The TED Commandments

These 10 tips are given to all TED Conference speakers as they prepare their TEDTalks. They will help your TEDx speakers craft talks that will have a profound impact on your audience.

1) Dream big. Strive to create the best talk you have ever given. Reveal something never seen before. Do something the audience will remember forever. Share an idea that could change the world.
2) Show us the real you. Share your passions, your dreams … and also your fears. Be vulnerable. Speak of failure as well as success.
3) Make the complex plain. Don’t try to dazzle intellectually. Don’t speak in abstractions. Explain! Give examples. Tell stories. Be specific.
4) Connect with people’s emotions. Make us laugh! Make us cry!
5) Don’t flaunt your ego. Don’t boast. It’s the surest way to switch everyone off.
6) No selling from the stage! Unless we have specifically asked you to, do not talk about your company or organization. And don’t even think about pitching your products or services or asking for funding from stage.
7) Feel free to comment on other speakers’ talks, to praise or to criticize. Controversy energizes! Enthusiastic endorsement is powerful!
8) Don’t read your talk. Notes are fine. But if the choice is between reading or rambling, then read!
9) End your talk on time. Doing otherwise is to steal time from the people that follow you. We won’t allow it.
10) Rehearse your talk in front of a trusted friend … for timing, for clarity, for impact.

Additionally, here are some TEDTalks we found to be particularly effective:

- One of the showstopping talks for TEDxMiddlebury 2011
– A brilliant, thoughtful, and well developed TED talk
- A great example of a short, but clever talk that does not take itself too seriously

Some logistics of note:

Be aware that you will be cut off after 4 minutes, so plan your talk appropriately. Additionally, regardless of the reason for which students may be away from campus during the November 8th event we simply cannot accomodate student speaker presentations, whether prerecorded or a live video stream. We apologize to those inconvenienced by this decision.

All talk submissions must be received by November 5th at midnight, though we will be  in touch with presentors before that date to confirm involvement.