was a twelve year old entrepreneur and is now a seventeen year old college student. This young woman is unstoppable.

Russell Horning: Maximizing Your Healthcare Experience: We all agreed, we want Russell as our healthcare provider. He gave concise tips for getting the best care out of your healthcare practitioner.

Shawn Bradford: Thank You Divorce! She talked to us about her divorce leading her to a journey of self-discovery with a surprise twist at the end. 

As you can see, it was quite the amazing cast of speakers and an experience I won't forget anytime soon.

Special thanks to the TEDx South Mountain Community Library Committee for the hours and hours of work they put in to making this such a spectacular event.

The TED Committee

So, Reds and Readers, if you were tapped to give a TED (Technology - Entertainment - Design) talk and share an "idea worth spreading", what would you talk about?

Let's Talk About TED: An Incredible Experience! Part 1

JENN McKINLAY: Finding Your Authentic Author Voice

JENN: Sometimes life sends events or opportunities your way that are completely unexpected. This would be me and TED. My friend, Terry, contacted me a few days before the deadline for applications for the  Phoenix TEDx talks and said, "You're a good public speaker. You have to apply." 

The app was due in days. I had a lot on my plate, but I thought I might learn something from the TED people in the process that would be worth my time. I was certain there was no way I would be chosen as the theme was "Voices" and I didn't feel I had anything to say about that. Still I applied, was asked to audition, sweated out a short speech, and -- fast forward a couple of months -- I was stunned to be one of fifteen finalists out of the hundreds who'd applied. So, this TED thing was going to happen! 

Suddenly, something I had been rather half assed about was now a big freaking deal. I had seen TED talks - Ideas Worth Spreading! - and had been inspired and awed by many. Public speaking has never bothered me...until TED. My discomfort was great. My biggest concern was whether my content was worthy. Was my topic "Finding Your Authentic Author Voice" an idea worth spreading?

My first run at my TED talk came out very impersonal. It was more a short list of the things I'd learned (mostly by failure) while finding my authentic author voice. There wasn't much of me, of my personal story, in the talk. The TED committee wanted me to dig deeper. This is not easy for me as I'm a child of the eighties and being a latchkey kid raised on after school sitcoms, I can't have a problem that lasts more than twenty two and a half minutes because I run out of coping skills at the twenty three minute mark. Needless to say, introspection is not really my thing. But I tried. I dug deeper, opened doors in my life I generally prefer to leave closed, and "put myself out there". It was exhausting but I used my sense of humor to make it easier and I managed to craft a talk that was personal but also, dare I say, authentic.

The oh so intimidating TED circle.

We were each allotted a specific amount of time for our talk. My talk was to be twelve minutes. This was stressful because I am a talkoholic and could have prattled on for hours if left to my own devices. I started recording my talk, trying to memorize the important parts. I never managed that, and it came out different every single time. Sometimes it was fourteen minutes. Ack! And sometimes it was a pitiful ten. Oy! On my dress rehearsal, I came up short because I forgot big chunks. Gah! Also, I like to pace when I talk, but TED needs you to stay on or near the red circle. Practice, practice, practice. Argh!

While I don't suppose I'll know for sure how it turned out until TEDx posts the video (it'll be online at TEDx and on my webpage in a few weeks), the audience that day was very enthusiastic, and I appreciate their positive response more than I can say.

But the biggest bonus gift, aside from the personal growth and development, was my fellow speakers. We were an eclectic assortment of folks from all walks of life and, honestly, by the time we got through the TED workshops, practice sessions, rehearsals and final, I felt more bonded to these people, complete strangers, than I ever could have imagined. It was as if we'd all linked arms and walked through fire together. So, here is a nod to my fellow speakers and I hope you'll check them out, too, when #TEDxSouthMountainCommunityLibrary videos are posted to TEDx.

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing more about the speakers in part two of my Let's Talk About TED: An Incredible Experience! But for now, here are some pictures of these amazing people, who awed, inspired, and wowed me.

