Amplify Your Speeches - David McCrae

“Okay. It’s been on my heart to do this for years. There is a white Scottish man who I need to thank publicly. I mention his race and gender on purpose Black History Month is almost here. I’ve been invited everywhere to speak on sensitive topics. But before I step onto any stage this month, I want to pause and honour the man David McCrae. When i started my charity, my friend Michelle Foulia told me about a Facebook group David ran called RISE to Inspire. Each month, they held “Inspire Week” where you could go live for 30 minutes, practise speaking, and get feedback. In 2020, during the race riots, David did something unforgettable. He said: “Black people aren’t being given the chance to speak uninterrupted. So I’ll create a day just for Black voices.” ( He did the same for Women’s Day). There weren’t many Black people in the group. So I stepped up. Nervous. In my kitchen. Unskilled. But I delivered. It was my first ever “Black talk” THAT talk ended up on the Black Lives Matter website. As it was, in my kitchen, bad camera angle, raw. THAT talk has earned me thousands and thousands of pounds. David gave me feedback that perfected the talk. THAT talk is still being requested five years later. (THAT was my first “story story”, if you know, you know) It was also in David’s group that I first told my Medusa story. The same Medusa story that became my TEDx talk. Word for word, shaped by David’s feedback.”
– Ije Mcdougall: TEDx Speaker/ Keynote Speaker / HR & Employment Law Expert