May 16, 2025 • 21 mins
Judy Oskam shares the behind-the-scenes journey of creating and delivering her TEDx talk at Texas State University. She turned the microphone over to her long time friend and mentor Carole Barasch about the process, challenges, and insights gained. Earlier in her career, Carole was an award-winning TV news anchor and reporter and public relations professional.
This is an honest conversation about the emotional and strategic work that powers a successful TEDx talk—mentorship, message clarity, and showing up vulnerable.
In this episode, we talk about:
• The application process - it begins months before the actual TEDx event
• How working with multiple coaches helped refine content and delivery
• Creating a "personal advisory board" of mentors and friends for guidance
• Developing a theme: "take action and figure it out along the way"
• Vulnerability as a key component of an impactful presentation
• The importance of pacing, connecting with the audience, and practicing
• The value of having someone "in your corner" during challenging projects
Check out my TEDx talk - Why you should take action - then figure it out.
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Check out my TEDx talk. Why you should take action - then figure it out.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Judy Oskam (00:03):
Hey, welcome to Stories of Change and Creativity
.
I'm Judy Oskam and I thought,on this episode, I would share a
little more information aboutmy TEDx talk.
And there's a reason why I wantto do that because I really
relied on one of my mentors tohelp me with the talk, and so I
(00:27):
asked her.
She's a former broadcastjournalist and PR Carole Barasch
, so I asked Carole if I couldturn the mic over to her and we
could just chat about it, and Iknow she's got some questions.
So, Carole, thanks so much forletting me talk you into this.
Carole Barasch (00:44):
My pleasure, my pain.
That's right, that's right,that's right.
Judy Oskam (00:49):
Well, I'll turn the mic over to you because I really
want to say, first of all, Ireally appreciate the help you
gave me crafting this message.
It was so hard to really thinkabout what do I want to say, to
be impactful and to make somesort of a share, some
information that might behelpful, and you really helped
(01:10):
me do that.
And I mean that and let's notstart laughing now, but I'm
serious okay,Carole: so let's break it down
okay what interested you in thefirst place to develop and give
this TED Talk?
Judy (01:24):
Well, I think I saw an opportunity to challenge myself
and to also share the message ofyou know, I don't know hope and
anybody can do it and, I think,to really kind of be vulnerable
and put that out there.
And that's where you reallyhelped me, kind of push me to do
(01:46):
that.
And at first I was thinking ofbeing a little more structured
and a little more abouteducation, but then I realized I
really have that story to tellas well.
So I just thought it was a goodchallenge for me and I would
give it a try.
Carole Barasch (02:02):
So when somebody gives a TED Talk, there's
typically a theme.
And what was your theme and howdid you land on that?
Judy Oskam (02:14):
Well, the overarching theme of the entire
TEDx talk at Texas State was allabout education and all about
higher education.
So that was sort of my umbrella.
That was the starting point.
But as I got into it I reallythought, wow, I have kind of
journeyed through and have aconnection with education, and
(02:38):
also to sort of share that theroad hasn't always been smooth
and it wasn't an easy path.
But by saying that I thought Imight be able to encourage
others to take action.
So you helped me kind of focusthat a little bit, and so some
other colleagues of mine friendshelped me focus it in my I
(03:01):
landed on take action and figureit out along the way.
Simple as that really.
But it wasn't simple.
Getting there was super hard.
And I remember we would haveyou and I would have phone call
after phone call and I wouldsend you a draft and you were my
.
What did I call you?
Sounding board.
Sounding board.
(03:21):
You were my conciergeconsultant, did I call?
Carole Barasch (03:28):
you Sounding board.
You were my conciergeconsultant, my mentor, muse.
So doing this TEDx talkrequired an application process
and coaching and practicing, soit was a longer runway than a
lot of people might think aboutwhen they hear somebody gave
this kind of presentation.
(03:48):
Tell them about the timeline.
Judy Oskam (03:50):
Yeah, the timeline is where Texas State and our
TEDx.
They call for applications ifyou want to apply, and that's in
the fall, and then they notifyyou before the holidays start.
So you, you start working onthis months in advance.
