A few months ago I gave a TED talk. Although I am used to public speaking and performance, speaking from a memorized script that was supposed to sound extemporized in a packed ballroom under hot lights brought performance to a new level of intensity. This experience was exhilarating, and adrenaline-twitchy nerve-wracking in a way that an independent studio dance concert or an academic keynote is not. Despite the surge of nerves that made my knees shake and my mouth feel taut, despite the fast-slow pace that accompanies production of any kind and makes it feel like the performance will never happen and then like it passed too quickly, I felt satisfied and in control up on that small stage. I was prepared, ready to be up in front of this audience, even if it had taken a ridiculous number of redrafts to whittle the content of a book down to eight minutes of talking.
Promotion and Creativity
