Backstage Interview at TEDxBerlin 2012
TEDxBerlin: You have been the speaker coach for TEDxBerlin for quite a few years already. Today’s conference topic is “Thinking Change”. The speakers present their ideas for tomorrow, their passions and projects, and call for new goals. What’s the atmosphere like, what would you say?
Ole Tillmann: I think the atmosphere of TEDxBerlin is always very intense. As we hear so many impressive stories from people who are striving for change, who find their way out of the community to generate new knowledge and to work on solutions and then come back and share their stories with us – this creates a very fantastic and intense atmosphere.
TEDxBerlin: This sharing of stories, this spreading of ideas, that’s what TED and TEDx is about. What would you say is the power behind it?
Tillmann: The human race only has a chance of surviving if we spread our ideas more and more. As we always did. It was because of capitalism that people started taking money for this knowledge. But I think it is very important, due to the problems we face, to share our ideas. And that architects, developers, designers or neuro scientists for example, people who have fantastic insides, share this with you and me.
TEDxBerlin: What exactly constitutes the unique energy of the TEDx community?
Tillmann: The unique energy of the TEDx community is created by all these open minded people, who love to connect, who love to share, who are really curious about the topics and who really want to understand them. And to me this is very unique.
TEDxBerlin: What’s the idea that drives you personally?
Tillmann: I am very curious, I love to have ideas, create ideas and also listen to ideas and then through my speaker coaching find the little dots and connect them and reconnect them and make them a little bit clearer, so that they are easy to understand. So what I love is to get in touch with people and have a conversation and at the end have a result, which is worth spreading.
TEDxBerlin: What is the main thing you want to teach the people who speak at TEDxBerlin?
Tillmann: That we are all individuals. There is no single perfect style of holding a speech or spreading ideas. I always like to see the personality of the speaker. So „be yourself“ may be the best recommendation I can give.
(Source: tedxberlin.de)
