These talks build big ideas

What’s the big idea? Ten people from different backgrounds and disciplines will share theirs at the Rex Theatre on Oct. 22 for TEDxAmoskeagMillyard, an annual storytelling event.

Their journey to the stage, like the inspiring tales they plan to tell, takes hard work.

Every year, organizers receive about 200 nominations from community members or the nominees themselves, says David Hudson, co-lead organizer and host of the event, now in its 14^th year. The event runs from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Katelyn Carey, a speaker at TEDxAmoskeagMillyard in 2023, accidentally set her face and hands on fire during hijinks with college friends. Carey spoke about her experience as a burn patient, mastectomy patient and acute care nurse, focusing on the hidden flaws of empathy. The 2025 edition comes to the Rex Theatre Oct. 22. (Courtesy photo)

“In most years, one of our 10 speakers is someone who was nominated in a previous year and has come back to us, maybe tweaking their idea somewhere in some way, or they just fit better in a subsequent year, or we’re just more convinced in a subsequent year,” said Hudson, who teaches communication and media arts at Southern New Hampshire University.

Once the committee whittles down the lists of nominees, working to ensure the group represents a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, volunteer coaches work with the finalists to help them shape their talks.

While most of the participants have public speaking experience in their professional careers, they spend time retooling their approach to fit the TED format, which focuses on finding the heart of the story.

“We had someone who had a background as a reporter. Reporters are broadly trained. You write the story in the inverted pyramid,” Hudson said. “Well, that’s not how you deliver a dynamic talk. You want to end almost as strongly as you began.”

TEDxAmoskeagMillyard was founded in the Manchester Millyard in 2011. The event later moved to Southern New Hampshire University, then to Pinkerton Academy’s Stockbridge Theatre, before returning to its original home in 2023.

This year’s theme is “build,” a nod to resilience and the power of coming together to shape a better future, Hudson said. But each year’s theme is purposely broad enough to incorporate a wide range of topics.

“We pick a theme every year largely to give us something to focus our marketing and communication materials around,” Hudson said. “But we don’t really hold our speakers to a specific theme, nor do we select them based on the theme.”

Hudson has been volunteering since 2013, but this is his first year as a co-lead organizer, a role he shares with long-time volunteer and speaking coach Pamme Boutselis, senior director of content at Southern New Hampshire University and a communication adjunct professor.

“When the previous lead organizers stepped aside to pursue other projects, Pam and I talked, and we decided this was our year to step up,” Hudson said. “And we’re both super excited.”

TEDx talks are intended to be inspirational and noncommercial, so there’s no selling from the stage.
“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 told NH Business Review last year. “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.”

This year’s speaker lineup features:

• Jake April – disability advocate, storyteller, connector
• Cyrena Arnold – meteorologist, STEM advocate, parent
• Tiffany Claflin – educator, parent, extrovert
• Janet Duliga – creative, enthusiast, people leader
• Samantha Gnanasegaram – physician, mother, mental health advocate
• Eryn Gordon – writer, traveler, steward
• DaSean Greene – entertainer, magician, motivator
• Steve Long – entrepreneur, nonprofit founder, leader
• Christine Phillips – companion, mom, seeker
• Amy Regan – sister, educator, barrier breaker

New Hampshire blues singer Ms. Vee and Bollywood folk-fusion dancer Shikha will also appear on the program.

Since its debut in 2011, TEDxAmoskeagMillyard has featured more than 100 speakers and garnered millions of views globally through TED.com. Tickets are available at https://bit.ly/45pW0zv. For more information, visit www.tedxamoskeagmillyard.com 

TED, founded in 1984, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to discovering, debating and spreading ideas that spark conversation, deepen understanding and drive meaningful change, the group says.