TAN YIH ERN, IAN

Abstract:

I was part of the curation project for TEDxSingapore 2020. As part of the curation aspect of this project, my team and I had to investigate and research on potential speakers, topics/ideas that might be suitable for TED. We spent long hours curating and vetting speakers and ideas and finally had to plan and pitch the launch of TEDxTJC which consisted of the speaker database, theme and curation proposal for the TEDxTJC event.

Background info of the organisation:

TEDxSingapore is created to achieve the objectives of a local gathering where live TED-like talks and performances are shared with the community. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis. It is organized by volunteers from the local community, and just like TED events, it lacks any commercial, religious or political agenda. Its goal is to spark conversation, connection and community. The content and design of each TEDx event is unique and developed independently. TEDxSingapore is dedicated to Ideas Worth Spreading. The organisation believes in connecting knowledge and engaging curious souls excited by the power of ideas, and want to learn, grow and find a future to believe in. TEDxSingapore also allows the general public to get unexpected insight and inspiration when you listen to people and ideas outside your field and life experiences. It is a community which connects people who love and value ideas, inspire creative conversations. Of particular interest to me is what TEDxSingapore entails, and that is letting a diversity of voices present multiple issues from many different disciplines be platformed on this stage. Not only letting sparks of ideas come from the speaker but the audience to as they take away a change they want to make in their lives. TEDx is a two-way process. It is engaging for the speakers too as they are the change makers who instil a change they want to make in their audiences’ life. Another thing that I like about TEDx is that the ideas that a speaker can bring to the table is close to limitless. As long as that idea is worth spreading and has not been spread, speakers can talk about a myriad of issues. TEDxSingapore serves to unleash new ideas, inspire and inform in our local Singaporean community.

Background information of the projects / tasks which you were involved in

I was involved in the curation project for the TEDxSingapore 2020 event, “To Boldly ___ ! “. 2020 marks the start of a new decade and it entwines perfectly with the theme of this event. Our task as the curation team was the source the best speakers who are able to spread this idea of being bold in the new decade to the audience.

After our curation project ended we were tasked with giving a presentation to various teachers about a project that we are trying to embark on known as TEDxTJC. We thought that this was an amazing opportunity and we wanted to work hand in hand with the teachers to make this possible in TJC, giving students an authentic experience and platform to share about certain ideas or topics they might be interested in. It would value add to our experience in WOW! extending this month-long attachment to the local TJ community. It would be very insightful to platform speakers to talk about issues and ideas that we want to hear and is more specifically catered to what the student community in TJ wants to hear which would be more appealing to students.

Elaboration / record of the activities done

-Presentations

Throughout the four weeks we had at least a presentation per week to help our mentors keep track of the work we had done that week. We spend days rehearsing and planning for these professional presentations. Our mentors even invited special guests to listen to our presentations and give us comments on what we did well and where we could improve.

-TEDx Salon Event

One of the main highlights of our WOW project was the salon event hosted by that which we were invited to attend and help out in. It was an unforgettable experience where many intellectuals from all walks of life attended this event to discuss how art affects their lifestyle and what are means to them. It was an enriching and engaging discussion and I learnt so much. I am extremely thankful that TEDxSingapore gave me this opportunity to attend this event and I will treasure that chance.

Elaboration / record of results / deliverables / impact of work done

As the duration of this project was too short, we only managed to help out in a small part of the curation for TEDxSingapore 2020. However, in this one month, I have learnt many skills that I will continue to use even after WOW!, especially the presentation skills I have picked up. Curiosity, drive, imagination and realism are the core values I have learnt during my time with TEDxSingapore and these values will always hold a special place in my heart.

3 content knowledge / skills learnt

Firstly, my greatest takeaway from this internship was presentation skills. During this one month, we had countless opportunities to correct and perfect our presentation skills and I took full advantage of this to learn as much as I could. I learnt that even the smallest things such as where you stand, the way you stand, your posture, your flow, your delivery and even where you place your hands can have a huge impact on your audience. My bad habit where I touch my hair pretty often was pointed out by my mentors and I never knew such a small action had an impact on how my audience perceived me.

Secondly, I learnt how to look at things from multiple perspectives. Everyone has their own backstory and come from different walks of life. Everybody has a story and an opinion to share and no one has the right to shun their voices. I learnt how there is never a right or wrong answer, but is instead just another angle of approaching a single subject.

Finally, I also learned many unique skills such as curation techniques from this internship. I managed to be part of a small behind the scenes of a TEDx Salon event and I realised that so much effort and planning had to be put in place just to run a small event that lasted only 4 hours. From researching to vetting to planning the event everything had to be done in a timely fashion in order for the event to be run smoothly.

2 interesting aspects of your learning

The most interesting aspect of my learning was honestly the out of the box thinking that TED nurtures. There was no right or wrong answer, just another way of looking at something. I believe this is the kind of value that schools should instill in students too. There is a TED talk describing how schools kill creativity and I think there are so many things that we can learn from that video and incorporate into our education system here in Singapore.

Another interesting aspect was how TED was run. Before this I did not know that TED was a non profit organisation run by volunteers who are passionate about sharing ideas worth spreading. It was inspiring to see people like Dave and Vivian working so hard behind the scenes in order to ensure that TEDxSingapore continues to run smoothly for generations to come and bringing the culture of spreading ideas here to Singapore.

1 takeaway for life

One of the biggest takeaways from this internship was passion. All members of the TEDxSingapore family were extremely passionate about the sharing of ideas worth spreading and they put in many hours of elbow grease in order to make this happen in Singapore. It must have been difficult to juggle both their day jobs and managing TEDxSingapore at the same time but their passion to make Singapore a better place through the spread of ideas drove them forward. It was inspiring to see how big an impact TEDxSingapore has made on Singaporeans when I attended the event in January and it really opened my eyes to how a passionate community of citizens can impact society.