You start really working withyour coach.
(04:12):
I think we started in january.
I started working with youearlier because I pitched you
the idea.
I called and said, carol, whatdo we do?
Why do we do this?
So it is a long, but it is avery structured.
We also had to, I will add.
I also had to do a live demopresentation in front of a class
(04:34):
Did not do well.
I was the last presenter in thisclass and I just I got in my
head that, oh my gosh, becausethese other people were really
good.
So there was a lot of mentalhere for me.
But that's just sort of how I'mwired.
So I had to really do a lot ofself-talk and I talk about that
(04:55):
in the TED Talk as well.
But we had to do presentations,we had to do connections with
other.
I practice it with my coachmultiple times to really get it
right and try and get it in thebest shape possible, you know.
Carole Barasch (05:16):
So throughout the process you worked with a
professional coach.
Tell me about the coach andwhat he was able to do to move
this process along.
Judy Oskam (05:27):
Yeah, I will say that the Department of
Communication Studies at TexasState puts on this event.
They are the organizers andcoordinators, and when you do a
TEDx, they match you with acoach, and this is a
professional speech coach Now.
You also were very good at thatand you also helped me with
(05:48):
that.
So it was interesting.
I was able to work with mycoach, mark Paz, and Mark is a
professor at Texas State andworking with him on a weekly
basis.
This started more than a monthbefore the February event, but
we would go back and forth onthe message, on the phrasing, on
the sentences, and then andthen you know, you and I would
(06:12):
go back and forth and he knewthat you were my personal
concierge coach and you knewthat I had him as a coach.
So I really tried to practicewhat I preached in that reaching
out to mentors and reaching outto others to to be your
sounding board, and I thinkthat's so important.
Carole Barasch (06:32):
I think that's fantastic, that you didn't go
through this.
You know, as you did it, youhad to present it individually,
but it really was.
It became a team, a team effort.
Judy Oskam (06:46):
I think that yeah for sure, and that's I just
think.
I think everyone should reallyreach out to their friends,
mentors, their personal advisoryboard and ask for guidance and
support, because you, forinstance, with such a background
in broadcast news and publicrelations and even you did a
little standup comedy in NewYork, I will add you're really
(07:10):
good on your feet and you'rereally good with messages.
So I just shout out to you aswell.
Carole Barasch (07:17):
So we talked a little bit about the content.
But once you did commit to thetalk and you were, you know you
had a coach to take you throughthe process.
How did you, what was theprocess, to create the content?
Judy Oskam (07:34):
The content I started with.
You know I just free-formedwrote.
I just thought what is mymessaging?
I went through like you mightwrite a speech, I guess, but
really to step back and look athow does it fit in and then how
can I promote some of our keyprograms at the university I was
(07:56):
really intent on doing that andthen to look back and find out
what.
It was kind of a good look backinto a history lesson of my life
and tying all that together.
That's where really to find outhow does one section move to
another, and you were reallygood about how do you get from
here to there.
(08:16):
So I think there was somestrategy there in doing that
which I learned, and I did watchsome other TED Talks to find
out what I felt was effective.
You were really good at pacingand telling me to slow down and
really just take a minute andlet the audience, you know,
(08:38):
connect with the audience.
I probably could have done abetter job with that, but I
probably could have.
But again, it's, you know yourmind is just going and you're
putting yourself out there in away that you it's not like
you're doing a speech whereyou're looking at a script that
is announcing the next awardwinner.
Carole Barasch (08:59):
Right, this is about your life.
You know, you've spent a careerteaching, so you're used to
being up in front of people.
Right right, this differs alittle bit from that.
You're very comfortable gettingup and giving a presentation, a
lecture.
What do you think makes itdifferent than, or is it
(09:20):
complementary to, getting up anddelivering a?
Judy Oskam (09:27):
lesson.
Well, I think the fact that itwas so personal.
And to really make it personal,I felt like, if I'm going to
grab this opportunity, if Idon't really use it for
something that I can look backin five years and really think,
okay, I delivered the message Iwanted to.
If I couldn't do that, I feltlike it was gonna be a waste of
(09:49):
my time.