I adore these people and am so proud of all of us for the support and encouragement we found in each other in what was a singular experience of sharing our most vulnerable selves.

What about you, Reds and Readers? Do you enjoy public speaking or is it worse than flying or death for you?

The Dreaded Mogus (Read this and see.)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Some days on the writing road you meet a colleague who turns out to be a lifetime pal. Jess Lourey and I have been on so many adventures, and misadventures, and life changes and hurdles and hilarity—I cannot begin to tell you. (Someday we will.)

Shannon is a Forge colleague, and when I read her amazing first book, I knew were we soul mates, too.

Then Jess and Shannon met. And they teamed up to become the power sisters. Seriously. They are a force of nature.  And now, with shelves of their individual books between them, they are once again taking their show on the road. And their sisters at Jungle Red are welcoming them with open arms, champagnes, and…fear of the dreaded mogus. 

(Plus--you could win their books!)

SHANNON BAKER:   Good morning Reds and everyone. Thanks, Hank, for inviting Jess and me for a stop-over on the Lourey/Baker Double Booked Blog Tour redux, in which we get to mention our upcoming releases, but more importantly, settle in for a good visit (as my grandma would say).  Virtually traveling with Jess is more fun than a person can have without a prescription. 

I’m Shannon Baker on the road to peddle Dark Signal, the newest in the Kate Fox series, where it’s murder by railroad tie. Forge is releasing a .99 Kate Fox short story September 17^th, but at the time of this writing, I don’t have a link, so I’ll put it in the comments. Jess Lourey is announcing the ever-hilarious installment in the Murder by Month series, March of Crime.

Shannon: I recently ran a half marathon. It was my first. I’m 57 years old. I’d kind of always wanted to run a ½ marathon, but the idea of actually racking up 13.1 miles seemed so far outside of my abilities (and the bounds of sanity), I didn’t ever try. Jess, when was a time you challenged yourself to do something you thought might be outside your abilities?

JESS LOUREY: First, can I say how thrilled I am to be here? The Reds are amazing women, and I count two of my favorite people among them: Hallie and Hank.

HANK and HALLIE: Aw. We feel the same way. xo

JESS: Mwa-h. So My 2016 TEDx Talk, and the book it inspired, Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction, were so far out of my comfort zone that I’m still finding my way back. Both deal with the transformative power of turning your facts into fiction. The thing is, I don’t write memoir for a reason. I like hiding behind stories, and I had to drop my fiction fig leaf to share the process with others. I am glad I did, but I’m still dealing with the psychic terror.

Shannon, congratulations on the half marathon! How’d you do? Did you have special equipment? And why in the name of all things lazy did you do it?

Shannon: A couple of things inspired me to run the race, not least was proving to myself I wasn’t too old to try new, fun things. Once I convinced myself it might be possible and even enjoyable, I immediately signed up for a race three months down the road. I invited my daughter (who had talked about wanting to run a ½ marathon…someday) and her fiancé to take a trip from Portland, OR to Tucson and run it with me.  With that, I was set-in-cement committed.

Shannon: As you can imagine, you don’t just wake up one morning and run 13.1 miles. I found a training schedule that would take me to race day. And I stuck with it. The first week my big run was only 6 miles. And the next week, 7 didn’t seem so hard. The week I ran 10 miles nearly blew me away. Ten miles! Me? No way. After that, adding one more mile a week didn’t seem insurmountable.

Jess: Hmmm. Does it count as exercise to drink beer while I read about you training for a marathon? Because that bottle isn’t making its way to my mouth by itself. Also, you make this whole training process sound pretty smoo—oooth.

Shannon: I suffered some set-backs along the way. I developed a hitch in my giddy-up (a technical term) that required slacking off and lots of Ibuprofen. I contracted a dread mogus flying to a book event. Nevertheless, I persisted. (I’ve been waiting to use that quote!)

Jess: What is a dread mogus? Also, rock on with that quote. I’m going to talk politics here, and I’m going to keep it simple: women are capable, women are amazing, and it is our time. Boys are welcome, too—some of my favorite people are male—but it’s long past time to shake up the system. Back to our regularly-scheduled programming: Shannon, after you peturped (I can make up words, too) the dread mogus, what’d you do?

