Self-authorship TED talk

For this assignment, you will prepare a 5-7 minute speech, imagining that you are giving a TED talk in which you share with your audience some important insights you have learned about yourself throughout the course. You may very well choose to present the insights of focus in your autoethnography or others, but they should be ones that you think would be helpful and interesting for your audience to know—insights that they might benefit and learn from.

I do not want to be too prescriptive about what you should include in this TED talk. I would like to give you room to prepare the talk using your own creativity and inspiration. You may look at other TED talks for ideas, and when you do so, try to focus on noting down the strategies or techniques some of the speakers use that you think are most engaging and inspiring for an audience. You can consider carefully your beginning, middle and end. You will most likely choose to include some stories and examples from your mini-assignments, and you might also include meaningful quotes or references to things that we have read or watched during the course. What is important is that you are trying to share one or two important insights with your audience -- insights that have emerged through your participation in this course and in the process of analyzing your data for your autoethnography. As with any TED talk you have probably watched, you want to be conveying an important message to your audience--something that might be new for them, or that you are presenting or emphasizing in a new way, something that gets your audience to think differently, something that may call them to action. Ask yourself: When the audience leaves, what do I want my audience to take with them? Try to center your talk on that message. You can choose to have slides or not. It is up to you.

One important tip that may be of help is to write out your whole speech because this can help you articulate things exactly as you wish to and it can make you feel more prepared. Whether or not you end up looking at the script from time to time as you present is up to you. But bear in mind that you need to be connecting with your audience as much as possible. Reading can sometimes detract from that.

Please look through this TEDx Guide to help you in your preparation. You should also look at example TED talks, such as the ones I have listed on the 'Texts' page of this class site.

Grading

Here I am simply looking for meaningful insights that you are sharing with the audience--i.e., evidence that you have delved into your own life and learned something through the course--and that you have attempted to engage/inspire your audience through your content and your delivery. You will have a chance to see my example in class, and I will also make the script of my TED talk available here, if you find it helpful. Again, there is no one way to do this TED talk. Please use your own creativity and ideas to present something meaningful to your audience. Refer to this simple grading rubric below to see how your talk will be evaluated.