# Tales of Storytelling | Tejasiwni Kidambi | TEDxSMEC Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZdrUNpO3Kg Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/uZdrUNpO3Kg Generated: 2026-03-11T16:06:59.973+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Tejaswini Kidambi concludes that the key to effective storytelling and communication, especially in technical fields, is to adhere to the KISS principle: Keep It Short and Simple, ensuring that curiosity, experimentation, and clear communication are prioritized over complexity and fear of failure. **Key Points:** - The speaker, Tejasiwni Kidambi, identifies herself as a storyteller who learned how to be remembered despite not being the smartest engineer in her class. - She shares a framework for building ideas with Head (Curiosity: Find the Right Problem), Hands (Experiment: Fail, Learn & Build), and Heart (Storytelling: Real world rewards clarity). - The concept of failure in experimentation is positioned as the opposite of success, not a deterrent, as evidenced by her story of a chef selling samosas for 4 rupees and later 500 rupees. - Effective communication relies on the KISS principle: Keep It Short and Simple, which she demonstrated by asking the audience how they would eat grapes (eat them), a banana (peel and eat), and a coconut (break it open, extract water, scrape, and add sugar). - The speaker emphasizes that the story must go around the product/innovation and that the goal is to communicate clearly to both a five-year-old and a ninety-year-old. - She recounts an anecdote where her father, a 'super critic,' validated her work after she explained her innovation in a simple, clear way, bringing tears to her eyes. - The main takeaway is that innovation, product, and position must be communicated simply and clearly, avoiding unnecessary complexity. ![Screenshot at 00:07: The speaker introduces her three-part framework for building ideas: Curiosity, Experiment, and Storytelling, which must be built with Head, Hands, and Heart.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/uZdrUNpO3Kg/00-00-07.jpg) **Context:** Tejasiwni Kidambi, a Principal Consultant at Infosys Limited and a self-described storyteller, presents her framework for effective communication and innovation at a TEDxSMEC event. She frames her talk around overcoming personal inhibitions, such as the fear of rejection and failure, which she experienced even as an engineering student. Her core message revolves around a simple, three-part framework that integrates intellect, action, and emotion to ensure ideas—whether scientific or otherwise—are clearly understood and remembered by any audience. ## Detailed Analysis Tejasiwni Kidambi begins by confessing she was not the smartest engineer but learned how to be remembered by overcoming her fear of rejection. She introduces her core framework for innovation and communication, which consists of three pillars: Curiosity, Experiment, and Storytelling, emphasizing that these must be built with Head, Hands, and Heart. Curiosity means finding the right problem; Experiment involves failing, learning, and building; and Storytelling demands that real-world rewards provide clarity. She illustrates the importance of storytelling with a brief anecdote about a chef who innovated his samosa pricing (from 4 rupees to 500 rupees) and how this story validated her work for her highly critical father. She then shifts to communication strategy, introducing the KISS acronym: Keep It Short and Simple. To demonstrate this, she poses a riddle: how would you eat grapes, a banana, and a coconut? The expected answers (eat them whole, peel and eat, break open and scrape) highlight the necessity of intuitive, simple communication that works for everyone, from a five-year-old to a ninety-year-old. She stresses that if you can communicate clearly to these two extremes, your job is done. The core challenge, she implies, is avoiding complexity and ensuring that innovation and product positioning are communicated simply and effectively. ### Personal Revelation - I was not a smartest engineer in the class - BUT I learnt how to be remembered - This involved overcoming the fear of failure and rejection. ### Innovation Framework - Building with Head, Hands, and Heart - Curiosity (Find the Right Problem) - Experiment (Fail, Learn & Build) - Storytelling (Real world rewards clarity). ### Communication & Strategy (KISS Principle) - Keep It Short Simple - Simplicity is crucial when communicating to different audiences (5-year-old vs. 90-year-old). ### Anecdote - The Samosa Story - A chef's innovation (samosa price) was validated by the speaker's critical father when she explained it simply, leading to tears of joy. ### Food Analogy - Grapes (eat whole), Banana (peel and eat), Coconut (break, scrape, add sugar) illustrate how the method of consumption (communication) must match the item. ![Screenshot at 00:00: The speaker, Tejasiwni Kidambi, begins her TEDx talk on stage with the TEDx SMEC branding visible.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/uZdrUNpO3Kg/00-00-00.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:08: Slide contrasting her past self \("I was not a smartest engineer in the class"\) with her learned skill \("I learnt how to be remembered"\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/uZdrUNpO3Kg/00-00-08.jpg) ![Screenshot at 05:31: Slide detailing the 'Framework: Building with Head, Hands and Heart' featuring Curiosity, Experiment, and Storytelling.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/uZdrUNpO3Kg/00-05-31.jpg) ![Screenshot at 07:54: Interactive slide posing the question "How would you eat this?" with options: Grapes, Banana, Coconut, used to illustrate simple communication.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/uZdrUNpO3Kg/00-07-54.jpg)