HALT founder Jeremy Forbes delivered his 12-minute speech last week in front of 600 people at the Hordern Pavillion in Sydney, detailing his organisation’s whole-of-community approach to suicide prevention.

The TED Talk phenomena sees a speaker deliver an address on an inspiring topic about which they have an intimate knowledge, all from within the confines of a red circle on stage. Videos of the most popular talks have attracted almost 50 million views.  

Notable Australians who have taken on the challenge include musician Megan Washington, who disclosed her struggle with stuttering, and the late disability advocate Stella Young. 

“I’m very proud that something I've started in Castlemaine has grown to other communities and it’s just reaching across Australia,” Mr Forbes said.

He hoped his audience were left with a better understanding of the need for “repsectful conversations and for men to open up”.

Read more: Action needed to halt deaths

“I talk about the need to be a good listener, a respectful listener and give trust when it comes to those serious conversations,” Mr Forbes said. 

“I also talked about the need for there to be training around the signs and symtoms across the whole community – not just tradies.”

Since first offering mental health support to tradespeople and their families, HALT has since offered its services in the TAFE and emergency services sectors, in sports clubs and to members of the farming communitiy.

But it was a message that needed to be spread around the world, he said. In preparing for his speech, Mr Forbes looked for global statistics about suicide. He was stunned at the results.

The World Health Organisation estimates about 800,000 people take their own lives every year, which is one person every 40 seconds.

Seventy-eight per cent of suicides in 2015 occurred in low- and middle-income countries.

It is the world’s second leading cause of death among those aged between 15 and 29.

Mr Forbes’ TED talk ​will appear online early in 2018.