Angela Samata, presenter of BBC1 ‘Life After Suicide’ shares her story with Year 13

Year 13 students had the privilege of hearing from Angela Samata this week as part of the Beyond CHS lecture series.

Angela presented the BBC1 BAFTA nominated and winner of the Mind Media Award for Best Factual TV documentary, ‘Life After Suicide’ and was part of the line-up of TEDx Manchester 2022, which CHS was proud to sponsor.

Angela shared her personal journey of her husband’s tragic suicide, the reason behind her decision to share her story publicly and how she overcame her fear of public speaking. She spoke honestly about her drive to  dismantle the stigma surrounding mental health struggles and offer support to others with similar challenges. “Impacting just one person made every effort worthwhile,” Angela said.

Angela offered guidance to those facing challenges, whether academic stress or personal issues. Her key takeaway was to empathise that no problem is too insignificant, she told the group, “Often, the smallest worries can linger within us for the longest time, never think your problem is too small.” Angela encouraged students to reach out and speak up, promoting the importance of seeking support and connections. In today’s world, she stressed, communication holds unparalleled power. She told the group that if she can help one person communicate with others, then this reduces the pressure of perfection in her talks.

On the subject of public speaking and her experience on the TEDx stage, Angela emphasised the importance of preparation and how she spent months living and breathing her script, carrying it wherever she went for months ahead. Her top public speaking tips for students were  to practise as much as possible no matter where you are. She spoke about how she ‘walked with her words’, highlighting how the rhythm of movement aided her when speaking on the stage as the same rhythms returned when at TEDx. Her final tip was to record yourself and repeatedly listen back to it, this enabled her to stick to the time frame she had and knew exactly where to pause, take a breath and compose.

The session finished with an engaging Q&A with the Year 13 students.

To watch Angela Samata’s TEDx talk, click here