By Janet Slack

There is a lot of work that goes into turning a “big idea” into a talk worthy of TED or TEDx.  It’s often a matter of getting your ideas into sharper focus.

TEDxTryon speaker Robin Edgar from Landrum describes it as “getting to the meat of your idea.” Robin’s big idea is to generate healing and forgiveness through reminiscence and the telling of stories. She says, “You can often see more clearly when looking back at the events that shaped your life.”

Although only 19 years old, speaker Julien Besnard knows that being coached by the TEDxTryon team will help him create a better speech. In the same way he teaches young people to create film in order to express parts of themselves and to learn to be doers, not followers, Julien plans to use his coach to help him best express his own ideas.

Rob Parsons of Saluda is an experienced speaker and sees the process of going from idea to polished presentation as one of “thinking through the steps of a story.” Rob will discuss life lessons learned from his experiences on the Green River. He describes his TEDx talk as the culmination of 20 years of practice in overcoming fear and mistakes to do what most needs to be done.

Tanisha Akinloye, who was raised in Green Creek, knows that her biggest challenge will be to express her passion clearly. Her big idea is “to increase your power by enhancing your outside beauty to match your inner beauty.” Her TEDxTryon coach is helping her deliver her message in a meaningful way that will land with the audience and transform their thinking.

TED is a platform for ideas worth spreading. Started in 1984 as a conference where technology, entertainment and design converged, TED today shares ideas from a broad spectrum — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independent TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world. TEDxTryon is a locally organized event, to be held September 12, 2015, and is a special project of the Arts and Education Committee of Tryon Fine Arts Center. For information visit TEDxTryon.com or call TFAC at 828-859-8322.