Senior media communications major Jacob Herz had no trouble putting the pieces together for his TEDx Talk topic. He grew up with jigsaw puzzles before moving on to Rubik’s cubes, board games and team-based puzzles.

“Puzzles have always been a constant in my life,” Herz said. “For me personally, this was something that just clicked. I wanted to know what drew people to doing puzzles. After doing more research, I found a common thread: people have negative reactions toward puzzles in general. I was then driven to try to change their minds and show them and others that puzzles have so many more benefits than you’d think.”

Initially hesitant to submit his idea, Herz submitted his application in Spring 2022, as well as a video of himself and a written questionnaire. Once selected, he met with the TEDxUniversityofDelaware team and was assigned to work with UD professor Cole Galloway. Throughout the summer, he and Galloway met bi-weekly to improve his talk; this led Herz to broaden his topic, which had first been focused on just one very popular puzzle.

“Originally, my talk was more oriented toward the idea of Wordle,” he said. “At the time I submitted the idea, people were obsessed with the game and I wanted to orient my entire idea to that so people could relate to it. Yet, as I worked on the talk and did more research, I found many more puzzle examples that helped strengthen my argument.”

From there, Herz continued fine-tuning his talk and performing to receive feedback.

“Whether it was writing, rewriting or rehearsing, I went over it by myself with different audience to make sure my ideas were getting across,” he said. “I worked with the Oral Consultant Center twice a week to enhance my stage presence and wording of what I was saying. I even rehearsed it with some members of my comedy club to make sure my jokes landed.”

The day of his TEDx Talk, Herz was perfectly prepared. But unlike his past public speaking endeavors, there was no script and no PowerPoint slides to refer to during his talk.

“The audience was larger than I anticipated. When I was backstage, my hands were shaking a bit before I was introduced,” said Herz. “Once I got started though and saw some familiar faces in the audience, my nerves eased.”

Following his talk, Herz was applauded by his peers and still receives positive feedback from audience members.

“To this day, I still occasionally will be asked, ‘Did you give a TEDx Talk on puzzles? I really liked that one,’” he said.

Just as Herz pursued puzzles, he advises fellow UD students who want to apply to choose a topic that they’re passionate about and to be themselves.

“I would advise that you let your personality shine through your talk,” he said. “Not only does it make your talk easier to remember, but it shows the audience that you’re doing more than just spewing information at them.”

Herz encourages those on the fence about applying to go for it.

“I would tell someone if they think they have an idea worth spreading that it can’t hurt to try it out,” he said. “Seeing where my talk started off to where it went with the help of the TEDx staff was remarkable. I can guarantee if I had stuck with the original idea, it would not have been as strong, memorable or successful. Taking this chance to be a part of something unforgettable like this is a decision I would make over and over again.”

Recent UD graduate Nadia Sheikh was a senior psychology major when she presented her TEDx Talk last fall, checking off an item from her teenage bucket list.

“My mom would say that I am a chatterbox,” said Sheikh. “I have a real passion for public speaking. I was really into the concept of a TED Talk since the beginning of high school when I led a TEDx Club. I believed I owed it to my younger self to give it a shot.”

Sheikh was inspired in part by her older brother Yousef to focus her topic on mindfulness.

“My brother Yousef has always been supportive of almost everything that I’ve done,” said Sheikh. “He’s an inspiring person [whose] passions include medicine and education. He combined those dimensions to create a unique type of aid to distribute to those in need.”

This aid inspired Sheikh’s “mindfulness toolkit,” which provides resources to help someone center themselves using everything from fidget spinners to mental health exercises.

“I came up with the idea when I saw the mental health disparity in low socioeconomic areas,” she said. “It made me wonder if there were different ways to make mental health tools more accessible. I believe that almost anything can become a mindfulness tool; however, it’s how you apply it to your life.”

Sheikh also worked with Galloway to improve the structure of her talk throughout Summer 2022.

“My talk was completely different from the submission stage to the actual presentation,” said Sheikh. “This was because I had to ask myself questions on what was necessary to put into my presentation to what the audience could really benefit from. Honestly, crafting my TEDx Talk was almost just as fun as presenting it. I was able to not only develop a speech that I was proud of, but I learned tips and tricks to enhance my public speaking skills.”

On the day of her presentation, Sheikh was able to rely on her own topic to guide her through any stage fright.

“It was definitely an adrenaline rush. I was very anxious,” she said. “However, I gave myself a little bit of my own medicine and practiced mindfulness techniques to ensure that I was calm before I presented. This including breathing exercises, taking a step back and being mindful of the environment around me. At some point, I realized that if I overthink every aspect of my talk, I wouldn’t enjoy it when the time came to speak it.”

Sheikh recommends any student considering applying to get out of their own way and take the leap.

“It doesn’t hurt to try,” she said. “I didn’t think that I would be selected because I felt like my idea wasn’t good enough. But sometimes the greatest enemy you have is yourself. I think it’s better to take the opportunity than to wonder ‘what if’ months later and have people miss out on amazing speech.”

Applications for the Fall 2023 TEDxUniversityofDelaware event are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 23. Visit tedx.udel.edu for more information and to watch more past presentations.