Here is the full transcript of Malena Putnam’s talk titled “5 Steps to Creating Happier Communities” at TEDxUCO conference.
In this TEDx talk, brand strategist and storyteller Malena Putnam emphasizes the importance of community and happiness, drawing on her personal and professional experiences. She introduces her concept of the five C’s to build happier communities: Collective Spirit, Cause, Communication, Creativity, and Celebrate. Malena shares personal anecdotes, such as her experiences in her hometown and as a parent, to illustrate these concepts.
Collective Spirit is about unity and teamwork, while Cause focuses on shared values and goals that attract people to a community. Communication is essential for sharing passion and information, and Creativity involves utilizing the diverse talents of community members. Celebrate, her favorite, highlights the importance of recognizing and enjoying communal achievements. Throughout her talk, Malena emphasizes the role of these elements in fostering a sense of belonging and happiness in communities.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Malena and I am so happy to be here today, if you can’t tell with my sparkly shoes even. And you know, I was thinking about as I walked out how good it feels to feel welcome when you walk into a room, to feel like you really belong. Isn’t that such a great feeling?
And one of the things that I love the most from my favorite researcher, Brené Brown, is what she talks about with belonging and connection. And this definition really says it all. “It is the energy between two people who feel seen, heard, and valued.”And I believe one of the best ways to get that is through community. Now, community is a group of people based on location or shared interest.
The Essence of Community
It could be as small as your family of origin, your friend group, your workplace, social and civic organizations, or take today, for example, we are a part of the TED community together within the university, within our state, within our country. You know, how we feel about being a member of those communities could vary greatly. And I want to talk about how to feel happy in a community.
Now, why does happiness matter? Well, of course, it is a positive emotion. It can mean feeling content and satisfied. And it’s just really a great feeling. And so why does that matter for our communities?
The Impact of Happiness in Communities
Well, if we’re happy with a place, then we’re going to definitely spend more time and energy. We’re going to want to be involved and active and really make an impact. And so that’s what we want to do today is combine happiness and community together.
So how do we do this? Well, I have spent my whole life working on this, both as a community leader, as a business owner and helping my brands that I work with grow. And I also work with women business owners in a leadership organization where our purpose is to gather and grow. So I’ve taken all of those experiences to come up with five C’s to cultivate a happier community. I believe it starts with collective spirit.
Collective Spirit
So when I’m thinking back, like when was the first time that I felt really happy in a community was when I was a little girl in a small town. And every fall, it felt like on Friday nights, the entire town came out. That’s right. Here comes the pom pom.
We would get in the stands together, Friday night lights, and we would cheer on our team. We were wearing matching shirts with our colors that were red and white. We had our mascot and we cheered our team to victory. And, you know, when the team won, we didn’t say, “You did it, you won.”
The Power of Unity
No, we said “We did it. We won.” It was like it was a team effort. And it’s such a good feeling that game days are still some of my favorite days of the year.
That’s what collective spirit is all about. You know, you’ve probably heard that saying, “There’s no I in team.” And I really love the acronym that team means that together everyone achieves more. And I can tell you those football players love that we are out there cheering for them and supporting them, too, because a happy community is one that cheers together.
Cause and Community
Our second C is cause, so this is our philosophical one. It is your why; it’s kind of why we do what we do. It’s your vision and values and passion and purpose. And it’s really what I like to look at as a magnet.
So I don’t see community as a closed circle, but as an open one. We have new energy ideas and people coming in and out of it. And your cause should be the reason that people are going to be attracted into your community. So when my son, who’s now a senior in high school, was a little guy, he wanted to join the Scouts.
Building Through Shared Interests
Now, this was something that I didn’t have any experience in, but we joined. I became a co-den mom for several years, and the mission was to create young leaders who would become good citizens. So it was an amazing growth experience for him. And he made a lot of connections.
And he’s still best friends with some of the boys that he was in Scouts with all that long time ago. And then, you know, my daughter and I were sitting around watching a dance competition show on TV. And she looks at me and says, “Mom, I think I want to dance.” And so she joined a dance where the values are teamwork, hard work, discipline, commitment.
The Role of Communication
Number three, communication. This is how we share our passion with our audience. And, you know, I first learned about the power of communication when I was in high school in that small town.
