“My TEDx Talk has become a powerful and essential tool in my work to ensure that comprehensive relationship and sexuality education is recognised as a human right for all young people. I could not be more proud.”

Katrina Marson
Criminal Lawyer | Sex Education Champion | TEDx Speaker

“I cannot recommend Juanita enough.”

When Juanita offered me the chance to do a TEDx Talk, I immediately said yes. I do a lot of public speaking, but giving a TEDx Talk is an entirely different calibre of speaking. When I worked with Juanita on my TEDx Talk, I was a criminal lawyer, court advocate, Churchill Fellow, and brand new author.
 
From the beginning, I was a little worried about the TEDx format. I was used to getting up on stages or speaking to groups of people and doing it entirely off the cuff – I’d never been involved in a curation process that involved scripts being written, rigorously fact-checked, edited for brevity and impact, checked against TEDx content guidelines, then memorised and rehearsed with a cohort of peers. That was going to be entirely different.
 
When Juanita invited me to speak after a coffee meet and greet, I walked her to the closest bookstore, bought a copy of my newly released first book, Legitimate Sexpectations, borrowed a pen from the store clerk and wrote inside on the title page: ‘For Juanita. Here’s to condensing this down to 8 minutes…”
It seemed like an impossible task. But as Juanita told me – your TEDx Talk isn’t about replacing your 50,000-word book. It’s a powerful, bite-sized introduction to your idea. People who want to know more will know there’s more information out there.
 
I was mildly concerned about not being based in the same city, but I didn’t need to be. It was clear from our first meeting that Juanita had researched my work extensively and understood my voice and what I was working to achieve. Within a few Zoom sessions, Juanita and I honed my book, work and research into the underlying singular idea that drives me. A few Zoom calls and emails later, we had locked a speech script that was powerful, compelling, and succinct. It was a speech worthy of a talk on human rights and sexual education, and authentically and unapologetically me.
 
I think it’s important to note that I speak for a living, and I have been advocating about my TEDx Talk subject – sex education – for some years now. But I knew the TEDx Talk was a chance to get the message into a concise, compelling format, and Juanita was the perfect person to help me do it. Clear-eyed, honest and reassuring, Juanita always instilled confidence in me that my message was worthy and that I would perform well. She brought her clarity and passion to both the scriptwriting process and the public speaking coaching. I never thought I could memorise a 15-minute script and then deliver it in a way that felt like an honest and authentic conversation with the audience, but…somehow, I did!