Behind the Scenes of My Journey onto a TEDx Stage: Part Two
First Rehearsal in Dallas
Welcome to my journey onto a TEDx stage! If you just got here, be sure to go back to my Part One blog post to get caught up. Getting onto a TEDx stage has been a bucket list item that I verbalized into the universe back in the summer of 2023. Not only is being a TEDx speaker a personal accomplishment, but it is an honor to be able to say you are a TEDx speaker. It is instant validation of your value as a speaker. It is also very often the big break speakers need into the world of professional speaking.
Like many speakers, I hope my TEDx experience will transform my career path into professional speaking. As a result, I have taken my journey here very seriously and prepared and planned as any type A overachiever would! This process has tested me, though, because not everyone else in this story is as focused on perfection!
My talk got accepted by TEDx UTD for an event entitled The Journey of Life. My talk is perfect for this as it is about getting fired, finding my purpose, and my path to becoming an entrepreneur. What I have learned along the way to the actual event is that graduate students run this! That is both impressive and frustrating for someone who is used to well-run professional events.
In some ways the group running the event is on top of the details and it is run by a very large team which is impressive. They are fully open to suggestions and ideas to make the event be as much of a success for the speakers as possible. We were able to give input on the video camera angles and hire an outside photographer to shoot the 3 of us who are professional speakers.
In other ways, they are students who are busy and this isn’t their number one priority. For example, at 8 days away from the event, their website didn’t reflect the speakers or any details about the event. They are not focused on “butts in seats” which for someone who has hosted many events, that has always been a big focus of mine for any event.
I keep reminding myself that the actual event is not that important in terms of my goals. No matter how well attended the event is, I can proudly say I am a TEDx speaker. The talk will get posted to the TEDx YouTube channel, and the hopes of it going viral will then be out of my control!
So back to the journey…..last week was the first of 2 rehearsals in Dallas. After we were told about the logistics, I booked a flight and a hotel and cleared my schedule to head to Dallas for the first of 2 trips there. We were later told that the first rehearsal was optional. I decided to still go. Any stage time to practice is a good thing, and I wanted to see the setup and feel confident about presenting in this location.
I enjoy traveling but don’t like the actual flying part! I get motion-sick so planes are never my favorite. Plus I have celiac disease and eat a very clean diet so traveling causes me stress about what I will be able to eat. Landing in an unfamiliar city always gives me some anxiety until I get acclimated with the location and feel confident I can find food that I can eat. It is amazing how much the concept of eating and maintaining my routines is a focus for me when I know others travel and don’t give it a minute of thought!
My life is very routine based as that keeps me both mentally and physically balanced. I have my morning routine around matcha, journaling, meditating, then a green tea and working out. My diet is very plant based with fish as my protein source since I don’t eat any other meat. Add celiac disease to that mix and I have to be very careful what I eat!
So when I travel, I focus a lot on ways to maintain the routines I have at home to keep myself balanced and feeling good. When I got to my hotel in Dallas, I was very eager to go for a walk! It was almost 80 degrees at 5 pm. I asked the front desk about where I could walk and was happy to learn there was a Whole Foods not far from the hotel. At a minimum I could go there to find food!
I went to my room and decided instead of walking, I really needed to eat a healthy meal. I only had snacks on this day of travel and wanted a real meal! I found a seafood restaurant online that I could walk to and they could accommodate celiac! I was excited!
Google maps said it was an 11 min walk and I called and they could give me a table. Off I went to eat at 5:30 pm! I got outside and was pleasantly surprised to realize it wasn’t 11 minutes away, it was next door! I proceeded to have an amazing $200 dinner by myself while reading my book. The fish was amazing and I even got to have dessert which almost never happens due to celiac! When I was finished it was still light out and about 70 degrees so I headed out for the walk I had wanted. It was a great way to get my steps in and burn off the dessert I had just eaten.
Because of the 1 hour time difference, I was in bed early and got a great night’s sleep. The next day I had the day free until 3 when I would take an uber for the 45 minute drive to the UTD campus for the rehearsal. I was excited to take some time for myself in the morning and get outside to explore. A friend recommended I walk on Katy’s trail if I had time. It is a 7 mile trail for bikes and walkers that goes through some of the neighborhoods of Dallas.
Luckily an entrance to the trail was a few blocks from the hotel. Off I went to get some exercise, enjoy being outside and exploring! The weather was amazing! It was in the 60’s without a cloud in the sky. Along my walk I found a café and got a great matcha latte. I walked for 4.4 miles and it felt amazing to be outside without a huge time crunch!
