Ideas worth spreading

Why we need better stories

Sally Murphy |

TEDxMerrionSquareWomen

• January 2022

The histories of particular places, events, eras often boil down in the popular imagination to a handful of stories from a handful of perspectives. Irish cultural historian Sally Murphy explains why it's as important to tell the story of a grandmother who rallied in support of Ireland's first woman president Mary Robinson as it is to tell the story of Robinson herself. She argues that sharing the diverse stories of the oft-forgotten figures on the sidelines is a more useful, inclusive way to look at the world and to envision an equitable future.

The histories of particular places, events, eras often boil down in the popular imagination to a handful of stories from a handful of perspectives. Irish cultural historian Sally Murphy explains why it's as important to tell the story of a grandmother who rallied in support of Ireland's first woman president Mary Robinson as it is to tell the story of Robinson herself. She argues that sharing the diverse stories of the oft-forgotten figures on the sidelines is a more useful, inclusive way to look at the world and to envision an equitable future.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMerrionSquareWomen, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.

About the speaker

Sally Murphy

FOUNDER

The founder of welltold, Sally Murphy comes from a cultural programming background and has over twenty years’ experience managing multi-disciplinary projects crossing the arts, tourism and business. In 2016 she founded her communications consultancy with a mission to empower businesses to use storytelling as a leadership tool and catalyst for change. Today Sally delivers coaching,training and consultancy services that ignite people, organisations and culture through the power of stories, well told. Her clients include Google, Microsoft, Paddy Power / Betfair, Janssen Sciences Ireland. In 2017, she won the Northern Ireland Creative Industry Skills Award for her work with Void Gallery, Derry. A mother of two sons who have long outgrown her, she lives in Donegal and can be found swimming happily in the Atlantic every weekend.

About TEDx

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." It supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community.

Find a TEDx event near you

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMerrionSquareWomen, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.