Through the week of Sept. 20 to 24, TEDxMVHS has been holding student speaker auditions in which students share their ideas to a panel of MVHS’s TEDx board members within eight minutes. 

After a year of unpredictability, the TEDx board looks forward to helping students share the best of their ideas worth spreading in relation to this year’s theme: Parts of a Whole. 

The TEDx group aims to choose a theme that applies to everyone. Speakers can fit the universal theme to their unique idea.  

“Based on the last year… we wanted to do something that was about community and… working together,” Logistics Producer Millie Kopp said. 

Parts of a Whole emphasizes communication, collaboration, teamwork, and leadership. Given the isolating effects of the last year, Kopp said the theme would resonate with many people. 

Kopp anticipates a competitive turnout of student speakers given the difficult struggles students endured through the pandemic. 

“[I think] a lot of people are more inclined this year to give a talk, especially after… being away from school for so long… a lot of people want to share [their experiences],” Kopp said. 

Kopp added that the current selection of guest speakers will factor into the selection process of student presenters. 

“We have a great list of guest speakers [and] we really want to supplement that list with amazing student speakers,” Kopp said. 

Kopp advises prospective speakers to audition with an outline as opposed to the entire presentation. 

“What we want to see is that you have a really strong narrative to begin with… and that it is able to kind of transform into an idea,” Kopp said.

Speaking with passion and authenticity is a strong component of making a story captivating. The most compelling part of an audition is the final message of the talk, Kopp said.