After my walk I got to enjoy almost an hour out by the pool! I was just soaking in the vitamin D while connecting with the other speakers via Slack. Turns out I was the only one of the 3 of us there in person for this rehearsal. That’s ok, I was going to scope it out and report back. I was still glad I made the trip as I wanted to see it all myself!
After working in the hotel bar lounge and having a healthy salad, I called an Uber and off I went to explore UTD. It was about a 40 minute drive away. My driver was from the Bronx and he was in Texas for nursing school. He said he couldn’t wait to return to NY! Haha!
It is important to note that before calling the Uber, I spent 30 minutes on line trying to find an address for the performance building where the event will be located. It doesn’t have one! The TEDx team had sent a map of the campus with the building marked but there were not any actual addresses to direct a driver. I found what I thought might be the address, so that is what I used for the Uber.
As we started to pass the UTD campus signs I quickly learned that this campus was enormous! As in miles big! The map made it all seem so easy to navigate and that was the furthest from the way it was in real life! When we arrived at what I had entered as the destination, there wasn’t a building with any of the names of the performing arts center or any of the other buildings close by on the map. I told the Uber driver that we needed to make sure I was in the right place before he left me there as I knew if it was wrong, I would never be able to walk to the right location.
He called a student over to ask. I was blessed with an amazing kind Freshman who offered to get into the car to direct us where to go because we were far from where we needed to be! She guided us through parking lots, down unmarked roads and finally we got dropped off at a construction site. She promised this was right! We walked through 2 buildings, around 2 other buildings and finally we arrived at the theatre! I was so grateful for her kindness and willingness to walk me all the way to the door!
When I entered the theater with anticipation and excitement for what I was going to come into, it was empty except of a student practicing the piano on the stage. And I was 10 minutes late! Where was the huge event team and the other presenters?
I walked outside of the room and was greeted by the event organizer, an incredibly kind graduate student! She was so nice and apologized as they had mixed up the timing. She explained we would have the theatre in 20 minutes. There was one other person from the event team there, but that was all. Nobody else was coming. One other presenter did arrive, another graduate student, but that was it. Four of us for this rehearsal!
I was still glad I was there! Given the stress of finding the location, I was glad it wasn’t the day before the event! And regardless of who was there, I could practice and that was why I was there.
I was dressed casually in white jeans but I had brought my beloved “talk shoes”, my new Manolo Blahniks! I was going to practice on the stage wearing these new beauties even though they had given me a blister after the first 30 minutes of wearing them at home.
The team pulled up my presentation from Dropbox, dropped the screen, I connected my remote control for their computer set up and off I went to practice! It was a great stage, lots of space to walk and talk which is my style of presenting. The 196 seats in the theatre are angled really well for presenting as much of the seats are at eye level. I felt really good about my practice run! I was once again, so glad I made the trip!
The scheduled 4 hour rehearsal lasted 90 minutes given there were only 2 of the speakers there. The leader of the event kindly escorted me out to where we thought I could get an Uber. Her kindness definitely helped me accept that my desire for perfection with this event can only be controlled by my performance. The rest of the event will unfold as it will. While it felt unorganized and lacking a commitment from the other participants and the event team, I was there and that is all I can control. And I was so glad I was there!
Now I know what to expect so when I leave again for the journey back to Dallas, I will not be anxious or uneasy about the event. I feel prepared! For me, that is what I needed and what is important.
The lessons from my first rehearsal trip:
- Always make choices based on what feels right for me regardless of what other people do.
- Kindness exists all around us if we are open to seeing it
- Spending time outside, getting some vitamin D and taking time for self are priceless
- Eating out alone with a good book can be very enjoyable
- I did it! I got past the first rehearsal and feel fully ready for the big event on the 18th.
I head back to Dallas on the 16th, with another rehearsal on the 17th and the big event is the evening of the 18th. We have an agenda so I know I am going 3rd in the lineup of 6 presenters. I have the photographer booked, and we will meet with the video team in advance of the event to hopefully provide input, as speakers, as to what we want for the video coverage (i.e. wide shots, close ups, side angles and waist up shots). We will not get the videos, but they will provide the video to TED to post to the TEDx YouTube channel so we want those videos to be as good as possible.
I have continued practicing daily in my basement to perfect my timing, walking in heels and the slides. I am as ready as I can be!
Follow along as I will post blog #3 after the big event! Go TEDx!
~JC xo
Be sure to sign up for my newsletter here to be notified when I release blog post part three about this amazing TEDx journey!