So, I think, being vulnerableand you pushed me and Mark
pushed me, coach Mark pushed meand, by the way, I interviewed
Mark in an earlier podcast, sohe really is a pro but between
the two of you and my friendsWendy and Grace, was really good
sounding board.
(10:10):
So I guess, back to yourquestion is what makes it
different is that it's sopersonal.
Carole Barasch (10:16):
Yeah, and because it's so personal, you
did have to tap into someemotions and feelings that you
normally wouldn't do as ateacher.
Judy Oskam (10:27):
No, no, I normally wouldn't do as a teacher?
No, no, I really wouldn't.
I can talk about the history ofpublic relations or how do you
do a PR campaign and I'm talkingabout a process and I'm talking
about other things but toreally get into sharing
information about your family,your history I mean you know my
(10:50):
history with I didn't reallythink I could do some of these
challenges.
And then just to kind of pushforward and then realize, oh,
maybe there was a theme that ranthroughout all of these
decision points.
You know and you helped mepoint out too that you know
those decision points are noteasy.
(11:10):
They're not easy for anybody.
So to really kind of tell theaudience that, hey, you know
it's not easy for you guyseither, but then when you do
these steps and you do takeaction and you will figure it
out and I think we all need tohear that message more- yeah,
and you just touched on what itwas that you were focusing on.
Carole Barasch (11:34):
So tell, tell folks a little bit about what
the main message was.
Judy Oskam (11:41):
For me, it was about um, create, you know, use,
develop a strategy, of course,and the strategy is to reach out
to friends, form your ownpersonal advisory board, if you
will and I don't get thatdetailed about that in the talk
but when you're faced withchallenges and uncertainty, to
(12:04):
take action and figure it outalong the way.
It's that simple.
And sometimes and I said thisin the talk sometimes we need
permission to do that and Ithink your friends and your
colleagues and, in my case, mydaughters and my students will
often say well, why don't you dothis?
Or why don't you try and do apodcast?
(12:27):
And I thought well, of course,why shouldn't I do that?
So what have I got to lose?
And if you weigh the options,usually there's not much loss.
Maybe a little bit of yourpride, maybe, but I think it's a
matter and you've had takenrisks in your life and you look
back and you think I never wantany regrets.
(12:48):
I never want to look back andthink would I have done this?
Why shouldn't, why didn't I dothat?
So I think, to take action andjust figure it out and, again,
use critical thinking skills,talk to your friends, colleagues
, advisors, and then decide tojust do it.
I think there's so much therethat we always think there's
(13:11):
going to be a path forward andwe don't.
We're not going to know thepath forward, we just don't.
Carole Barasch (13:16):
So we've talked a little bit about this was it
was a major step to create thetalk Right, but then you have to
present it, oh my God.
So break that down.
And what was required to getyou ready to deliver the talk?
Judy Oskam (13:37):
That was the hard part.
Number one I didn't tell a lotof people that I was doing it,
and that's because Because Ireally I just didn't know if I
was going to be able to do itand or do it well.
I really wanted to nail thisand do this well, so I didn't
tell a lot of people.
There was a big event in SanMarcos.
(13:59):
There was a big.
It was, it was a big deal.
It was a big, uh, a big deal oncampus and I didn't I didn't
promote it personally myself.
Now, some of my colleagues did.
Carole Barasch (14:13):
But I think it's because when something is very
personal and in a way thatyou're trying to protect maybe
yourself, or protect the project, or where you think you know, I
mean I can understand notwanting to share something where
there's a little bit ofuncertainty involved.
Judy Oskam (14:35):
Well, and I wanted it.
I wanted to represent theSchool of Journalism and Mass
Comm very well, I wanted torepresent Texas State.
So I don't know what I wasthinking.
If I didn't tell anybody, noone would know it afterwards,
but but I just I didn't tell mymom that I was doing this and I
just think I wanted to.
(14:55):
Just it was sort of a personalchallenge for me.
But back to your question aboutdelivering it I was a freaking
nervous wreck.
I was a nervous wreck and Ihave a friend who is a
professional speaker out in LAand I called her a couple days
before she gave me somebreathing exercises.
