Theme: You-nique!

We are delighted to announce the return of TEDxTralee to the Siamsa Tire stage for its 3rd year in October 2024. This independently organised event, licensed by TED, will feature local and national voices and TED Talks videos under the theme of "You-nique".

The TEDx Tralee Talks from 2021 and 2022 have now almost two million views and have encompassed an eclectic series of subject matter from Purpose and Passion, Advocacy and Change, Environment and Sustainability, Kindness and Inspiration and many more. All these speeches have one common denominator - a Big Idea on any subject delivered on the world famous Red Dot from a You-nique perspective!

Siamsa Tíre Theatre
Tralee Town Park
Denny Street
Tralee, Kerry, V92 XW44
Ireland

Aoife Commins

HIV & Me: Shattering myths & embracing truths

Aoife Commins, a 29-year-old registered nurse, is a dedicated healthcare professional and an inspiring advocate for those living with HIV. With a strong commitment to breaking down the stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV in both healthcare and society, Aoife has become a powerful voice for change. Living with HIV herself after being diagnosed while living in Australia in 2020, Aoife leverages her personal experience to educate and raise awareness. Her passion for this cause has led her to numerous media engagements, where she has shared her story and insights. Most notably her appearance of the Tommy Tiernan Show reaching a wide audience. In her professional capacity As a nurse, Aoife is passionate about working within sexual health and infectious diseases. She hopes to specialize in this area to better support her patients and address misconceptions about HIV. Her mission is to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all.

Bob Ferguson

Ensuring experts are heard, understood, and valued

As an engineer Bob endured many bad presentations. Some of them were his! Bob started his own development path to improve his public speaking. In the process he won three national speech championships and represented the UK & Ireland at the World Public Speaking Championship. He also had 20-years’ experience in the space industry working on the European missions to Mars and Mercury during which he had to communicate complex concepts and information to a wide variety of audiences. The marriage of the two paths led to Bob’s passionate interest in the way that technical experts could communicate to get their message over with confidence, clarity, and impact so that they’re heard, understood and valued. He would often see his very bright colleague’s struggle to explain what’s in their head, to their peers and senior managers, and searched for ways they could improve. In his talk he’ll explain how he thinks we can all do it better.

Breda O' Dwyer

The Entrepreneurial Suitcase

Breda is Head of Department of Organisation and Professional Development at MTU and Head of The Cantillon Academy. She is author of The ELMS Model – Entrepreneurial Leadership Mindset and promoter of eudaimonic entrepreneurial well-being. Through her work and publications Breda continues to enable interdisciplinary conversations, learning and research; empowering professionals in academia, practice, and public policy to work innovatively and intuitively alongside each other. Breda believe in the power of conversations, role modelling, storytelling, learning through life’s experiences and simply knowing who you are! At Cantillon we connect minds through our different fora, we empower minds through the application of innovative learning practice, and we ignite curiosity as we explore different research opportunities that allow us to get know the self to reach our optimum potential.

Clare McKenna

When the health message gets unhealthy

Clare McKenna has worked as a broadcast journalist in TV & radio for over 20 years, mainly in the area of lifestyle and current affairs. A regular face on Virgin Media television she presented and anchored on Ireland AM, The Elaine Show and as a reporter on Midweek. She has also worked extensively in radio starting her career on Dublin’s Spin1038 and their afternoon talk show where she and her cohost won Gold for Best Speech programme at the Radio Awards. She then worked at Today FM before moving to Newstalk where she remains presenting the health and wellness show Alive and Kicking. This turned a personal passion into a profession as Clare has always had a keen interest in personal development and wellbeing. Clare qualified as an integrative health coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition last year and hosts wellness events in person and online with her business Nourish Yourself.

Corrie Block

Love at work: The Final frontier of empathy in leadership

Dr. Corrie Jonn Block has turned his ADHD into a polymath superpower. He’s an internationally recognized speaker, top-tier Executive Coach, and expert in Business Strategy, Organizational Behavior, and Leadership. He’s Professor of Strategic Management at Monarch Business School, Switzerland, a Member of the Forbes Coaches Council, and a Certified Master Neuroplastician. His bestselling books include Spartan CEO and Love@Work. He’s also got 5 kids, advocates for green energy and poverty relief, and jumps out of airplanes for fun.

Courtney Fae-Long

Money and sex: the surprising connection

Courtney Fae Long, MSW, LC, CHt, is a leading-edge Sexuality Educator and Author who has been teaching for 25 years. Courtney holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW), Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology (B.A.), and certificates in Sexuality Education and Sex Therapy from the University of Michigan, USA. Courtney teaches adults how to make magic in the bedroom, enhancing their happiness, health, confidence, and creativity. With a light and joyful approach grounded in scientific research, she empowers individuals to feel happy, turned on, and abundant in all areas of life, from love and intimacy to business, career, and financial success. Courtney lives in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. She offers an online school and retreats at https://courtneyfaelong.com.

