Sami Jo's Speech Analysis

Sami Jo Small, three time Women's Hockey Olympian, spoke at the Crescent School TEDx in Toronto, Ontario on June 20, 2014. Sami Jo discussed her experience as a player in a boy’s hockey team to her membership in the Canadian Woman’s Hockey League. Sami Jo claims that team members should focus on the success of the team rather on their own personal feelings of failure in difficult times. She uses her experience to establish the idea that teams are made of various roles. It is important for members to overcome personal feelings of failure in order to contribute to the team’s success. She outlines her experiences and explains her decision to be proud of her accomplishments by refocusing on being the best team player she can be, regardless of her role.
To reinforce her viewpoint of embracing all roles of teamwork and the transformative ability of choosing to be positive, Sami Jo refers to her life as a member of both a boy’s and woman’s ice hockey team. She logically explained her background starting from the beginning, Sami Jo a five-year old with a passion to play ice hockey like her older brother. From the beginning of her story, she illustrates the many difficulties she’s been faced with. Her parents were told she should not play hockey

She shared her motto more than once in her speech, even when we do not choose our role, we can choose how we act in that role (TedTalk, 2014). Most people prefer to accept roles they feel comfortable with. When a member is requested to take on a new role and the role feels ambiguous, there may be feelings of stress, loss and changes in that individual’s behavior (Griffith & Dunham, 2015, p. 22 -23). However, when team culture fosters commitment, respect and open communication, those individuals are able to choose to harness the shared culture which can work as a positive motivator (Griffith & Dunham, 2015, p.