(15:17):
I was a nervous wreck when Iwas young.
I stuttered, I had a stutterand I went through speech
therapy some and I talk aboutthis a little bit in the talk
but I was really.
I was just.
I was a nervous wreck, wasreally, I was just.
I was a nervous wreck.
And again, if I were teachingabout your history or you or
(15:38):
anything in mass comm or media,it would be a different story,
but I was talking about my ownstory.
So, and I had notes.
You know I had notes that Ilooked at, but I really tried to
memorize as much as I could.
So that was another challengefor me.
I don't, I don't memorize verywell.
Carole Barasch (15:55):
So once the big day came and you stood and you
delivered the talk, how was thatexperience Did you?
Did you actually take in themoment, or how'd it go?
Judy Oskam (16:11):
well, you told me to do that, you know you.
You told me before uh, you needto really connect with the
crowd, the audience, and it wasa full, full house.
My husband came, jess flew infrom la to surprise me, danny
came, hannah came from dallashow did this, how'd the word get
(16:31):
around?
Carole Barasch (16:32):
you weren't telling.
I didn't well, I well.
Judy Oskam (16:33):
I told my husband, I told I had to tell Felix, to
tell him where to go right onSaturday because I thought if I
crumbled I would need him totake me away quickly in the car
right and drive me away quickly.
So that was something that Iwas thinking about.
But that was something that Iwas thinking about.
(16:54):
But I think once I did it andagain I think you really helped
me with that and try and justtake it in, look at the audience
, connect, slow down and Markdid too.
My coach Mark did too.
As soon as I was done I sort ofwanted to do it again and slow
(17:15):
down just a little bit more, butbut I was, I was happy and I'll
never do it again and I'm finewith that, okay so.
Carole Barasch (17:25):
So, now that you've done it, you've joined
the TED talk club.
Well, the TEDx, the TEDx, theTEDx Club, yeah, so was it worth
it?
And what would you say toothers who may be considering a
similar undertaking?
Judy Oskam (17:41):
I would really encourage others to do it, to
get their message out.
And I think that's the wholething.
I mean, as an educator and aformer broadcast journalism
person, I think we always wantto share information and tell
people what they need to knowand what they ought to know.
You know the whole news thing.
(18:02):
I think there's somethinginnate with me that I want to
share.
My girls say my daughters say Igive too much advice, but I
think it's an opportunity toreally hone your message and get
it really tight and reallyclear and then to have that as a
(18:22):
resource there to promote whatyou want to say to the world.
So for that reason, I thinkit's, I think it's worth doing.
And again, if you do a TEDxconnected with the university,
they will have professionalcoaches.
I don't know if you'reavailable for personal coaching
(18:43):
Sure.
But I think that was somethingthat was really, really helpful
for me is having you kind of asa mentor, and I've called you my
little muse for a long time, mymentor muse.
But I think really to kind ofbounce back, having someone in
your corner is key, you know.
Carole Barasch (19:03):
Well, I'm in your corner, I know you are.
Judy Oskam (19:05):
I appreciate that I appreciate that.
So, Carol, again I just want tothank you for sharing and
taking over the mic a little bit, and I just want you to know
how much I appreciated youduring this process.
I think it was a we didn't curecancer, we didn't solve, you
know, a major we didn't.
(19:28):
No, we didn't.
But for me it was very specialto have you along for the
journey.
Carole Barasch (19:34):
Well, you pick interesting projects to work on
and I've been privileged andhonored that you've asked me to
help you on a few of thosethings, so it's always fun.
I never know where we're goingnext.
Judy Oskam (19:46):
That's right.
Well, sometimes when we havelunch I bring an agenda, so
that's just how it is.
But I but I will tell you youwere the first call I made after
I got back in the dressing room.
Carole Barasch (19:56):
Well, I kind of insisted on it.
I know, I know, I know I know,I know.
Judy Oskam (20:01):
So I just I just wanted to know how you felt
about it.
You know how did it go.
How did?
