Do Tell, Michelle: 3 Things I Learned From Doing A TedX Talk

As all of you know, I did a TedX talk at the weekend. I know, you've probably heard so much about it, you're probably already rolling your eyes, but since I'm all about taking lessons and mid-day reminders from everything, I thought it would be fun to share three things I learnt over the weekend with you all:

1. What you say to yourself matters.

I've been talking with the team behind TedXCoventGardenWomen since March, and with the build up so long, I had a fair amount of time to get myself worked up. In the month before it though, I became extremely aware of my inner voice and what I was saying to myself about the event. My recurring thought? You can't do this. The more I thought that thought — consciously or unconsciously — the more nervous and anxious I became, understandably. But how many times do we all do this? As soon as I became aware of this voice and changed it into something more positive (anything more positive!), I felt the anxiety subside just a little bit.

2. Intersectionality is underrated.

I tend to notice diversity in a room simply because I'm almost always the only 'token' diverse person, whether it's in terms of race, size or ability. I realise when I'm not the token. It's not something I see with my eyes, but instead something I feel. To not feel like the token is so underrated. The whole day, I had this overwhelming feeling of 'I'm not alone', and I contribute so much of that feeling to the fact that I literally was not alone. The group of speakers was the most diverse group I have ever spoken in and it filled me with so much pride to be a part of it.

3. Feminist issues don't need to compete.

There were over 15 speakers talking about a range of issues from periods to fatherhood to football. The talk about football for example, followed a talk that had discussed rape quite heavily, and that's when it occurred to me: why are we wasting our time arguing which feminist issue is more important? As well as time, it's a waste of energy, and we dilute the movement by continually competing against each other for more airtime. Every speaker on Saturday was passionate about their specific niche of feminism, and as long as we didn't discount each other, we were so much more powerful as a force supporting each other as we all have the same intentions.

The list could go on, but you've probably heard just about enough TedX... Well, until the actual video comes out, and then it'll start all over again!