TEDxAmoskeagMillyard champions ‘ideas worth spreading’

Speakers and organizers of TEDxAmoskeagMillyard gather in 2023 at the Rex Theatre in Manchester. This year’s event, on Oct. 10, will be held at the Palace Theatre a block away. (Courtesy photo)

Randy Pierce, who became blind as an adult, talked about finding “vision beyond sight.”

Dan Habib, whose son was born with a mitochondrial disorder, talked about “disabling segregation.”

Shanita Williams, who was taken aback when a work colleague misinterpreted her facial expression during a meeting as a negative response, talked about how to “process feedback with a strainer, not a sponge.”

All three shared personal stories about how something they experienced brought them wisdom and changed their perspective — knowledge they wanted to share to a theater full of people.

Pierce, Habib and Williams are among the dozens of speakers who have participated in TEDXAmoskeag-Millyard since its debut 13 years ago. This year’s event runs from 1 to 5 p.m., Oct. 10 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.

The nine speakers selected will have one thing in common by the time they hit the stage: The initial idea they had for their talk will have transformed into something much richer.

“We do ask the speakers to dig deep,” says Pamme Boutselis, a volunteer speaker coach. “Maybe the story they think they’re going to tell is at a very surface level. And as they start digging a little bit deeper, they’re learning things about themselves. And it’s a huge discovery.”

While many of the participants have previous public speaking experience, they have to rethink their approach for a TEDx talk. (Boutselis nominated NH Business Review Publisher Ernesto Burden to be a speaker this year.)

“It’s a whole different animal than any other sort of speaking engagement they’ve had before,” says Boutselis, senior director of content at Southern New Hampshire University and a communication adjunct professor.

“A lot of times, someone has done business conferences, they’ve presented a million times at work, but there’s usually a motive in some capacity,” Boutselis says. “If you’re presenting at work, you usually trying to sell someone on a new process, a new idea, a new product. With a TEDx talk, you’re trying to share an idea.”

The prep work and the ultimate goal are also dramatically different.

“A lot of times if you’re doing a presentation, you have people who are supporting you with (Courtesy photo) whatever you’re doing,” Boutselis says. “It may be your boss, it may be your colleagues, and they’re helping you broach this topic in a way that people will buy in. But when you have a speaker coach for TEDx, what we’re trying to do is help you elevate your idea and give the best talk of your life in 18 minutes or less.”

Speakers need to present talks designed to have a broad appeal since their 18 minutes of fame will be recorded for videos that have the potential to go viral. For example, the videos by Randy Pierce, Dan Habib and Shanita Williams have generated combined views of more than 325,000 on YouTube.

“Although our live event is happening in downtown Manchester and many of our speakers are well known within the Greater Manchester community, the audience truly is global,” Boutselis says. “You have to make sure your language is such that everyone gets an idea of what you’re talking about, and the themes then become universal and global.”

Katelyn Carey, a speaker at TEDxAmoskeagMillyard in 2023, accidentally set her face and hands on fire during hijinks with college friends around a campfire. Carey spoke about her experience as a burn patient, mastectomy patient and acute care nurse, focusing on the hidden flaws of empathy. (Courtesy photo)

Building a buzz

Marlana Trombley and Keri Pappalardo, who joined TEDxAmoskeagMillyard three years ago, are marking their second year as co-organizers of the event, which is produced entirely by volunteers.

Both work full time in marketing — Trombley with the Orbit Group and Pappalardo with Lavallee Brensinger Architects — so building a buzz about the TEDx event is high on their list of priorities. They also work on securing sponsorships and working with the venue.

One of the big changes in recent years was moving the event back to downtown Manchester, where it debuted in 2011 before moving to Southern New Hampshire University and then to Pinkerton Academy’s Stockbridge Theatre in Derry.

Last year, the event was held at the 300-seat Rex Theatre, a sister venue to the Palace Theatre.

“When Keri and I kind of took over as organizers, our big thing was we want everyone to be wearing red and take over the city to show that everyone’s supporting Manchester and getting back to our roots,” Trombley said.

This year’s move to the Palace Theatre, which has a seating capacity three times as large as the Rex, photo) will offer the kind of room to move that Pinkerton offered.

“We love the Rex, and it was a beautiful space,” Trombley says. “But I think the Palace will give us the best of both worlds, like having that lobby area. We’re going to have people taking headshots, people taking photos, doing live social media, doing interviews.”

Organizers hope TEDx attendees will become excited not just about the ideas they will hear that day but about the Queen City.

“You have all these people who are super enthusiastic about new ideas and exciting things happening running around downtown. And while they’re running around downtown, they’re grabbing coffee from local businesses,” Pappalardo says. “They’re grabbing lunch from somewhere. They’re seeing that our city is so awesome, and there are so many great things happening within the community.”

Tickets for TEDxAmoskeagMillyard are $65. For more information and a link to tickets, visit www.tedxamoskeagmillyard.com. Unlock $15 off with code NHBR15. (NH Business Review is a sponsor of the event.)

TEDxAmoskeag Millyard 2024 speakers

Ernesto Burden: publisher, writer, performer

Dr. Joni Cazeau: physician, veteran, author

Janice Chaka: executive coach, introvert, DEI consultant

Brandon Gauthier: historian, educator, author

Cordan Haveron: veteran, mentor, entrepreneur

Alexandra Martin: archaeologist, scholar, editor

David Maliar: police officer, negotiator, role model

Kibar Moussoba: innovator, advocate, artist

Alison Young: trailblazer, backpacker, virtuoso