I hosted a high school radio show called Inside Out with Melina Brown.
And I had local reporters from the different high schools and they would call in and tell everyone all the good news that was happening in their community, in their high school, inviting people out to support them. And that’s when I really saw the power of connection through the different communication channels. And wow, look where it’s gone today. We have more ways than ever to connect with our audience thanks to the Internet, you know, websites.
We can DM people now. We’ve got social media. And it’s really important for our communication to be clear, concise and consistent and also positive because we always want to encourage people to come out and be a part of things. And what I love the most about all this, these advancements in technology is that it’s more two way than ever because now I can hear back from my audience.
Embracing Creativity in Communities
And so it’s up to us to reach out and give our ideas to help make the community better. And then I’m going to take that feedback and do that. And so to keep evolving. And so that’s really the power of communication.
And, you know, a happy community is really one that’s in the know. OK, I love this one. Creativity. Now, what do I mean by a creative community?
I believe it’s really one that is open and flexible, continues to evolve, and it really utilizes the skills and talents of all of its members. So then I feel like I’m contributing and I’m finding meaning in my life. And a really good local example of this is that we have an arts institution that pairs local artists with local businesses in our downtown district. And so the first Thursday of the month, we get together and you can go out and you can support the arts.
You can eat local, shop local. It is a fun night with lots of high energy. That’s really a win-win for everyone. And that’s what it’s all about.
Celebrating Community Achievements
So we’re living our values by doing that. And we’re also having a really good time because a happy community encourages collaboration. OK, you guys know this is probably my favorite one. It’s celebrate.
And, you know, I was thinking back through all my years of when I felt the most celebrated. And I believe it was when I was an incoming freshman at university, coming from a small town, I didn’t know many people. I wanted to make some connections. I wanted to get involved.
And so I decided to go through sorority recruitment. Now, this is a week-long mutual selection process. And at the end of the week, they have what’s called bid day. So you get your bid and you literally run home to your new sorority with a bunch of strangers who are now sisters, but you all have matching T-shirts on.
Embracing New Beginnings
You get to the house and you guys, it is so exciting because there is cheering and screaming and there are signs with your name on it, sometimes in glitter. And you feel so welcomed and loved being there. And I will tell you that that experience really, really shaped my life so much because from then on, I learned so much about leadership, about how to get along well with others, the love for volunteering and philanthropy. And really that stuck with me all these years later.
And it’s why I’m still active in my sorority as an alum and as a mentor. And think about these things on the bigger scale, too. How can our community provide more events to help bring us together and celebrate together? Because, you know, I will say too often in our society, we celebrate the end of things, right?
We celebrate. We have going away parties. We have going out of business sales at the end of someone’s life. You have a celebration of life and everyone gets together and they get to see each other and eat great food and all that.
But we don’t get to experience it because we’re gone. So let’s not do that. Like, let’s celebrate each other while we’re here. Let’s celebrate all the milestones along the way.
Let’s celebrate the big and little wins. I think it’s so important to celebrate together. So in our community here, we have a huge Fourth of July celebration. It’s actually renowned around the country because it’s more than a week long of festivities.
Community Events and Traditions
And it’s all kinds of activities so that there’s really something for everyone. Everyone feels like they can be involved. Everything from a classic car show to picnics to a big Fourth of July parade. So you could be in the parade or you can watch the parade.
And then that night, there’s a huge fireworks celebration. And it’s something that I look forward to every year. So the thing is that we want to create special memories together. And that’s what bonds us together.
Conclusion: Building a Happy Community
So think about in all of your organizations and in your community, what kind of things could you do to make other people feel special, to create traditions that you’re going to look forward to for years and years to come? You know, a happy community really celebrates one another. I love that. So I hope that I have given you some really good ideas on how you could grow personally and professionally in your life through being a part of a community.
I know it can be scary. There’s always a first time for everything. Right. This is my first time to do this.
But by saying yes and taking a chance on things, by trying out, by joining the club, by attending the meeting, by networking, I promise that is going to bring you so much happiness. And, you know, I really wanted to leave you guys with something today. And so I brought everyone some smiley face buttons. So they’re going to hand those out.
But I want this to be a reminder to you that you deserve to be seen, heard and valued in your community. And also that it is up to each of us to make the world a happier place. And you know what? I’m cheering for you.