Your topic is called ’What else is possible? – You are never too experienced to be a beginner‘, can you describe this in more detail and share a bit about what you will be covering in your talk?

My talk is really about staying open to new possibilities, no matter what age you are or how much experience you already have.

I’ll be sharing some personal stories from different stages of my life, times when I had to make a choice, take a risk, learn something completely new or begin again without knowing exactly where it would lead.

That includes changing career direction, starting businesses, learning about the internet when I had never even heard of it, becoming an author at 73, and now continuing to learn about artificial intelligence.

The main idea is that experience is valuable, but it should never stop us from being willing to become a beginner again.

What has made you so passionate about this topic? How does it relate to you or your background?

It comes directly from my own life.

I’ve reinvented myself several times and I’ve had moments when life reminded me very clearly that none of us knows what’s waiting for us round the next corner or how much time we have.

I nearly lost my life when I was young, and again later I had a frightening health scare. Losing my wife in 2025 after almost 53 years of marriage, was a huge turning point for me.

I knew she would want me to carry on living fully, learning, contributing and making a difference.

At the start of 2026, I wrote down that I wanted to give a TEDX Talk before the end of the year, even though I had no idea how I was going to make that happen.

So this topic is very personal to me. It is about continuing to ask, “What else is possible?” even when life changes in ways you never expected.

What do you think people will gain from listening to your talk?

I want to encourage people of all ages to stay curious, keep learning and never be afraid to try something new, even when they have no idea where it might lead.

I have learned that we don’t need to know all the answers before we begin.

Sometimes the greatest opportunities come from being willing to step outside our comfort zones and becoming a beginner again.

If my talk inspires even one person to take that first step towards something they have always wanted to do, I’ll feel I’ve achieved something worthwhile.

I want people to realise, there may be wonderful possibilities ahead of them

How has your TEDxAberdeen journey been so far? Is there anything you’ve learned that you didn’t expect, or any highlights?

It has been exciting, challenging,sometimes, quite tough, but also incredibly rewarding.

The quality of the training has been exceptional, and one of the real highlights has been the great sense of support between all the speakers. There has been a genuine willingness to help, encourage and learn from each other throughout the journey.

One thing I didn’t expect was just how much my original idea would change. I started with one clear direction, but the feedback from the trainers and the other speakers challenged me to dig deeper and find the more personal and emotional story underneath it.

That has probably been one of the biggest lessons for me. Feedback can be uncomfortable at times, but if you stay open to it, it can take you somewhere much better than where you started.

What are you most looking forward to most on this journey? What are you hoping to get out of this?

What I am looking forward to most is standing on that stage and sharing a message that I genuinely believe can make a difference to people.

I hope the experience will help me grow as a speaker, give me even more confidence to share my ideas, and allow me to connect with people who may be at a point in their lives where they are wondering what comes next.

I also hope the talk has a life beyond the event itself. If someone watches it months or even years from now and it encourages them to learn something new, take a chance, begin again or simply ask themselves, “What else is possible?”, then I will feel it has achieved something worthwhile.

On a personal level, this journey already means a great deal to me. At the beginning of this year, giving a TEDX Talk was just something I had written down as a goal. To now be so close to actually doing it is something I am very proud of.

What does being part of TEDxAberdeen 2026 mean to you?

Being part of TEDxAberdeen 2026 means a great deal to me, both personally and as a speaker.

Aberdeen has played such an important part in my life since I first arrived here in 1971, so to have the opportunity, 55 years later, to stand on a TEDx stage in the city and share some of the lessons I have learned along the way feels very special.