We did it! We spoke at TEDxWhitefish!
This has been a bucket list experience for us, and to be able to do it here, in our own community – wow!
Our Great Idea
Conflict is an energy source for creativity, innovation, and transformation.
Don’t diffuse it. Use It!
Be vulnerable. Be curious.
You can change the world one team, one relationship, one conflict at a time!
Were we perfect? No. We took too much time, had a few forgotten lines, and some extra banter “filled out” the extra minutes we had created just the day before. Plus, I (Susan) messed up the last line, though we did hear from a few folks that that will make the talk memorable!!
But we had fun. We connected with people. And for me, we received the best form of acknowledgment, “You guys were so real. I could relate.”
Our Path To The Magical TEDx
Now, just to share our path leading up to the ‘magical’ event.
Getting to the stage at TEDx, we were living our big idea, meaning there was plenty of conflict between the two of us. We were also sharing parts of our personal stories we weren’t use to sharing. So we were each anxious and not always so vulnerable or curious in how we dealt with each other.
Each time we delivered the talk for feedback we found ourselves rewriting, tweaking, and editing. We got it down to 15 minutes (versus the limit of 18 minutes), the day before the talk, and that was talking fast! Needless to say, we were a bit stressed when we saw the schedule and we only had 15 minutes blocked. So a late night final edit and practice was required!
However, I think we used the conflict and tension to be more creative and collaborative on the stage!
Our extra time, and not perfect delivery, may keep us off the big TED webpage, but I do believe that extra time taken to connect, be real, and vulnerable made us human in the eyes of our community – that was worth it!
One of the biggest treats of the day – the amazing people who pulled this together, the other speakers, and the people who showed up to expand their minds, and stayed through the day in the seats or online!
It would have been so easy to just get focused on our talk. We weren’t on until after lunch. Instead, we decided to be part of the audience and enjoy some cool ideas. I am so glad we did. There are amazing stories that get shared!
TEDx is pretty awesome at spreading great ideas
.TEDx is great at building communities around some of those ideas.
Next time TEDx shows up on your local calendar, consider sharing your big idea, volunteering, or just going. It is worth it!!
We’ll share our TEDx Talk with you when they are done with post-production.
CrisMarie Campbell and Susan Clarke
Coaches, Business Consultants, Speakers and Authors of The Beauty of Conflict
CrisMarie and Susan work leaders and teams, couples in business, and professional women.
They help turnaround dysfunctional teams into high performing, cohesive teams who trust each other, deal with differences directly, and have clarity and alignment on their business strategy so they create great results.
Check out their website: www.thriveinc.com. Connect with CrisMarie and Susan on LinkedIn. Watch their TEDx Talk: Conflict – Use It, Don’t Defuse It! Find your copy of The Beauty of Conflict: Harnessing Your Team's Competitive Advantage here.