Happy Sharing !

Oct 30th was a great day. At TEDxGateway, I got to speak about stories from my classroom to a 300+ group of interestingly diverse people. For the first time ever I made a presentation using Prezi and it went well except for a couple of things which no one noticed or pointed out. But, in just a few days, I was able to put together the presentation in Prezi Desktop with text and pictures. Strangely, I couldn’t add videos into the Prezi.

During the Tea breaks and lunch, I managed to speak to more than 70 people about Teach For India and the work done by the fellows across Mumbai and Pune. It is just phenomenal to see so many people appreciating this movement and also their offer for help and support ! I have taken cards, numbers and emails. Now, its time for follow up and engage these wonderful people in the classroom. I have requested people to come to a TFI classroom near their place and spend time with the children. Doesn’t matter who you are or whether you are talented in something or not, just by being there and talking about your life and experiences, you enrich their understanding.

The biggest happiness at TEDxGateway was that we managed to bring 5 kids from my class to the event. The kids made lovely greeting cards for the event organisers. They sang  the Champions song on stage and then held a colourful kite that said ‘Fly High’ ! Going by the round of applause they received from the audience, my champions were a clear hit ! A proud moment for me 🙂

As always, when I look back at this event and specifically, my speech, I learnt a lot. So many ideas and points came rushing to my mind – all a day or two AFTER the event ! On reflection,

  • Backward plan a presentation to get a sense of timing
  • Rehearse the main structure of the speech at least 2 times
  • Have a clear vision of the most important points to touch upon
  • ‘Must-say, nice-to-say and buffer points’
  • Check out the slides/PPT on the actual screen with the actual projector (My pictures looked dark on the TED screen 😦 )

Given the 18 minute time frame, it is challenging to fit in so many elements of a speech but then, a speech need not touch upon many things. Whatever is said, needs to be said passionately. Honestly. It has to be original and heartfelt to have impact.

Here is a picture of the kids on stage. And, a Facebook album of the event:

http://is.gd/gJL12 (No Facebook account needed to browse)

4 comments

  2. Bhawana

    Hi Srini,
    It is quite a late comment, but I can relate to all your posts.

    A couple of friends and me used to teach kids of nearby villages while I was doing my MBA.This is a cause I strongly feel for and I can relate to a lot of your experiences in the blog. Currently I am working in Mumbai. Though am not ready to join TFI as of now, I want to be a part of it in any way I can. Please do let me know

    Reply
    • srini091

      Hi Bhawana,
      Thank you for the comment and the kind words of appreciation. I ll write to you about ways in which you & friends can help.
      Rgds
      Srini

      Reply

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