TEDxLakeland is coming back on Oct. 21, 2021, and the application for speakers now open through Lakeland Today until May 2.

TEDxLakeland is an annual event on Lakeland and is independently produced from TED Talks. TEDxLakeland follows the format and guidelines of official TED Talks such as carefully prepared speeches and bias-free content. The last two TEDxLakeland was one in the Fall of 2018, which theme was “The Other Side,” one in the Spring of 2020, which theme was “Five Years from Now.” TEDxLakeland was originally started to give opportunities for students and faculty to have a place to demonstrate their insight from this Lakeland community to all over the world.

This year’s theme, “Innovation,” was brought to Lakeland to present innovative ideas, products, systems, methods, etc. Speeches are needing to include a mix of live presenters and videos that are intended to spark deep conversation. According to Charlie Krebs, an associate professor of Theather and Communication and a director of Bradley Theater, the application requires writing about specific elements of speech that have to do with the theme. “We want to know why is the idea that they have is worthy of sharing. The theme is broad and is open to interpretation. It is intentionally a broad topic,” Krebs stated.

Emily Sonntag, a senior student, gave a speech about her insight on evolving educational industry in the previous TEDxLakeland. She spent six months for preparation and described that giving a speech at TEDxLakeland was a “rewarding experience” and one of her “proudest achievements.”

“I learned a lot about myself as a speaker, especially when it comes to overcoming my fears when it came to public speaking. I’m an actor, so being on stage was nothing new, but I used to be so scared of being on stage as just me. I’ve learned that I actually enjoy public speaking a lot more now. I’ve had multiple teacher friends tell me how my TEDx has changed their perspectives on teacher education in one way or another. One of them even shared it with her fellow teachers. Not only has this impacted me, but it has made an impact in the education community, and I could not be more honored,” Sonntag said.

The committee members involved in bringing TEDxLakeland are Nathan Stewart, Anthony Ligouri, Britanni Mineart, and David Gallianetti. The starting time is still under discussion, but it would be at 7:00 p,m, or 7:30 p.m., according to Krebs.

To submit a proposal to be a speaker for this upcoming TEDxLakeland, visit Lakeland Today or access from this link: today.lakeland.edu/news-and-notes/3121-tedxlakelanduniversity-returns-this-october