Translator: Eman Salah El-Din Reviewer: Denise RQ
People say wallflowers only blossom once in a while.
I choose to blossom today.
Why?
When you really want something
then sometimes, you have to take the spotlight
and I really want this.
No matter how scared I am
- and trust me every inch of my body is telling me to step off this stage -
still, I really want this.
(Applause)
I am not here to give you a feel-good talk.
I am standing here today to show
that introvert people can take the spotlight once in a while,
and show the power and beauty of their shy and introvert self.
I can remember me being incredibly shy
until I was 10 or 11 years old.
I didn't dare to do anything.
I remember my mother took me shopping
and she asked me to pay.
I didn't dare to pay, I was terrified about the consequences
like what if I don't have enough money
or what if she doesn't give me enough change?
Or what if I have to ask someone for help
in searching for a certain product or price?
No, I do anything to avoid these things.
By the time I turned 12, I had to change school
and I had to leave my mutual shy friends.
It was there that I learned to take little steps
outside of the comfort zone
and I overcame a big part of my shyness.
I became more of an introvert or a wallflower.
It never left me though. Until this day, my shyness is still there.
I still avoid asking people for help even in big, big stores.
I don't mind walking around for four hours,
I will find it myself.
(Laughter)
Now, there is also another challenge
I think a lot of shy people can relate to.
Somehow, when people are interested in me,
my face turns incredibly red;
and I can't help it, but thank God for make-up these days.
And I still, to this day, am terrified to approach new people to talk to.
So, let's do a TED talk.
Yes, I won the Open Mic from TEDx,
but it was never my intention to win.
It was my intention to overcome a part of my fear
which is public speaking.
So, for weeks, I have been asking myself:
why it should be me up here?
And after a while, I realized
that this is not only an amazing opportunity to share my story
but to also share myself
because, trust me, people do not notice me.
Now, being a wallflower means going unnoticed
and being a solitude person.
Sadly enough, this is being seen as a sad thing,
but I tell you, truly it isn't.
Do you know any wallflowers?
Did you know Richard Gere, Albert Einstein, Obama,
Johnny Depp, Nicole Kidman, and so go on
consider themselves as wallflowers?
We might not always appear to be that introvert,
but we are great hiders and pretenders when it comes to that.
We tend to fade ourselves in the back, and by doing that, we see and hear a lot.
Most of the time, more than extrovert people do.
Through this way, I most of the time also know
a lot of answers to a lot of questions,
but people will never step up to me to ask.
Now, my mother is a wallflower, too, and she told me this,
"Throughout your life,
you will learn yourself to be a more and more excellent observer,
and you will benefit from that."
Now, I can probably give you over 100 examples of me going unnoticed.
It happens to me all the time:
when I am at work, at school, and even when I am with friends.
At work, people tend to forget I am actually there.
At school, my opinions are being heard, but never used.
Now these things, these experiences, are not bad in my eyes.
I make them like that because I am like that.
So, most of the people have truly no idea who I really am.
Even my friends and family never expected me to stand here today,
and that I would be able to do something like this,
to speak in front of hundreds of people about my way of thinking.
Through our lives, I learned that you always have to try
before you know, because if you don't try, you will never know.
Albert Einstein once said,
"The comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there,"
and this is so true, I love the comfort zone, I call it my sidewalk.
I am always on it, and I only step off if I really have to.
But now, I try to step off more often,
and I try new things, I follow my dreams,
and instead of putting them in my head,
I am up to make them happen.
Now, stepping off isn't always easy,
but if you find the right pair of shoes, it is.
I found mine, at the beginning of this year,
and it took me a long road to find them.
But those shoes, those shoes became my passion, my future,
my tools to go wherever I want,
and my own business.
Now we see extrovert people starting their own businesses,
and now it's me, me who is still afraid of approaching new people,
connecting, networking, and sharing.
So, it will be a long, introvert, different way,
but I know that I will get there somehow
because I always do if I really choose to.
Now, I would like to encourage all wallflowers in the world
to make a choice,
a choice to find your own powershoes.
Use them, wear them, and most of all them, own them.
Thank you.
(Applause)