Insight from TED Speaker and Brain Researcher: Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s 2008 TED presentation, Stroke of Insight, is one of the most viewed TED talks of all time.  Because Dr. Taylor’s presentation has inspired so many people, we reached out to her with nine questions.

We are honored to feature her answers below.

1. You have a seemingly effortless grace as a public speaker.  How did you become at ease in the spotlight during presentations?  

I gave a presentation pre-stroke to a group of people, just like me, who had a sibling with a severe mental illness. Right before I went on stage, I was standing in front of a bathroom mirror applying my lipstick. In a fleeting moment, I looked myself in the eye and it was as though I was two different people. In my mind I heard the words “This is what I do and I love doing it.” I never felt anxious again in front of a group, and now, just give me a mic and an audience and we together we can make life changing magic happen!

2. As a brain expert, are you able to use your knowledge and insight into the human brain to prepare for public speaking engagements?  If so, what insight would you offer fellow public speakers?

A. For content: Do your homework and know your audience so you can present your special information to speak to their hearts and minds.

B. For presentation: Have fun, they are there because they want to glean something special from you, and they want to be moved. We all have mirror neurons and if I am anxious or full of BS, then everyone will pick that up and not feel comfortable with me. It is of primary importance that I am authentic and positive, and I NEVER swear from the stage.

C. For sanity: travel the day before the event as it puts everyone at ease.

3. If you had the opportunity to give one presentation to all of humanity, how would you summarize the core message of that presentation?

As humanity we have this beautiful brain, and we have the ability to pick and choose who and how we want to be in the world. We have the power to consciously choose to evolve ourselves into a peaceful people who function in the world using both of our hemispheres as a society of people with balanced brains. Do we want to evolve into this? And if so, what are we doing with out power?

4. Have any presentations by other presenters changed your life?  If so, which ones and why?

I love the messages that speak to our compassion and humanity. Any talk that helps guide us into our vulnerability and helps us become more intimate is meaningful to me. I have a Playlist up on the TED.com site that includes some of my favorites.

5. Many presenters struggle to alter their message for varying audience demographics. What techniques do you use to make your presentations appropriate for different audiences?

This is easy for me because I speak about the brain, and we all have a brain, and most people are fascinated to know more about theirs. Although the story of my brain experience may be what opens the door for an invitation to present, I don’t talk about my brain very much at all. Instead, I help people perceive themselves in a different light, as a cellular being rather than as an individual separate from the whole, and I help them better understand how they can get their brains to do what they want it to do. We are beautiful living creatures with amazing abilities, and the better we understand what we are as circuitry, and how we can consciously influence what circuitry we are running, the easier it is for us to be who and how we want to be, moment by moment. It’s great fun for me to present, and potentially life changing for those who are open and ready. And for those of us who are not yet ready to accept responsibility for the energy we are putting out into the world, well, everyone around us who just heard the same message, are now looking at us differently. Office and family dynamics inevitably change, because the elephant in the room is no longer invisible.

6.  What was the most difficult presentation you have ever given and why?

The TED talk was the tough one for me because I had only 18 minutes to share my life story. I knew I had to ‘give’ my audience the stroke experience, and let them feel it in order for them to truly receive the gift. This meant I had to script the piece, which I never do and am not comfortable with doing, at all! I built the movements in, so in the event that I was distracted by famous faces in the audience, I could still remember what came next, because my words were choreographed with the dance I was doing. In order to retain the sense of authenticity, it was critical that I feel every word of the presentation. I dug deep into my soul and shared the essence of my humanity. When I soared like “a great whale soaring through a sea of silent euphoria’, the TEDster’s souls soared with me. It was a magnificent moment in time for everyone and I was rewarded by their affirmation and eventually the affirmation of millions of people all around the world. Because I resisted teaching, and was willing to just ‘hold the space’, the TED talk proved to be a powerful success.

7. Do you have any tips for presenters or writers who get a bad case of writer’s block?

Find ways of getting into your right brain – take a walk in nature, take a break from technology, play with a puppy, submerge yourself in water, and always ask yourself – what’s the point?

8.  Since your stroke and recovery, have you had any recent epiphanies that have transformed your life?

Yes. I used to think my ‘issue’ was mental health. However, I have now realized that the mental health of humanity is meaningless if we don’t have a planet. The issues of planetary and global health are now mainstage for me.

9.  You are quoted as saying:

 “I believe that the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world, and the more peaceful our planet will be.”  

Do you have any tips for how to “run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres”?

Yes. Our body consciousness is directly attached to our right brain. Pay attention to your breathing and choose to be conscious with your breath. Use it as a tool. Purposely pull air into your abdomen – yoga and meditation are great tools for helping people understand and practice this. Again, walk in nature, enjoy the beauty around you without analysis. Get in water. Do sports for the feeling of it rather than for the competition. Go to the ocean or the mountain top in your mind and feel what that feels like. Focus on gratitude and celebration of life and what that feels like. Pay attention to the power you have to let go of the stressful circuitry. We do have the power to choose, moment by moment, who and how we want to be in the world. Always ask yourself, what are you doing with you power?

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist who experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain in 1996. On the afternoon of this rare form of stroke (AVM), she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. It took eight years for Dr. Jill to completely recover all of her functions and thinking ability. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey (published in 2008 by Viking Penguin). In 2008, Dr. Jill gave a presentation at the TED Conference in Monterey, CA, which has become the second most viewed TED Talk of all time. This now famous 18-minute presentation catapulted her story into the public eye. As a result, she was chosen as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2008. In addition, Dr. Jill was the premiere guest on Oprah’s Soul Series web-cast and was interviewed by Oprah and Dr. Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show in October, 2008.  

Read Dr. Taylor’s entire bio on her website.





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