My TEDx talk!

Just in case you missed it, here's my TEDx talk:

It was a rather momentous event for me. I was super nervous (I refused to watch any other speakers ahead of me as I didn't want to psyche myself out) even though I had practiced and practiced for hours and hours for days and weeks, under the guidance of a speech coach, no less. 

my speech with all my speaking notes!

But, I did it and now that the speech is over, I feel really proud. It's like what I said before, public speaking is not a talent I was given. I've worked at it and have gotten much better but I don't think it's a skill that will set me apart. So, compared to a seriously talented speaker like my good friend Jarrett Krosocka (who has not just given one TED talk, but two!), I was probably just decent---but, for me, I think I did pretty well. 

In some ways, I think it is the epitome of my speaking career--I've never given a speech with this much pressure before. I truly felt a responsibility. So many times when we talk about diversity in children's literature, we are talking to people who already know its importance--many times we are "preaching to the choir." This TEDx talk was really an opportunity to reach people who rarely think about children's books, much less the diversity of them. And because of that, I truly gave it my all--and I hope you liked it!

If you did like my speech, I'm going to shamelessly ask you to share it as much as possible! It would be a dream for this thing to go viral!