Dave Osh

Breaking free of limiting mindsets

Dave Osh is a transformative catalyst who helps leadership teams become highly effective in hyper complexity. His purpose is to evolve leadership potential so that together, we create a ripple effect of unity in the world. As the CEO of Varlinx, Dave leads wide-scale leadership transformation programs in global companies. Over the past decade, he has worked with the world's top developmental psychologists, integrating adult development theories into a practical framework for transforming individuals, teams, and organizations. Previously, Dave served as CEO of Qnet, leading thousands of employees in 34 countries. He is the author of “Outgrow Middle Management - Accelerate Your Climb to the Top”, the forthcoming book “Evolved - CEO Potential in a New Complex World”, and the newsletter “Potential Development”. Dave lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He enjoys playing guitar, skiing, hiking, working out, and ‘parenting’ three grown children and three cats.

David Keohan

Stone lifting, unearthing a forgotten culture of strengthen in Ireland

David is an ordinary, working class man who over the past few years has stumbled upon an extraordinary life adventure. Over the weekends and on his time off from work, David has not only managed to find, but to bring back and shine a light on an entire lost culture of strength on the island of Ireland. Namely the culture of stone lifting. Specific, named, heavy stones sitting in the villages and at crossroads, in old cemeteries and at holy wells. lifted as rites of passage, feats of power and as tests to become a stonemason or stonewall builder. They were also lifted at social gatherings such as funeral games, harvest festivals and many other important occasions in the ancient Irish calendar. David has gained a lot of traction and publicity lately with the reclamation of this culture and there are documentaries, books, films and a lot more planned in the coming months.

Donal O'Shea

Understanding Obesity

Qualified in medicine from University College Dublin in 1989 and then moved to Hammersmith Hospital in London. Completed research with Professor Sir Stephen Bloom on how the brain controls appetite. Moved to current position in 1999 establishing 2 hospital based multidisciplinary treatment teams for the management of adult obesity and gender dysphoria. Is a member of the Department of Health Policy group on obesity and chaired a group carrying out a health impact assessment on the potential benefits and harms of a tax on sugar sweetened drinks. Has presented the EU Ministers for Health and the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the importance of prevention of childhood obesity. Has specific research interests in obesity and gender and has published over 250 research papers. He is currently the National lead for management of Obesity with the Health Service Executive and advisor to WHO Europe on prevention and treatment of obesity.

Gerry Kelly

Prostate, Piddling and Passion (my journey)

Gerry is a sexagenarian. He is retired gentleman who has two adult daughters and four grandchildren. He married his present wife in 1980. Regular health-checks eventually revealed that his PSA count was a concern. Further exploration identified the presence of cancer in his prostate. His chosen solution was a Robotic Prostatectomy. Following encouragement from friends and professionals he later documented his entire prostate cancer journey and published his account in a book entitled Prostate Piddling and Passion. This venture has led him towards men’s health advocacy. He is adamant that much more awareness is needed about prostate cancer side effects and access to products which make possible, a great social life and good mental health.

Joseph Romm

The 3 Secrets of Magical Stories: From Shakespeare to Taylor Swift

Joe was named by Rolling Stone as one of 100 "people who are reinventing America" in 2009. He has a Ph.D. in physics from MIT, is on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a leading expert on climate solutions, communication, and storytelling. Time magazine called him "The Web's most influential climate-change blogger" and named him "Hero of the Environment″ for his work at the Climate Progress blog he founded. Over 13 years, Joe published over 2000 blog posts and wrote thousands of headlines. The real-time feedback he received in terms of headline click-through rate, time on page, likes, shares, tweets, and comments helped him test the best storytelling strategies to see which ones went viral. CNN host Van Jones has called Joe "the communicator's communicator." He is the author of ten books, including "How to Go Viral and Reach Millions" and "Language Intelligence: Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga."

Kerry White

The road less travelled to motherhood

Kerry White is a Wellbeing Coach & Facilitator. She has been inspiring people in the workplace to be happier, healthier, and more resilient, for almost two decades. She began this work at the World Health Organization in Geneva, where she worked for many years. It was here at WHO that Kerry developed a keen interest in the mind/body connection and led innovative wellbeing sessions to help staff stay well. Over the past 20 years, Kerry has trained as a Shiatsu Therapist, Yoga Teacher, and Life & Executive Coach. Kerry understands the challenges involved in making hard decisions in life - she gave birth to her daughter at 49, having made the tough, but rewarding decision, to pursue solo motherhood, through double donation.In her TedX talk, Kerry hopes to inspire the listener to have the courage to take the path less travelled, to find and follow their own truth in life, challenging as this may be.

Leonard Skinner

How many true loves are out there for you?

Leonard is an author, educator, and doctoral researcher in philosophy. His writing has earned him a nomination for the Mountbatten best book award (Escape Under Sail, Adlard Coles), and his philosophical research focuses on relational love through an ethical lens. Having grown up in Ireland’s southwest, Leonard has lived off-grid on land and at sea for more than a decade and continues to practice sustainable living from his home in the Galician hills.

