Introduction: Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Moreman

and the purpose of her TEDx talk

In this deeply personal talk, educator Sarah Elizabeth Moreman shares an experience from her childhood while growing up with a hearing impairment. She carried this lesson forward into her career as an English instructor. She shares how she challenges her students - and us all - to speak, think, and express our feelings more effectively. She took courses in German, Latin, and linguistics the same semester, which is quite a feat for any college student, let alone a hearing-impaired one.

Sarah Elizabeth, who is originally from Auburn, Alabama, is a creative training executive and educator who believes in the power of incorporating writing and marketing techniques to foster strong communication and high instructor-student interaction. She has seventeen years of professional experience instilling collaborative and detail-oriented leadership skills for teaching, advising, instructional design, and marketing projects. During that time, Sarah Elizabeth has been an instructor, consultant, and administrator at multiple universities including Auburn University, Jacksonville State University, Gadsden State Community College, and Jefferson State Community College and medical institutions including American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

When Sarah Elizabeth is not teaching and consulting, she enjoys traveling, reading, writing, working out at Pure Barre Birmingham, and serving for the Junior League of Birmingham. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Explanation for no closed captioning of her TEDx talk

Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Moreman’s deeply personal talk was originally published without closed captioning nor a transcript available as of Tuesday, 17 April 2018. The initial purpose for not providing closed captioning was to foster better understanding of how much effort is needed for any individual to communicate with another person. Each individual should constantly hone communication skills and not be complacent with listening only in a familiar way. With innovative technology requiring upgrades and even athletes requiring consistent strength and conditioning, communication skills need to be exercised and honed. To pay attention means to exercise the effort in focusing on the other person talking. The closed captioning and transcription may somewhat take away the effort and experience of listening to Dr. Moreman speak; therefore, the person may experience only the speech itself via closed captioning or a transcript. To pay attention to Dr. Moreman speak is more than simply hearing. For several months leading up to delivering the talk, Dr. Moreman did speech therapy to practice enunciating certain words for clarity. Her efforts reflect the message being conveyed in her talk. When she practiced her talk with two different focus groups, they agreed that listening to Dr. Moreman speak is a strong part of the message in her talk. They stated how the use of PowerPoint or any other visual aid would take away the deepest, vocalized part of her message. Subsequently, close-up camera angles were provided for the audience to experience “lipreading” while watching and listening to Dr. Moreman speak.

 After explaining the initial purpose of not having closed captioning available for the original version of Dr. Moreman’s talk, it is with hope that any viewer will understand that a transcript provided is intended especially for individuals with a hearing loss or deafness. The transcript is provided at the bottom of this page for any individual who wishes to have a copy for reference.