You feel, you know what yourimmediate thoughts were about
the the whole thing, thepresentation, yeah Well, my hope
is that if somebody can seethat and realize that they're
(20:21):
never going to have all theanswers, but they can talk to
some of their advisors, theirfamily friends, get some
feedback and then take action.
They will figure it out alongthe way.
Carole Barasch (20:31):
I also wanted to know that you lived through it.
That's true.
That was always the questionright?
Judy Oskam (20:36):
I wasn't really sure myself.
So anyway, Carol, thanks somuch.
Appreciate it.
Carole (20:40):
You're welcome, appreciate it, thank you.
Hey, welcome to Stories of Change and Creativity
.
I'm Judy Oskam and I thought,on this episode, I would share a
little more information aboutmy TEDx talk.
And there's a reason why I wantto do that because I really
relied on one of my mentors tohelp me with the talk, and so I
(00:27):
asked her.
She's a former broadcastjournalist and PR Carole Barasch
, so I asked Carole if I couldturn the mic over to her and we
could just chat about it, and Iknow she's got some questions.
So, Carole, thanks so much forletting me talk you into this.
Carole Barasch (00:44):
My pleasure, my pain.
That's right, that's right,that's right.
Judy Oskam (00:49):
Well, I'll turn the mic over to you because I really
want to say, first of all, Ireally appreciate the help you
gave me crafting this message.
It was so hard to really thinkabout what do I want to say, to
be impactful and to make somesort of a share, some
information that might behelpful, and you really helped
(01:10):
me do that.
And I mean that and let's notstart laughing now, but I'm
serious okay,Carole: so let's break it down
okay what interested you in thefirst place to develop and give
this TED Talk?
Judy (01:24):
Well, I think I saw an opportunity to challenge myself
and to also share the message ofyou know, I don't know hope and
anybody can do it and, I think,to really kind of be vulnerable
and put that out there.
And that's where you reallyhelped me, kind of push me to do
(01:46):
that.
And at first I was thinking ofbeing a little more structured
and a little more abouteducation, but then I realized I
really have that story to tellas well.
So I just thought it was a goodchallenge for me and I would
give it a try.
Carole Barasch (02:02):
So when somebody gives a TED Talk, there's
typically a theme.
And what was your theme and howdid you land on that?
Judy Oskam (02:14):
Well, the overarching theme of the entire
TEDx talk at Texas State was allabout education and all about
higher education.
So that was sort of my umbrella.
That was the starting point.
But as I got into it I reallythought, wow, I have kind of
journeyed through and have aconnection with education, and
(02:38):
also to sort of share that theroad hasn't always been smooth
and it wasn't an easy path.
But by saying that I thought Imight be able to encourage
others to take action.
So you helped me kind of focusthat a little bit, and so some
other colleagues of mine friendshelped me focus it in my I
(03:01):
landed on take action and figureit out along the way.
Simple as that really.
But it wasn't simple.
Getting there was super hard.
And I remember we would haveyou and I would have phone call
after phone call and I wouldsend you a draft and you were my
.
What did I call you?
Sounding board.
Sounding board.
(03:21):
You were my conciergeconsultant, did I call?
Carole Barasch (03:28):
you Sounding board.
You were my conciergeconsultant, my mentor, muse.
So doing this TEDx talkrequired an application process
and coaching and practicing, soit was a longer runway than a
lot of people might think aboutwhen they hear somebody gave
this kind of presentation.
(03:48):
Tell them about the timeline.
Judy Oskam (03:50):
Yeah, the timeline is where Texas State and our
TEDx.
They call for applications ifyou want to apply, and that's in
the fall, and then they notifyyou before the holidays start.
So you, you start working onthis months in advance.
You start really working withyour coach.
(04:12):
I think we started in january.
I started working with youearlier because I pitched you
the idea.
I called and said, carol, whatdo we do?
Why do we do this?
So it is a long, but it is avery structured.
We also had to, I will add.
I also had to do a live demopresentation in front of a class
(04:34):
Did not do well.
I was the last presenter in thisclass and I just I got in my
head that, oh my gosh, becausethese other people were really
good.
So there was a lot of mentalhere for me.
But that's just sort of how I'mwired.
