{"id":21891,"date":"2019-06-14T01:45:31","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T22:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/?p=21891\/"},"modified":"2019-06-14T01:49:16","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T22:49:16","slug":"experience-tedx-speaker-tedxunipi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/experience-tedx-speaker-tedxunipi\/","title":{"rendered":"My experience as a TEDx speaker for TEDxUniPi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018\u2019My name is Nicoleta and I represent TEDx University of Piraeus 2019. We are glad to have you invited<\/strong><\/em>
\nas a speaker in this year\u2019s TEDx University of Piraeus, an independently organized TED conference.<\/strong><\/em>
\nHaving followed your activity and, being aware of your attempt to spread positive thoughts, it would be<\/strong><\/em>
\nour pleasure to join our team. Your choice to travel around the world as a solo traveler keeps inspiring<\/strong><\/em>
\nmore and more people- especially women- to give it a go, in order to gain themselves new experiences.<\/strong><\/em>
\nYour travel with the Trans-Siberian was rather impressive, as was the experience you described at the<\/strong><\/em>
\nMongolian steppe. The \u2018\u2019solo women groups\u2019\u2019, which have recently started, are also equally interesting,<\/strong><\/em>
\nand we would like you to refer to them during your speech. \u2018\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TEDxUniversityofPiraeus\/videos\/424362498380329\/<\/p>\n

In such a way, so simply and beautifully I was invited by the TEDxUniPi team to talk to TED. I still
\nremember the first minutes when I read my e-mail five months ago, entitled as \u2018\u2019TEDx University of
\nPiraeus- Invitation\u2019\u2019, I burst into tears. Even tough it sounds weepy, yes, I did cry! After 7 years in the
\nfield of travel blogging and having great experience from the beginning, when travel blogs were absent
\nin Greece, until the present, when everyone has become Instagrammer and Influencer, the fact of being
\ncalled by TED to talk about your personal route, your dreams, your beliefs, and everything you have
\naccomplished so far in addition to the things you dream of in the future, is a great honor and ,at the
\nsame time, a personal achievement and acknowledgment.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nAfter the first thrill, my mind started \u2018\u2019running\u2019\u2019 far far away. Alright, what am I supposed to say now?
\nWhere should I start from? How is my speech going to be motivational? How could I inspire all the
\nlisteners? My hands started sweating. Where do I begin? What do I say? What do I skip?
\nAt that point, another e-mail arrives, informing me on two subjects: Firstly, on the theme of this year\u2019 s
\nTED, which will focus on the matter of \u2018\u2019switch perspect\u2019\u2019 and secondly, that it would be better for me to
\nlearn my speech by heart, so I can go to the rehearsal, and rehearse my speech within the timeframe of
\n17-18 minutes.
\nMonths passed by, and April had arrived, it was around Easter, when I had relaxed being in Greece, that
\nI started writing my speech. It took me one day to start the first paragraph. I had no idea how backwards
\nshould I go, and what would the main topic be. A whole day passed without producing a single word.
\nAnd then I just started. I wrote the first sentence and that was it. The hand and mind in absolute
\ncooperation. Paragraph after paragraph I hopefully reached ten pages of speech. Ten pages. I pressed
\nsave and sat to read them.<\/p>\n

One more time, after the first e-mail, that I was in tears. Yes, I was proud for
\neverything I did, for all those nights when I was crying in my bed and was dreaming of other countries
\nand travels while I had no money at all. For all those days that I woke up at 6 in the morning to go to
\nMilano only to get back home at 11 at night, so I can get up the next day and do the exact same thing.
\nFor all those first days that I decided to work in a fast food restaurant in Italy to save money for the
\nmaster and simultaneously learn the language. Because I knew what I wanted. I knew where I was going.
\nI knew that I had a long way ahead of me. That nothing would be given to me for free. I should go after
\nit.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nFor all those \u2018\u2019slaps\u2019\u2019 I took while trying to put my dreams in an order and make them true. It wasn\u2019t
\neasy. It\u2019s never easy. Because even today I am trying to make my dreams come true. And they are many.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what I also stated in TED at one point. I don\u2019t actually feel a success story that much, as more like
\nan \u2018\u2019ongoing\u2019\u2019 story. There\u2019s a long way ahead yet, but, yes, I realize I have already crossed the half way
\nand it feels so good.
\nThe last week came around and I was rushing to send my text at the last moment, and attend to the
\nWednesday rehearsal along with the speakers\u2019 dinner on Friday, on day before the speech.
\nEven though this year I had already given three speeches, this particular one made me really nervous.
\nOn the rehearsal\u2019s day I was as white as a sheet, and when I realized that none of the speakers were
\nholding notes, I got even more anxious. As natural, I made a few mistakes and was off my timeframe for
\n10 minutes. Perfect!
\nThe big day arrived and despite the previous days\u2019 stress, exactly because I had done the rehearsal I
\nknew what I had to omit, what I should add, what to stress and tone, so coming to the stage was like
\neverything went automatically to the right place. It felt like doing the easiest, most common thing in the
\nworld. I was talking to TEDx about dreams, plans, trips, myths falling, change of perspective. About my
\nlife, my dreams, and my vision to inspire and urge other women not to be afraid to dare. And not to be
\nafraid of traveling (and) solo.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nComing down from the stage, and having with me my favorite luggage(it was the only way for me to feel
\nfamiliar in that space), I noticed the TEDx team people, hidden in the background beckoning me that
\neverything went smoothly, while my sweet Nicoletta, the girl who had sent me the first e-mail, hugged
\nme with enthusiasm. Everything was perfect.
\nUntil I was out of the amphitheater and having spent time listening to the following speakers, I had no
\nsense of the whole situation, of what had exactly happened. I think I had put myself in \u2018\u2019auto pilot\u2019\u2019
\nmode all the time. And then I got out, and many people, mostly women and girls, started talking to me,
\nasking me questions, and commenting my speech fully excited.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bxphnhbg3_P\/
\nThen I realized that if, today, I had influenced even one person today, even one lady inside the room, I
\nhad then succeeded in what I referred to during my speech. To show to every Greek woman that our
\nother half is ourselves and, that we have the power to accomplish so many things and by ourselves.
\nStarting with dreaming, planning, traveling. Because our other half is not out there but within us. We
\nourselves are the power we are looking for to stand on our feet, to dream, to act.
\nAt this point I will pause, to gather the tears running from my eyes and I will give a huge thank you to
\nthe team of TEDxUniversityofPiraeus, but also to the people that stood by my side from the start, to
\nthose that believed in me and embraced my madness, to the ones who helped me be where I am today.
\nThank you.
\nUntil I get the extract of my presentation, you can find it in the first part of the live video of the day that
\ntook place in TED :<\/p>\n