TEDx Doncaster
Helen, Smizz & Raj
2025 TEDx Doncaster Speakers and Hosts
05/10/25 - What a Day!
The theme this year was ‘Human Flourishing’ – words like success, thriving, growth, and development come to mind.
But I think this can be a difficult concept for many people right now. So many are simply trying to get through the day, pay the bills, and do what they can with little time or energy to spare.
I found myself thinking about the people I work with in the NHS and care sector… does flourishing feel out of reach for them? We often talk about innovation, but for some, does that feel like too big a concept? Too unrealistic? There’s just no time?
What I was reminded of at TEDx is that it all comes back to people. To move even a little closer to flourishing, especially during hard times, we need to meet people as equals and, as speaker Ruth Harris beautifully put it, “become nothing to become everything.”
It’s about having someone believe in you – or in your idea. Believing → Belonging → Becoming. And as Lee Tillman reminded us, it’s about connection, purpose, and agency.
My good friend Rajnish Madaan’s talk embodied what it means to be truly human. His ability to disarm people, ease tension, and flatten hierarchies in his interviews and documentaries is inspiring – it’s where imaginative and innovative conversations begin. He often starts with the simplest question: “What did you have for breakfast?”
For me, the key word at this year’s event was HUMAN. Words like flourishing and innovation, especially within organisations like the NHS right now, can sometimes make people feel like they’re not succeeding; innovation and flourishing is desired, just not possible at the moment.
But even when we lack the time, capacity, money, or tools to flourish or innovate, we still have control over how we show up. We can choose to approach every person as equal, and every conversation, every connection with positivity, humility, support, and encouragement.
I reckon that’s how we take small steps towards flourishing, and helping others to flourish too.
What do you think?
PS. you might be innovating on the daily, and just not recognise it. And through someone else’s eyes - you are flourishing…