Becoming a TEDx Speaker

TEDx Talks became a source of inspiration during daily commutes to McGill University back in 2014. In an effort to learn and grow, I'd watch any random "TED Talk", and each would be amazingly insightful. Since, becoming a TEDx Speaker was a goal I thought I'd achieve late in my career when I become an "expert" and could overcome the infamous fear of speaking in public.

Back in 2018, my curiosity to discover how incredible speakers did it led me to purchase the book "TED Talks: O guia oficial do TED para falar em público" by TED's President, Chris Andersen, at a bookstore at the S?o Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport while waiting for my flight. As you guessed it, the book was only available in Portuguese, and while I could speak some "Portu?ol", I wasn't really fluent as to read 288 pages of pure public speaking insights. Yet, I not only bought it, but also took it with me to China and I read it several times.

Little I knew I was going to give my first TEDx Talk four years later in Beijing, China. One day, out of the blue, a friend I met at a Global Young Leaders Dialogue (GYLD) event, sent me a WeChat message asking if I wanted to be a TEDx Speaker - next week! Without much time to think whether I was ready for this big milestone, I jumped on the opportunity. Immediately, I got to work, deciding my topic, presentation content, PowerPoint style, and even what I was going wear to look good on YouTube.

Since this was my first time giving a talk of this caliber, I had nothing ready. Yet, the topic was an immediate no-brainer to me. This was the perfect opportunity to share what I knew best, and for what I've been preparing myself for during the past 12 years: Becoming a comprehensive human being capable of leading a start-up or a nation in ways that unite people through mutual respect, understanding and inclusion. Let me explain:

Long story short, I moved from Colombia to Canada at 18 years old, having never visited any other country. Naturally, I experienced the so-called "culture shock", yet I approached it from a curiosity standpoint. I was thirsty to see the would outside of my hometown, Medellin. So, every little encounter with someone from a different country became an incredible opportunity to learn something new, exchange ideas, and grow as a person.

While at McGill, I was able to do international internships and academic exchanges. Hence, I did as many as possible, interning at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Quito, Ecuador; and at Monash University in Australia. I also studied two semesters abroad at Leiden University College The Hague in The Netherlands, and at the University of Melbourne in Australia. In between these opportunities, I'd go visit friends in neighboring cities and countries, typically couch-surfing, hitch-hiking, and mingling with locals. To my surprise, I managed to visit 33 countries in just 3 years!

There wasn't a more rewarding feeling than working hard to save money and then visit one of those iconic places around the world I never thought I was going to be able to see in real life. In this journey, I made short- and long-lasting friendships; had conversations with people from all ages that would at times agree or disagree with my worldviews; and was exposed to seeing first-hand the reality of different countries and societies beyond their media coverage. As a result, I was positively impacted by diversity, which made me less "opinionated" and more open to neutrality assess reality.

Therefore, choosing to speak about Cross-Cultural Leadership came very naturally. At the end of the day, I believe leaders must have the ability to bridge cultures, societies and nations as opposed to creating mistrust, intolerance and competition. And that's exactly the message I wanted to convey in my talk.

That's also the reason why I chose to come to China to complete a Masters degree in Global Affairs - Business and Economics at Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar; and subsequently work at ByteDance, the world's most valuable unicorn start-up, doing strategy for TikTok in Latin America. My mission has been to learn from different cultures to then be able to mediate differences and promote both commercial and political cooperation.

There were a few points I wanted to share in my TEDx Talk. First, I wanted to extend an invitation to everyone to say "yes" to the world, getting out of their comfort zones to encounter new people, ideas and challenges that would make them grow as a well-rounder person and leader.

Second, I wanted to remind everyone about a gift we often ignore - the ability to choose to accept, learn from and embrace diversity to build an inclusive multicultural world.

Finally, leadership isn't for managers or people with titles or in positions of authority. Leaders are found everywhere, taking little actions that make a difference regardless if they go unnoticed. Remember: "You need no permission to become a leader" and it's our job to unite people, forge inclusive societies and build a brighter shared future for humankind.

You're also invited to watch, like, comment and share my TEDx Talk!

Becoming a Leader in a Multicultural World | Jonathan Lopez | TEDxTuanjieLake

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/AzQ9wrkAV6Y