For my TED Talk, I am considering talking about what my paradigm shift paper was on: the n-word.  I think it would be especially interesting to examine the effect that the word has on the audience.

I was originally planning on picking a different topic for the TED Talk because I was very uncomfortable giving a presentation in which I would have to say the “n-word.”  But when I thought about it more, I think that my speech would be even more effective.

It could make people slightly uncomfortable (myself included), but I think that would encourage the audience to pay more attention to what I have to say.  I think that it would definitely affect the audience’s pathos, but I will have to be careful in my implementation to not offend people.

I am not totally sure yet what I want my thesis and actual point of my message to be.  I do, however, know that I would like it to revolve around people’s perception of the word, and how this has changed over time.  I would like to examine the shift from “nigger” to “nigga,” as that is a huge part of popular culture today.

The concept of audience in this case will be a little bit challenging for me, especially since the bulk of the “audience” will not actually be sitting in the room.  It will be a different medium which I will need to account for as I am rehearsing my speech.

Overall, I am very excited about the topic of my TED Talk, and I look forward to delving further into it.