Meta Osborne

If we could listen to animals

Meta grew up on a studfarm, studied veterinary medicine, practised as an equine vet for 40 years and with her husband developed a stud farm in Ireland breeding winning racehorses. In the racing world she was often asked about possible welfare issues. Not knowing much of anything about the subject, despite her training, she went back to college to study for a Masters in Animal Welfare, using Systems Thinking in her dissertation looking at broodmare welfare.. No one condones cruelty to animals, but good welfare for animals is more than just good husbandry, and appropriate veterinary care. What are the animals telling us about their needs, their wants and their relationship with us? Human-animal relationships are complex and solutions are not always binary. We need to be comfortable with the questions and not just push for the answer. Meta has recently co-launched a podcast Changing Rein that explores the questions around horse sport and its sustainability into the future.

Miriam Owens

Shh! DON'T TELL...

Miriam was born in 1957 and was sent with my two older sisters to an Industrial school in Tralee with her two older sisters whom she spent her entire childhood At the age of thirteen years, Miriam was taken back by her parents. there. In 1979 Miriam left Ireland and went to London where she worked in various jobs Miriam met her husband a week after arriving In London and married him seven months later. Her first child was born in 1980. Miriam has three sons and three grandchildren. In 1999 she left her husband and returned to her hometown of Tralee and stayed in a refuge for three monthsIn 2005 Miriam went back to college and qualified as a beautician. In 2011 she wrote her autobiography "Shh Don't Tell. A true story of Survival. In 2017 Miriam along with her three friends made a short film on domestic Violence "Silence is Golden" from birth to death. An advocate for people who suffer from domestic abuse. Miriam has also graced the stage with her love of the arts and theatre

Pooja Paul

It's not you, it's all of us: Why this cognitive scientist is optimistic about our climate future.

Dr. Pooja Paul is a Cognitive Scientist-turned-Climate Entrepreneur on a mission to leverage her expertise on human behavior in the fight to curb a quickly warming planet. Dr. Paul received her PhD from Harvard University in 2018, and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford. She left the academy in late 2020 to use her scientific training to help accelerate the transition towards lower-impact lifestyles urgently needed to have a chance of meeting our 2030 Paris Agreement Goals. She is the Founder of Habitable Earth, a VC-backed company that uses the best insights on human behavior and motivation – borrowing both from academia and the world of gaming – to make planet-friendly lifestyle choices easy, fun, and rewarding for the new global majority of climate-conscious consumers. She sits on the advisory board of a UK non-profit and likes to spend her free time hiking in nature with her canine sidekick.

Rachel Curran

How to unlock your inner GPS

Rachel is a master coach, facilitator, podcast host, and co-founder of The B.O.L.D. Method with over 7 years of experience. She spent the first decade of her career working within international Investment Banks and Wealth firms based across both London and New York, and now specialises in supporting high-achieving women helping them get out of their heads so they can make clear decisions, stop people-pleasing, trust their intuition and powerfully lead. Rachel integrates Somatic work, NLP, Human Psychology, Masculine & Feminine energy, Breathwork, and Mindfulness into her coaching for sustainable change. A regular contributor to CIO.com, Rachel has been featured on various podcasts and as a guest speaker at retreats across the US and Canada. Rachel believes that the more unapologetic you can show up in the workplace, relationships and life, the bigger the benefit for all.

Robert Kelly

Hidden in plain sight: The Heart Disease Solution

Dr Robert Kelly is an Intervention Cardiologist and Lifestyle Medicine Physician who has combined these areas to deliver a holistic approach to heart health. His purpose is to prevent heart disease helping people to live a long and happy life. He is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, a Senior Lecturer in Lifestyle Medicine. He teaches at Faculty of Positive Psychology at RCSI Dublin. He is a co-founder of the Irish Society of Lifestyle Medicine and a board member of The European Society of Lifestyle Medicine. He is a Fellow of Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine, American College of Cardiology, Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, European Society of Cardiology. He has an MBA from Henley Business School. These programs have helped over 100 patients to release weight, improve exercise, lower stress, sleep better, stop smoking and find more energy and vitality to enjoy life and live longer. Several patients have been able to reduce their medications as well.

Rune Rasmussen

Animist knowledge in Northern Europe

Rune is a Danish Historian of Religion. He applies current anthropology to open an indigenous perspective on the cultural heritage of majority populations. Like indigenous groups, majority “white” people have in their culture knowledge of connectedness with nature in their culture. Such knowledge can be a way of sensitizing large populations to be less destructive to nature. Rune has lived and worked in many countries and interacted with many different peoples from around the world. He works to bring perspectives from these cultures home to Northern Europe. When you think of Nordic culture in the same way as a vodou priestess think about her culture, then you open your own heritage in a completely new way. Rune now works as a public intellectual from an online platform. He is a passionate communicator who has written books on “Nordic Animism”, anchored cultural events and produced scholarship.