So I had to really do a lot ofself-talk and I talk about that
(04:55):
in the TED Talk as well.
But we had to do presentations,we had to do connections with
other.
I practice it with my coachmultiple times to really get it
right and try and get it in thebest shape possible, you know.
Carole Barasch (05:16):
So throughout the process you worked with a
professional coach.
Tell me about the coach andwhat he was able to do to move
this process along.
Judy Oskam (05:27):
Yeah, I will say that the Department of
Communication Studies at TexasState puts on this event.
They are the organizers andcoordinators, and when you do a
TEDx, they match you with acoach, and this is a
professional speech coach Now.
You also were very good at thatand you also helped me with
(05:48):
that.
So it was interesting.
I was able to work with mycoach, mark Paz, and Mark is a
professor at Texas State andworking with him on a weekly
basis.
This started more than a monthbefore the February event, but
we would go back and forth onthe message, on the phrasing, on
the sentences, and then andthen you know, you and I would
(06:12):
go back and forth and he knewthat you were my personal
concierge coach and you knewthat I had him as a coach.
So I really tried to practicewhat I preached in that reaching
out to mentors and reaching outto others to to be your
sounding board, and I thinkthat's so important.
Carole Barasch (06:32):
I think that's fantastic, that you didn't go
through this.
You know, as you did it, youhad to present it individually,
but it really was.
It became a team, a team effort.
Judy Oskam (06:46):
I think that yeah for sure, and that's I just
think.
I think everyone should reallyreach out to their friends,
mentors, their personal advisoryboard and ask for guidance and
support, because you, forinstance, with such a background
in broadcast news and publicrelations and even you did a
little standup comedy in NewYork, I will add you're really
(07:10):
good on your feet and you'rereally good with messages.
So I just shout out to you aswell.
Carole Barasch (07:17):
So we talked a little bit about the content.
But once you did commit to thetalk and you were, you know you
had a coach to take you throughthe process.
How did you, what was theprocess, to create the content?
Judy Oskam (07:34):
The content I started with.
You know I just free-formedwrote.
I just thought what is mymessaging?
I went through like you mightwrite a speech, I guess, but
really to step back and look athow does it fit in and then how
can I promote some of our keyprograms at the university I was
(07:56):
really intent on doing that andthen to look back and find out
what.
It was kind of a good look backinto a history lesson of my life
and tying all that together.
That's where really to find outhow does one section move to
another, and you were reallygood about how do you get from
here to there.
(08:16):
So I think there was somestrategy there in doing that
which I learned, and I did watchsome other TED Talks to find
out what I felt was effective.
You were really good at pacingand telling me to slow down and
really just take a minute andlet the audience, you know,
(08:38):
connect with the audience.
I probably could have done abetter job with that, but I
probably could have.
But again, it's, you know yourmind is just going and you're
putting yourself out there in away that you it's not like
you're doing a speech whereyou're looking at a script that
is announcing the next awardwinner.
Carole Barasch (08:59):
Right, this is about your life.
You know, you've spent a careerteaching, so you're used to
being up in front of people.
Right right, this differs alittle bit from that.
You're very comfortable gettingup and giving a presentation, a
lecture.
What do you think makes itdifferent than, or is it
(09:20):
complementary to, getting up anddelivering a?
Judy Oskam (09:27):
lesson.
Well, I think the fact that itwas so personal.
And to really make it personal,I felt like, if I'm going to
grab this opportunity, if Idon't really use it for
something that I can look backin five years and really think,
okay, I delivered the message Iwanted to.
If I couldn't do that, I feltlike it was gonna be a waste of
(09:49):
my time.
So, I think, being vulnerableand you pushed me and Mark
pushed me, coach Mark pushed meand, by the way, I interviewed
Mark in an earlier podcast, sohe really is a pro but between
the two of you and my friendsWendy and Grace, was really good
sounding board.
(10:10):
So I guess, back to yourquestion is what makes it
different is that it's sopersonal.
Carole Barasch (10:16):
Yeah, and because it's so personal, you
did have to tap into someemotions and feelings that you
normally wouldn't do as ateacher.
