Kessler Theater auditions deliver winning speakers for TEDxSMU 2013

Dallas (SMU) – A “fish-out-of-water” journalist and a woman with a big heart for uprooted children were judged winners at summer auditions and are now headed for the TEDxSMU stage at Dallas City Performance Hall on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Interested speakers applied for the chance to audition, and 11 finalists were selected to wow the audience and judges with their best six minutes of narrative at the June 20 auditions at the Kessler Theater.  

As previous TEDxSMU audition winners, emcee Will Clarke and guest judges Willie Baronet, Grace Gilker and Byron Sanders knew the ropes, critiquing each speaker’s performance at its conclusion.  At the end of the presentations, the judges and audience members voted for their favorites.

The winners? Dallas Morning News columnist Dave Lieber, who regaled the audience with his tales of a New Yorker finding his way in North Texas, and LyAnna Smith, a graduate student in SMU’s Perkins School of Theology whose talk centered on the personal and societal benefits of housing foster children, were the popular favorites.  Catch the flavor of the evening in the accompanying slide show, and find more information at www.tedxsmu.org.

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About TEDxSMU

Bringing together ideas and interesting people from around the world and around the corner, TEDxSMU and TEDxKids @SMU are single-day conferences in Dallas, TX. Now in its fifth year, TEDxSMU is jointly produced by Southern Methodist University and Dallas IdeaSpace, a nonprofit dedicated to positively impacting the intellectual infrastructure and creative capacity of Dallas through investing in ideas and curating experiences.

TEDxKids @SMU (the first TEDx event designed for students) hosts 450 middle school students for a free four-hour conference, in exchange for completing four hours of community service. TEDxKids @SMU is scheduled for Oct. 18 at City Performance Hall.

TEDxSMU programming ranges from personal discussions of physical and mental journeys to demonstrations of high-tech gadgetry and inspirational musical performances and great visuals are the common denominator. Modeled on the TED (Technology, Engineering and Design) conference mounted annually in Long Beach, Cal., TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world's leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Two major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Long Beach, Cal. (along with a parallel conference, TEDActive, in Palm Springs), and TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily; the new TED Conversations, enabling broad conversations among TED fans; and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.

TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED