Why Taking the Mic Matters as Early as Middle School

Taking the mic is brave.

Striding to a stage, looking directly into bright light and raising your voice can be scary for accomplished public speakers, and downright terrifying for first-timers. But, that's what makes it so important to start early.

And TED-Ed gets it.

Launched in 2012 as the TED Conferences youth and education component, the TED-Ed Student Talks program provides "a free curriculum that supports students in identifying, developing and sharing their ideas in the form of short, TED-style talks." Currently used in over 130 countries by a network of over 250,000 teachers and licensed educational organizations, TED-Ed helps the next gen share big ideas with a global network of passionate game-changers.

For Être, it came at exactly the right time.

As the founder of an organization bringing girls into company boardrooms to meet leaders face to face, the COVID shut-down meant our business model needed to pivot. While women at companies like Billboard, The Walt Disney Company, and NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration rallied, converting planned visits to virtual mentor pop-ups, girls were missing more. Watching as entire sports seasons ended, fall dramas folded, community service projects moved indoors and entrepreneurial adventures were put on hold, teens across the globe headed to their phones in despair.

How can I still stay attached to the things I love? How will I get better at my sport off the field and without a coach? How can I make any difference in my community from my room? How can I show colleges who I really am now that everything I'm involved with is OVER?

I felt their frustration and looked frantically for answers. How could girls already emboldened and impassioned stay embedded in their favorite activities and differentiate themselves at a time like this?

Enter TED-Ed.

After applying in 2020, our first year as a TED-Ed Club was 2021 and girls in 8 states across the US and Canada dove in. Tackling topics like intersectional environmentalism, diversity and inclusion, being the smallest cast member in a Broadway show or an award-winning scientist working from home, starting a non-profit, publishing a book on Gen-Z and stopping pandemic boredom in its tracks, 16 teens embraced TED-Ed's offerings and broke the heavy feeling of COVID isolation wide open.

Last week, as we uploaded our second class of TED-Ed talks, Être girls holding the mic in 2022 made me cheer all over again. Hailing from the US and India this year, and with speakers ranging from 13 to 18 in age, our new roster of student talks took my breath away. I hinted at their topics in an earlier newsletter, but its time you met these girls for yourself.

Click to hear:

Thirteen-year-old Grayson Sethi, talking about how AAPI racism affects her, introducing her favorite AAPI heroes, and reminding us that, even at the earliest age, "racial equality is everyone's fight."

Violet Ruberti, explaining how an extensive background in music helps build new connections with her grandparent suffering from Alzheimer's. "Music is significant to every person," she notes, "and if you have an older relative...it is the perfect way to get closer to them before you no longer have the opportunity to do so."

Alyshba Ahmed, breaking down the complex issue of representation in blockchain and, after interviewing industry leaders like Brit Morin, concluding that "whether you're an educator, a student, a developer...anyone, there is a place in the world of blockchain in which you can help facilitate changes that permanently change our society."

Youth founder Vasundhara Chaudhary, urging listeners to "fight stigma and promote mental health; to strive for a world that is mentally fit. And the change," she adds encouragingly, "starts with you."

Amber Carr, opening up about her self-doubts during the college application process, and how Arianna Huffington's words about evicting the "obnoxious roommate in your head" rang helpfully true as she approached finding her first college roommate.

Khushi Gupta, conveying the joy she felt publishing a book at 16, despite hurdles and naysayers. "You have the right to feel happy," she says, looking straight into the camera, "and you need to fly with wings higher and wider - because that's what you're meant to do. You are meant to do amazing things."

High schooler Vanika Mittal, describing how lost she felt during the pandemic until she discovered poetry and pushed herself to connect with writers across the globe. "There's this effort, this one fire that you have within yourself," she muses with prose beyond her years, "which is the only thing that gets you to your goals."

Dia Gupta, sharing the results of a 50-student mental health survey she conducted in India while layering in her own experiences. "Share who you are," she emphasizes as she advises listening students, "not what others want you to be."

Jacqueline Carr, divulging how today's teens balance competing interests like self-image vs social action on social media. "Social media is excellent for raising awareness and it amplifies our voices like never before. But," she warns gravely, "it can be toxic sometimes." "I know my worth," she says, closing her talk after a series of helpful tips, "and you should too."

Knowing your worth.

Fighting racism.

Seeking equality in tech.

Finding your purpose.

Big topics addressed by clear-eyed speakers holding the mic and raising their voices..who just happen to be under twenty. And the best part? Audiences are listening. Thanks to the brilliant platform established by TED-Ed and the TedEd Club network, Être girls and others are able to dive deeply into topics that interest them, reach out to experts for advice, practice with public speaking mentors, and deliver talks that tell the world exactly who they are.

This skill, bolstered by research and backed by bravery, will take them from stage to stage in life...ready to take the mic.

Looking forward and listening with joy,

Illana