🌀 TEDxTruth #6: Writing for the stage is nothing like writing for the page.

After February’s wobble, I knew something had to shift. Catherine gave me brilliant, clear feedback and I decided to change my entire approach.

This time, I put my script down.

Instead of writing, I started talking. I hit record on my phone and told my story out loud - the way I would say it, not the way I would write it.

It was a game-changer.

This is the part no one tells you about when you see someone standing on a TEDx stage, confident and polished under the spotlight.

The behind-the-scenes truth is that the journey is messy.
You build, you break, you rebuild.
You write and rewrite and then scrap whole sections.
You ride the highs of “I’m onto something!” and the lows of “I’ve completely lost the plot.”

TEDxTruth #4: The message becomes magic when shared in community.

December was for script-doodling and I had no clue where to start.

So I turned to my community. I asked people close to me for advice. Their early thoughts and reflections were the scaffolding of my entire talk.

Armed with their insights, I turned to the only place I know where to start when the blank page stares back: A whiteboard.

The day after my pitch, an email landed in my inbox.
Subject line: “Decision on your Idea pitch to TEDxNorthwich.”

Wait… what?!
Already?

I was still in bed, not even obsessively refreshing my Inbox yet, when I saw it.
The signature red TEDx font popped up a few times as I anxiously scanned for The Decision… but I couldn’t find it. My eyes darted everywhere like they could somehow decode the outcome from whitespace alone.

TEDxTruth #2: The right rooms won’t ask you to shrink.

It was pitch night.
Two minutes to share my idea.
Five faces behind a table.
One bar stool.
A TEDxNorthwich banner.
And me - in red pants, sipping a cappuccino, repeating my script in my head like a prayer.

I'd written the pitch with ease. No overthinking. No spirals. Just a deep clarity that said: You know this. You live this.
Still, the butterflies made their entrance, even though I knew what I wanted to say and I deeply believed in the power of my idea.

My TEDx Truth #1: The things we’re meant to do usually start with sweat.

When our good friend Ben told me TEDxNorthwich was being hosted at The Grange School I felt butterflies. Giving a TEDx Talk had been on my bucket list for years - quietly sitting between “learn to salsa” and “figure out taxes without crying.” But this? This one felt... real.

Ben had actually messaged me about it well before the deadline. I just didn’t act on it right away. (Hi, ADHD!) By the time I was ready to apply, the deadline was in two days…