TEDx Boulder
Last Saturday I had the privilege to give a short talk at TEDx Boulder. It was an amazing opportunity and I wanted to leave the audience with something they would remember and a question they could walk away with and process later.
I’m a designer, and so I view life through that lens. I settled on using some of the tenants of Minimalism as an analogy for the way we might want to more actively curate and make choices in our incredibly-hectic daily lives.
(photo by Thad McDowell)
Each speaker had been given different time-slots for their talks. I had one of the short, 3-minute slots. It was a fun challenge. I decided my slides would have no words so that I could speak fast. I sketched out a bunch of little illustrations and used them as visual accents to the story of my day, as I told it.
(photo by Brandon Harper)
I’m really pleased with how the slides and the overall talk turned out. I don’t usually get nervous speaking in front of crowds, but I’d never spoken to this many people before (almost 1,400), so I was worried about nailing the timing and delivery of the talk with such short time-constraints. But, it all came together.
I covered a few things in the brief talk, but the question I left attendees with was: what’s your negative space?
I covered a few things in the brief talk, but the question I left attendees with was: what’s your negative space? It’s the idea of constructing something about your daily life, some aspect of your routine, that will allow you to decompress a bit and reflect/process you day and your life. For myself, that’s trail running, which I do almost daily.
The topic seemed to resonate. I got a lot of great feedback and met some amazing people. I viewed the content of the talk as much for myself as for everyone else, so it’s a really special feeling when someone walks up to you afterward and lets you know that they felt challenged or inspired by what you had to say.
It was a wonderful experience and I’m really grateful to the event organizers for giving me a shot at speaking, and also for how well run the event was.
UPDATE: The video of the talk is now available.
(photo by Brandon Harper)
Comments
Eliana
Grant, I loved your talk. Since then I’ve been pausing throughout the day, and saying to myself, “I’m in my white space right now.”
(did you say “negative space” or “white space” in your talk? “White space” works better for me.)
Is it OK with you if I write a short post about what you talked about, and put a link to your blog?
thanks,
Eliana
Taylor Brooks
That’s awesome. Post the video when it’s up!
gb
@Taylor – thanks!
@Eliana – “negative space” or “white space” could be used interchangeably, so whichever you prefer. I think I said “negative space” in my talk, because I thought it would resonate with more folks, but, as a designer, I tend to think of it as “white space” too.
I’d love to see your post!
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