Being Brave, Brilliant and "Glitchy" at TED
I’m coming to you from the TED conference in Vancouver, Canada. It is my first time here and the energy is electric. I will share more in the coming weeks about what I have learned about the power of conversation and reconciliation between two friends from Palestine and Israel, the potential of AI to work with us instead of against us, and the power of “auntie culture” in Asian communities, and what we can do to prevent global warming.
Today I want to share how inspired I am by the speakers. The theme of this year is Brave and Brilliant and I am struck by how this shows up in the speakers. What you don’t see in those edited videos is the raw beauty of being human: the pauses, the forgotten lines, even the tears.
Speakers here are challenged to stretch beyond their comfort zone. No teleprompters, just the sheer force of their message and the knowledge that they hold it by heart. Inevitably, some speakers "glitch" – a term one of the speakers coined and others ended up also using when their mind went blank. What happened next was magical. The entire audience started clapping, sending a ripple of support back to the speaker saying, "We're with you." It's a beautiful thing. Instead of awkwardness, there's understanding. We've all stumbled over words and lost our train of thought. At TED, this shared vulnerability becomes an unexpected source of connection. Every time it happened, the speaker rallied within seconds. It was a powerful reminder that when we do not always get it right, there is a community of support available to us if we let it.
Being Brave and Brilliant is about preparing so hard for something it hurts, being nervous, and still walking on that stage. It is about being present enough to stand on that red dot, take in the support of a community when you forget your next line, smile, grab a Kleenex, and move on.
All of us “glitch” but not all of us remember the power of a supportive community when we do. This is your reminder.
Also, thank you for your questions about hybrid work. I will be answering them and sharing more of my thoughts in a special edition next week.
Enjoyed this a lot, Melissa! As a teacher, trainer, and presenter I've had to become well acquainted with gracefully - or awkwardly - emerging from a glitch. Either way the key has always been my genuine love for what I do and interest in what I'm talking about. Maybe I need to cue up an applause track on my phone the next time it happens!
Melissa, thanks for sharing your experience of TED. Anyone presenting without teleprompter is truly brave and brilliant! I can empathize with the glitches and also the support group cheering them on. I’m assuming they edit out the glitches for public consumption.