TEDxNHS

On Saturday 28th September, I attended TEDxNHS, a series of 12 medically-relevant talks held in the Royal Institution. Unusually, I was not there as a spectator, rather this was the culmination of many months of work from a team of 40+ people, which included myself.

It’s been a while since I’ve been part of an event. Back at school, I was unfailingly part of the annual theatre performance, usually playing a character actor or on the second violin desk. Being on the narrow performance side of the production, the technical elements and logistics of bringing hundreds of people together for a three-hour show were a mystery to me. TEDxNHS was my first taste of this on a professional scale and it was impressive.

In the same lecture theatre where Faraday demonstrated his theory of electromagnetism, the twelve speakers captivated the 400-strong audience with topics ranging from deep brain stimulation to intergenerational trauma. Faraday’s legacy was still felt as under the warm lighting, there were standing ovations, cheers and the odd shiver of awe.

There were standing ovations, cheers, and the odd shiver of awe

The execution was faultless, with not a technical or logistical hitch the whole day. But this doesn’t happen by chance, I realised. Having been involved in a tiny bit of the preparation, I realised just how much work is needed to pull something like this off. With communications teams and logistics arms, suddenly I saw a lot of corporate terms in action. Everyone had a day job already and yet, through their voluntary work, a concept became reality last weekend.

As part of the coaching team, I had the pleasure of developing one of the talks with a speaker. When I first signed up to the role, I shrugged at the prospect, thinking a weekly meet-up was a small commitment compared to the rigours of work and childcare. But with months and then weeks to go, I realised how highly invested I was. The Saturday morning coaching sessions became an integral part of my weekend routine, and towards the end, I happily dialled on for calls at 9.30pm to rehearse with my speaker. Instead of being exhausted, I was energised.

Of course, seeing someone you’ve trained flourish is a delight, but my joy ran deeper than a perfect 10 performance. My experience was so rich because I had been there throughout.

So much of my adult life has been spent doing things out of self-interest or obligation. Be that a week of A&E night shifts or two-hourly wake-ups to feed a newborn, I didn’t see the point in doing voluntary activity on top of all the things I had to do. But what I didn’t appreciate was how much pleasure there is from helping someone else succeed. There is such reward from contributing to something bigger, for example, an immaculately run production or a tear-jerking speech.

It’s been almost 20 years since I left school, but I finally realise the true value in putting on an event. I used to think it was simply about the performance, the superficial aspects like how many prompts were needed or if the orchestra sounded in tune, but now I know it is more than that. Regardless of how smoothly the production runs, the real success lies in the preparation, the hours of hard-work and dedication from a team of disparate individuals. There is something to be said for being part of such a collaborative effort.

Shakespeare was right, the play really is the thing.

TEDxNHS was held at the Royal Institution on 28th September 2024 (https://www.tedxnhs.com/tedxnhs-2024/)

The dream team: my fellow coach and wonderful tedxnhs speaker