The Tedx talk that never saw the light of day

Preparing for and delivering a Tedx talk is an amazing experience, and I’m thankful that so many people around the world are having a chance to experience that.

I was approached by the Tedx organizing committee in Jacksonville, Florida in mid-2012 to give the keynote talk at their 1^st Tedx gathering. While most of the speakers came from the local community, sharing about local issues that concerned them, they invited me to bring an international perspective that could tie the program together.

Each Ted talk is based in what a speaker feels most passionately about, which is why each talk is so unique and inspiring. It was easy for me to choose a topic that even today I still feel passionate about: Innovation with a Conscience.

For months before the actual talk, I prepared. It reminded me of Winston Churchill who is reported to have spent 1 hour of preparation for every minute of his speech. To say that it took me 16 hours to prepare my 16 minute Tedx talk would still be on the low side.

Tayloe McDonald, an extraordinary artist, was the assigned TEDx coach for my talk, and she asked me to submit practice videos several times in advance. She was wonderful in helping me not only to refine my talk to a concise 16 minutes, but also to continually look deeper within myself to discover hidden aspects of why this topic was so meaningful to me.

The evening before the Tedx program, the speakers and organizing committee met to rehearse our talks. The energy was high and I left full of anticipation for the next day.

At 10 am the next morning attendees were filling the large auditorium. By the time I was introduced to speak around 5 pm, the mood was poised for my closing talk. I could feel the audience with me every step of the way.

The theme of Innovation with a Conscience was inspired in part by an interview I had with Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut who walked on the moon in 1971 and was consciously, spiritually transformed by the sight of the earth floating in the cosmos. He shared a story about the crew’s in-flight creativity (needing to suddenly reprogram their onboard computer to avoid aborting the mission!), and ended by saying, “We went to the moon as technicians and returned as humanitarians.”

How do we innovate as humanitarians? By basing such work in our deepest sense of conscience and our highest human values. I spoke further about examples from executives at the Grameen Bank and Motorola to illustrate the point – supported by the strong belief of Adam Smith, “grandfather” of modern capitalism, that the capitalist system only works when we allow ourselves to be guided by our moral faculties.

As one organizer shared in an email the next day, that message was palpably felt throughout the room.

I eagerly awaited the final production of the video. But alas, to my surprise, there had been numerous technical difficulties that interfered with the ability to produce a quality video. Fortunately, they were able to capture a high quality audio of the entire talk, which we have put together with a few of the photos taken. Intrigued? Listen to the Tedx talk that never saw the light of the day!