Lessons from the Best TED Speakers
TED and TEDx are all about ideas worth sharing. However, creating and delivering a compelling TEDx Talk is more than just sharing an idea. It’s all about taking that idea and delivering it in a way that resonates with and inspires the audience. A great TED talk starts with a great idea, but there’s so much more to it than that.
Begin with that Well-Formed Idea
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with the saying, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” It’s not about mousetraps, per se; it’s about creating something new, different, and compelling.
A great TEDx idea can be:
New and Surprising – The world is an exciting and huge place. New ideas, concepts, and inventions happen daily. When you find one, share it with the world!
A New Take – The world is also a busy place. New concepts aren’t entirely necessary if you find a hot new take that challenges the status quo.
A well-formed idea goes beyond personal anecdotes or facts and figures. That idea is the basis, but then it has to be developed into a strong takeaway the audience can use in their own lives.
Of course, it must follow the TEDx guidelines. You can deliver a really punchy and hot new take by twisting the truth a bit. However, TED doesn’t allow for political agendas, promotion of products or services, or pseudoscience and unverified claims.
Sorry, folks, no rants and raves about how the government is hiding the mole people allowed.
Deliver it with Authenticity and Passion
A fantastic idea is only as good as the delivery. So many people have incredible ideas, but getting on stage is hard. Speaking in front of people is rough. They freeze, they stutter, and they second-guess if what they are saying is actually compelling.
To overcome this, the best speakers start with their idea, weave in a personal story about how it impacted their life or how they discovered it, verify the claims through research and data, and then conclude with a call to action that the audience can get behind.
Their talk is delivered with passion because they believe it will make the world a better place.
How to Get on the TEDxBillings Stage
Every year TEDxBillings takes applications to speak at our next main event. The applications come pouring in, and often those reviewing them are met with the same thing over and over – a copy paste application that grabs information from their social media profiles, and simply drops it into the app.
Hot tip: we know when you’ve put time into the application and customized it to show off what you’re really all about.
When you’re applying, remember to CROW.
- Clarity – Clearly articulate your central idea. If your big idea isn’t condensed into one or two sentences, it needs work. This strong lead is going to make the organizing team pause and want to learn more about what you have to say.
- Relevance – Why should the audience care about what you have to say? The best TED Talks solve a problem in the world today; it can be social, environmental, corporate, or something else.
- Originality – When a couple dozen life coaches apply, and all of them help people overcome childhood trauma, the ideas tend to be bland. Shake things up, don’t be like everyone else, and stand out with your hot take.
- Wonder – Through it all, you want the organizing team to wonder. They should wonder how you’re going to reinforce your idea, what direction you’ll take them, and wonder (a childhood wonder) how incredible this will be.
When you are accepted, don’t panic. Our team will guide you through the presentation, help you refine it, and coach you so that you don’t just have this thing memorized. It’s now a part of you. Memorization means you know what to say next, but you’ll have this thing down so well that it just flows out of you.
Come Check out the Great TEDxBillings Talks
Our main event is gearing up for September 26, 2025! It’s time to get your tickets, come see the amazing speakers (and performers), and walk away with some fresh new ideas on uncovering your hidden potential.
In the meantime, follow us on social media. You’ll stay informed on what is coming up, when deadlines occur, and perhaps the most important – you’ll get notifications on when we open up applications, so you can submit your idea and become the next great TEDx speaker.
