(Spencer J Eggers/ The Daily Campus)

With two fingers in the air and a smile on her face, Katie Couric showed the crowd her best attempt at ponying up.

“I can’t really do the circle around my head because I haven’t been here but two days,” she said with a smile.

Couric, a mainstay on American television, greeted a full house at McFarlin Auditorium to give the Tolleson Lecture in part of the Tate Lecture Series.

In her speech, Couric covered a wide array of topics that spanned the length of her journalism career and the lessons she learned along the way. Couric stressed one in particular.

“Courage is a real requirement for success,” Couric said. “It is something that I rely on daily for my career.”

Throughout her career, Couric has had the chance to interview some of the world’s most prolific people.

However, after her husband, Jay Monahan, died of Stage 4 colon cancer in 1998, Couric’s career changed its focus as the media personality became a strong proponent for cancer research.

“The best thing anyone can do [for Colon cancer research] is to talk to their doctors about being screened and to encourage their family and friends to do so as well,” she said.

Couric also touched on the ever changing media landscape and the slumping American economy.

“No matter how low the S&P and DOW may be, the American dream still exists,” she said.

Couric described her post at “The Today Show” as a “dream job” and explained that her decision to leave the show in 2006 for “The CBS Evening News” was that she could try something different.

However, Couric is returning to lighter fair as she debuts her new talk show simply titled “Katie” in September 2012.

“I missed being me,” Couric said of the career change.

John Angle, a junior in attendance, asked Couric a question during the lecture.

“Katie was one of the best Tate lecturers I have heard and I’ve been to every single one since I was a freshman,” Angle said. “She taught me the importance of a reporter separating themselves from a story no matter what they are covering.”

Couric concluded her speech with the simple phrase, “Pay it forward and pony up.”

At the lecture, SMU announced that Michael Lewis, the author of “Moneyball” and “The Blind Side” is set to replace Meg Whitman as the Omni Hotel lecturer on Jan. 24.