Judy Oskam (10:27):
No, no, I normally wouldn't do as a teacher?
No, no, I really wouldn't.
I can talk about the history ofpublic relations or how do you
do a PR campaign and I'm talkingabout a process and I'm talking
about other things but toreally get into sharing
information about your family,your history I mean you know my
(10:50):
history with I didn't reallythink I could do some of these
challenges.
And then just to kind of pushforward and then realize, oh,
maybe there was a theme that ranthroughout all of these
decision points.
You know and you helped mepoint out too that you know
those decision points are noteasy.
(11:10):
They're not easy for anybody.
So to really kind of tell theaudience that, hey, you know
it's not easy for you guyseither, but then when you do
these steps and you do takeaction and you will figure it
out and I think we all need tohear that message more- yeah,
and you just touched on what itwas that you were focusing on.
Carole Barasch (11:34):
So tell, tell folks a little bit about what
the main message was.
Judy Oskam (11:41):
For me, it was about um, create, you know, use,
develop a strategy, of course,and the strategy is to reach out
to friends, form your ownpersonal advisory board, if you
will and I don't get thatdetailed about that in the talk
but when you're faced withchallenges and uncertainty, to
(12:04):
take action and figure it outalong the way.
It's that simple.
And sometimes and I said thisin the talk sometimes we need
permission to do that and Ithink your friends and your
colleagues and, in my case, mydaughters and my students will
often say well, why don't you dothis?
Or why don't you try and do apodcast?
(12:27):
And I thought well, of course,why shouldn't I do that?
So what have I got to lose?
And if you weigh the options,usually there's not much loss.
Maybe a little bit of yourpride, maybe, but I think it's a
matter and you've had takenrisks in your life and you look
back and you think I never wantany regrets.
(12:48):
I never want to look back andthink would I have done this?
Why shouldn't, why didn't I dothat?
So I think, to take action andjust figure it out and, again,
use critical thinking skills,talk to your friends, colleagues
, advisors, and then decide tojust do it.
I think there's so much therethat we always think there's
(13:11):
going to be a path forward andwe don't.
We're not going to know thepath forward, we just don't.
Carole Barasch (13:16):
So we've talked a little bit about this was it
was a major step to create thetalk Right, but then you have to
present it, oh my God.
So break that down.
And what was required to getyou ready to deliver the talk?
Judy Oskam (13:37):
That was the hard part.
Number one I didn't tell a lotof people that I was doing it,
and that's because Because Ireally I just didn't know if I
was going to be able to do itand or do it well.
I really wanted to nail thisand do this well, so I didn't
tell a lot of people.
There was a big event in SanMarcos.
(13:59):
There was a big.
It was, it was a big deal.
It was a big, uh, a big deal oncampus and I didn't I didn't
promote it personally myself.
Now, some of my colleagues did.
Carole Barasch (14:13):
But I think it's because when something is very
personal and in a way thatyou're trying to protect maybe
yourself, or protect the project, or where you think you know, I
mean I can understand notwanting to share something where
there's a little bit ofuncertainty involved.
Judy Oskam (14:35):
Well, and I wanted it.
I wanted to represent theSchool of Journalism and Mass
Comm very well, I wanted torepresent Texas State.
So I don't know what I wasthinking.
If I didn't tell anybody, noone would know it afterwards,
but but I just I didn't tell mymom that I was doing this and I
just think I wanted to.
(14:55):
Just it was sort of a personalchallenge for me.
But back to your question aboutdelivering it I was a freaking
nervous wreck.
I was a nervous wreck and Ihave a friend who is a
professional speaker out in LAand I called her a couple days
before she gave me somebreathing exercises.
(15:17):
I was a nervous wreck when Iwas young.
I stuttered, I had a stutterand I went through speech
therapy some and I talk aboutthis a little bit in the talk
but I was really.
I was just.
I was a nervous wreck, wasreally, I was just.
I was a nervous wreck.
And again, if I were teachingabout your history or you or
(15:38):
anything in mass comm or media,it would be a different story,
but I was talking about my ownstory.
So, and I had notes.
You know I had notes that Ilooked at, but I really tried to
memorize as much as I could.
