211: Turning an Academic Topic into a Powerful TEDx Talk with Tanya Golash-Boza [Big Ideas Series]

We all love TED talks, right?

The best ones tell us something we haven’t thought of before and inspire us to take action.

TED talks became so popular because they showcased Big Ideas that oftentimes came from or were influenced by the speaker’s own personal story or experience (plus they’re under 20 minutes!).

In this episode, I’m joined by Tanya Golash-Boza, who recently delivered her TEDx talk called “How to Kill a Neighborhood and Make a Profit” about how disinvestment in Black communities during the 20th century has led to gentrification in the 21st.

Tanya is currently in our Thought Leader Academy and worked with us to create her TEDx talk.

As a professor of sociology at the University of California, Merced, and founder of the Racism, Capitalism, and the Law Lab, Tanya knows a lot about her topic (she’s writing an entire book on it!): years, statistics, and the specifics of policies like redlining and racial restrictive covenants that led to segregated neighborhoods.

Her challenge was to take an academic topic for a niche audience and turn it into a powerful TEDx talk for a general audience - and she did!

In this episode, Tanya and I talk about:

• Narrowing down her content and finding the throughline for her talk
• Integrating her personal story and experiences growing up in D.C.
• How she iterated her scripts and added more storytelling with help from one of our speaking coaches Joy Spencer
• Getting feedback from various people in different disciplines
• How she memorized her script and prepared for the filming
• What she’s doing next: taking her TEDx talk and expanding it into a signature talk and keynote, using our framework
• What has been the most beneficial aspects of being in our Thought Leader Academy

This episode is the second in our Big Ideas series.

About My Guest: Tanya Golash-Boza is a scholar who focuses on gaining a deep understanding of systems of oppression and exploitation. As a writer, speaker, and teacher, she tells stories of people and of systems to help colleagues, students, readers, and listeners understand how racism and capitalism structure our lives and what we need to do to change this country and the world.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/211

Tanya’s website: http://www.racismcapitalismlaw.com

Tanya’s TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/eakUZX-pRCQ

Tanya’s blog post: http://getalifephd.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-to-write-compelling-tedx-script.html

Register for free for our Brave. Bold. Beyond. Live Virtual Summit at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/summit/.

Get on the interest list for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/.

Connect on Twitter:

• Carol Cox = https://twitter.com/carolmorgancox
• Tanya Golash-Boza (guest) = https://twitter.com/tanyaboza

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Tanya Golash-Boza (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyagolashboza/

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 91: Visibility Works: From Local Speaking to TED.com to a Book
• Episode 98: Expanding Your Personal Story into a Universal Message
• Episode 194: How to Structure a Movement-Making Speech Using Your Story

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

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