Have you ever sweated bullets as you prepared for a big presentation? Or felt way over your head, even drowning, as you worked on a hard project? I have, especially as I prepared my just-released TEDx talk on electric school buses (ESBs). I think ESBs, being new and apparently here to stay, may take all of us out of our comfort zones. But how do we get support for our good, sweaty, risky endeavors?
I’m encouraging you to steal my hard-won tips, not just to do your own TEDx talk, but for any hard stretch project you might do. Most of my newsletters (back issues here) give facts and data on electric school buses, i.e. last month’s “Pot Of Gold, Eventually for School Bus Fleets?” But I’m writing about process and deemphasizing data this month because I think how to do things doesn’t get enough attention.
This issue includes
- Overview of EPA’s just-released Clean Heavy Duty Vehicle funding program
- Seven Tips To Steal for TEDx/Hard Projects
- Upcoming conferences, plus WASBE Forum, May 16, 2024
I’m Alison Wiley here in Oregon, an ESB and equity geek. I’ve worked in low-carbon transportation since 2006, focusing on electric buses since 2016. Find my Electric School Bus website here. I help school bus fleets move forward with electrifying, by writing this newsletter and as a consultant and grant writer (I recently helped to land a $20m project). This newsletter is a member of the nationwide, equity-focused Alliance For Electric School Buses. Please reply with comments or topics you’d like covered in a future newsletter.
Almost one billion was announced today for EPA’s new Clean Heavy Duty Vehicle funding program. (Don’t confuse this with EPA’s Clean School Bus Program, which is to announce its latest rebate winners within this month. Though their webpages look soooo similar!).
- Zero emissions only (i.e. electric, no propane)
- School buses eligible, along with many other vehicle types
- Applications due July 25, 2024
- Incremental costs are eligible (i.e. cost differential between diesel and electric)
- Replacing fully operational vehicles, 2010 or older
- Replaced vehicles must be scrapped
- Webinar training Tue. April 30, noon Pacific
- Minimum 10 school buses per application (ouch)
- School buses not subject to Build America or Buy America requirements
Seven Tips for a Good TEDx Talk or
stretch project
Tell a story. To engage people — about anything, including a project idea — make it into a story. It’s how we are all wired to understand things. My TEDx talk is mostly storytelling, giving some key data points, yes, but only a few slides. (How many times have each of us nodded off during data-dense slide shows?)
Cultivate lots of good colleagues. And be one, yourself. Good colleagues make us smarter and wiser. They make our world bigger. They do that by freely sharing information, contacts and opportunities with us, and we do the same for them. (Some WASBE women come to mind here.) I’m often asked: how did I get to do a TEDx talk? A colleague from many years ago invited me to do it, after reconnecting with me on LinkedIn. She was organizing a TEDx event; about 3,000 of these local events happen each year worldwide (the TED stage, no x, is more exclusive). Informational point: nobody gets paid anything for TEDx or TED talks, by the way.
Decide who’s your audience. Or if it’s a project, who are you serving? Once I decided my audience was the general population rather than ESB nerds like myself, I became much more clear on what to say and how to say it. I would avoid jargon and acronyms. My talk had to make sense to my friends, family and average stranger on the street — because I truly think ESBs can improve any or all of their lives, and I wanted to share that. I hit everyone up for lots of practice sessions (well, I spared the strangers) before I later practiced with my colleagues.
Assume your presentation or project will change a lot as you develop it. My first thoughts were often not my best thoughts, unlike in more instinctual activities I do, like dancing and sports. I scrapped probably 90% of my early material and drafts. While my TEDx talk isn’t perfect, it captures my (and my community’s) best thoughts at a given point in time. See below for an example of changes and evolution.
Find your throughline. The throughline is your core message, the backbone of your talk or project. My throughline was “electric school buses improve people’s lives”, which also became my title. But that wasn’t my idea. My friend Scott suggested it after listening to my very first (awful) practice presentation, which had the vague, flabby message of “electric school buses are good”. Then, stay true to that throughline, all beats supporting it or pointing to it.
Jot your thoughts down early and often. I’ll bet you’ve been brewing an idea for a cool project or presentation. I suggest most people have a Tedx talk or equivalent thing inside them, wanting to be developed and let out into the world. Brainstorm it as ideas come to you! Be open-minded in order to get the idea (or many ideas) off the ground and build momentum. Save any perfectionism for later (or for never, as TED speaker Brene Brown might advise).
Practice early and often. Do this especially when your talk is new and rough and uncomfortable, when the last thing you want to do is expose how much your talk sucks at this point. My early practices were with trusted friends who cared about my success (EcoFaith folks, Dave, Barbara, Fred and Kelly: thank you!). They encouraged me, didn’t criticize, but had lots of responses to my question, “How can I improve it?” (see below).
Ask people, “how can I improve this?” That way you get advice, which is more useful than feedback. “I like it” is feedback, but doesn’t move you forward. Here’s what one of my practice sessions sounded like:
Colleague: “Wait. Back up. That slide. What’s that white mattress thing lying between the ESBs and the building?”
Me: “Uh, that’s supposed to be a power box.”
Colleague: “Well, it looks like a white mattress thing. And it would look odd to write “power box” on it. Maybe you should just get rid of it.”
Me: “OK. Gone.”
I didn’t take everyone’s advice, of course. But I needed to listen to all of it, without being defensive, in order to find the advice that would improve my talk.
Upcoming Events
WASBE Forum (Women Accelerating School Bus Electrification), May 16, 2024, 11:00 a.m. PST, 2:00 p.m. EST
Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, May 20-23, 2024, Las Vegas, Nevada
School Transportation News (STN) Green Bus Summit East, June 2-3, 2024, Indianapolis, Indiana
Oregon Pupil Transportation Association Conference, June 17-20, 2024 in Bend, Oregon. My presentation on June 19th is ambitiously titled “Turning Pain Into Gain: How To Ace Utility Speak”. To find other states’ school bus conferences, try STN’s Industry Calendar.
STN Green Bus Summit West, July 14, 2024, Reno, Nevada. It’s part of the general STN conference that runs July 12-17.
Financial support for this newsletter is provided in part by the World Resources Institute. While the World Resources Institute may engage as a partner on content, it does not control, nor does it necessarily endorse, the contents of this newsletter.
Thanks!
Alison Wiley (she/her/hers)Electric School Bus Newsletter
I am on the ancestral lands of the Multnomah, Chinook and Cowlitz peoples.
Whose land are you on?