So that was another challengefor me.
I don't, I don't memorize verywell.
Carole Barasch (15:55):
So once the big day came and you stood and you
delivered the talk, how was thatexperience Did you?
Did you actually take in themoment, or how'd it go?
Judy Oskam (16:11):
well, you told me to do that, you know you.
You told me before uh, you needto really connect with the
crowd, the audience, and it wasa full, full house.
My husband came, jess flew infrom la to surprise me, danny
came, hannah came from dallashow did this, how'd the word get
(16:31):
around?
Carole Barasch (16:32):
you weren't telling.
I didn't well, I well.
Judy Oskam (16:33):
I told my husband, I told I had to tell Felix, to
tell him where to go right onSaturday because I thought if I
crumbled I would need him totake me away quickly in the car
right and drive me away quickly.
So that was something that Iwas thinking about.
But that was something that Iwas thinking about.
(16:54):
But I think once I did it andagain I think you really helped
me with that and try and justtake it in, look at the audience
, connect, slow down and Markdid too.
My coach Mark did too.
As soon as I was done I sort ofwanted to do it again and slow
(17:15):
down just a little bit more, butbut I was, I was happy and I'll
never do it again and I'm finewith that, okay so.
Carole Barasch (17:25):
So, now that you've done it, you've joined
the TED talk club.
Well, the TEDx, the TEDx, theTEDx Club, yeah, so was it worth
it?
And what would you say toothers who may be considering a
similar undertaking?
Judy Oskam (17:41):
I would really encourage others to do it, to
get their message out.
And I think that's the wholething.
I mean, as an educator and aformer broadcast journalism
person, I think we always wantto share information and tell
people what they need to knowand what they ought to know.
You know the whole news thing.
(18:02):
I think there's somethinginnate with me that I want to
share.
My girls say my daughters say Igive too much advice, but I
think it's an opportunity toreally hone your message and get
it really tight and reallyclear and then to have that as a
(18:22):
resource there to promote whatyou want to say to the world.
So for that reason, I thinkit's, I think it's worth doing.
And again, if you do a TEDxconnected with the university,
they will have professionalcoaches.
I don't know if you'reavailable for personal coaching
(18:43):
Sure.
But I think that was somethingthat was really, really helpful
for me is having you kind of asa mentor, and I've called you my
little muse for a long time, mymentor muse.
But I think really to kind ofbounce back, having someone in
your corner is key, you know.
Carole Barasch (19:03):
Well, I'm in your corner, I know you are.
Judy Oskam (19:05):
I appreciate that I appreciate that.
So, Carol, again I just want tothank you for sharing and
taking over the mic a little bit, and I just want you to know
how much I appreciated youduring this process.
I think it was a we didn't curecancer, we didn't solve, you
know, a major we didn't.
(19:28):
No, we didn't.
But for me it was very specialto have you along for the
journey.
Carole Barasch (19:34):
Well, you pick interesting projects to work on
and I've been privileged andhonored that you've asked me to
help you on a few of thosethings, so it's always fun.
I never know where we're goingnext.
Judy Oskam (19:46):
That's right.
Well, sometimes when we havelunch I bring an agenda, so
that's just how it is.
But I but I will tell you youwere the first call I made after
I got back in the dressing room.
Carole Barasch (19:56):
Well, I kind of insisted on it.
I know, I know, I know I know,I know.
Judy Oskam (20:01):
So I just I just wanted to know how you felt
about it.
You know how did it go.
How did?
You feel, you know what yourimmediate thoughts were about
the the whole thing, thepresentation, yeah Well, my hope
is that if somebody can seethat and realize that they're
(20:21):
never going to have all theanswers, but they can talk to
some of their advisors, theirfamily friends, get some
feedback and then take action.
They will figure it out alongthe way.
Carole Barasch (20:31):
I also wanted to know that you lived through it.
That's true.
That was always the questionright?
Judy Oskam (20:36):
I wasn't really sure myself.
So anyway, Carol, thanks somuch.
Appreciate it.
Carole (20:40):
You're welcome, appreciate it, thank you.
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