Shannon: My daughter and her fiancé flew in, we carbo-loaded and bought new running clothes, although my almost son-in-law only opted for new socks. Then ran the race, in much better times than any of us believed we could, and I basked in the glow of that accomplishment.

Jess: Well-deserved. I felt the same way after my TEDx Talk, and when the backstage pass I kept from the event snags my eye, I feel a tiny purr of that wonderful “I did it, you guys I did it!” feeling you earn when you Do the Thing That Is Hard. And what that thing is differs for all of us. For me, the combination of sharing personal information I’d kept hidden for over a decade, public speaking, and standing on the revered TEDx red circle was so terrifying for me that I woke up at 2:00 am the night before my Talk, sweating cold, realizing that I’d been gone for three days and hadn’t asked anyone to feed my cat. I was on my phone, crying, scrolling through my contacts to see who I could call to see if my poor kitty was even still alive, before I realized I don’t have a cat.

I learned something important about myself, and the world: we were put here to push our boundaries. All the good stuff is on the other side of Uncomfortable I Don’t Wanna. Shannon, what were your takeaways from the half marathon?

Shannon: Through this, I learned that a mile can be really far, or hardly any distance at all, depending on where I focused my attention (and what was on my playlist). Any big chore can be tackled by breaking it into chunks. Commitment and accountability are key. And whatever the journey, find comrades to share, commiserate, and celebrate.

Jess: Love it. As in running, so in life.

Shannon: I admit that a few days after the race I felt let down and wondered if I ought to schedule another race and see if I could better my time. But running is not my passion. Writing is.

Jess: That’s so interesting that you say that. A while back I started a writing retreat business because I was searching for something that I apparently wasn’t getting with my full-time teaching, writing two novels a year schedule. After five months and hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars invested, I realized I hadn’t been running toward something. I’d been running away from writing. I’m back, and remind me this is where I belong, yes?

HANK: Love you guys so much--and congratulations on your wild success! (I am now doing the thing that is hard. So your inspiration comes at the perfect time.)

Reds and readers, what have you faced and conquered?

And wait--there's more!

JESS AND SHANNON: Yes, there's more! We are each giving away three books on the Lourey/Baker Double-Booked Tour. For every comment you make along our tour stop, you’ll get another entry in the contest. We get lonely if you’re not talking to us.  This is our last stop but we’ll count if you check out our other visits.

September 2 Mysterious Musings

September 5 Janice Hardy

September 7 The Creative Penn

September 9 Write to Done

September 12        Wicked Cozy Writers

September 20        Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Blog

September 21        There’s a Dead Guy in the Living Room

September 23        Femmes Fatales

September 24        Writer Unboxed

September 25        Dru’s Book Musings

September 27        Do Some Damage

October 3               Terry Ambrose

October 12             Jungle Red Writers

Jess Lourey (rhymes with "dowry") is best known for her critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing "a splendid mix of humor and suspense." She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft's Excellence in Teaching fellowship, a regular Psychology Today blogger, and a sought-after workshop leader and keynote speaker who delivered the 2016 "Rewrite Your Life" TEDx Talk. March of Crime, the 11th book in her humorous mystery series, releases September 2017. You can find out more at www.jessicalourey.com

Shannon Baker is the author of the Kate Fox mystery series (Tor/Forge). Set in the isolated cattle country of the Nebraska Sandhills, Kirkus says, “Baker serves up a ballsy heroine, a colorful backdrop, and a surprising ending.” She also writes the Nora Abbott mystery series (Midnight Ink), featuring Hopi Indian mysticism and environmental issues. Shannon makes her home in Tucson where she enjoys cocktails by the pool, breathtaking sunsets, a crazy Weimeraner, and killing people (in the pages of her books). She was voted Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s 2014 and 2017 Writer of the Year. Visit Shannon at www.Shannon-Baker.com

  

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