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13 Essential TED Talks You Must Listen to When Starting a Business

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Starting a new business is exciting.

It’s also challenging.

There are so many factors at play. And, any of them can work for or against you.

Generating a winning idea, writing a business plan , securing financing, analyzing the market, choosing a business model, and defining your startup’s brand identity are some of the essential ingredients to the success of any startup.

But, while it’s impossible to anticipate every possible challenge, you can gain a well-rounded entrepreneurship education that will give your new startup its best chance for success.

And, we’ve done the legwork for you.  You’ll find the results of our deep dive into the TED archives below – 13 TED Talks that will prepare (and inspire) you for the challenges ahead.

Here are 13 TED Talks startup entrepreneurs shouldn't miss:

• How Great Leaders Inspire Action
• The Secret of How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
• How to Get Your Ideas to Spread
• The Single Biggest Reason Why Start-ups Succeed
• Choice, Happiness & Spaghetti Sauce
• How to Run a Company with (Almost) No Rules
• Do Not Fail Fast - Fail Mindfully
• How to Pitch to a VC
• The Fastest Startup Ever Created (Probably)
• How to Make Stress Your Friend
• How to Motivate Yourself to Change Your Behavior
• The Power of Vulnerability
• 3 Questions to Ask Yourself About Everything You Do

What you should know about starting a business

The TED Talks in this first section address the practical, philosophical, and strategic aspects of launching a new business or startup.

The “business of the business,” if you will. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

1. How Great Leaders Inspire Action – Simon Sinek

There is a simple guiding principle that can help you define your brand, steer your marketing, win loyal customers, and make you a stronger leader.

Author and leadership expert Simon Sinek explains that simple guiding principle in his TED Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.”

Sinek’s Talk has been viewed over 54 million times – and for a good reason. Sinek’s Golden Circle should inform the very foundation of your startup.

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2. The Secret of How to Think Like an Entrepreneur – Amy Wilkinson

Amy Wilkinson knows entrepreneurship.

She’s interviewed 200 entrepreneurs. The lessons that Amy shares in this TED Talk come from entrepreneurial heavyweights – the founders of Paypal, Youtube, Facebook, inventors of life-saving cancer drugs, and more.

In Amy’s presentation, she discusses specific, actionable skills that can help every person think like a successful entrepreneur.

Amy will introduce you to the “OODA Loop,” reveal why it’s valuable to bring in an outsider to increase the diversity of your team’s perspective (spoiler alert: this is probably not the reason you expect), share what it means to fail wisely, and explain the importance of “gifting small goods.”

3. How to Get Your Ideas to Spread – Seth Godin

It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is if no one knows about it.

One of the most brutal truths of launching a startup is that the most fantastic ideas can fail if they aren’t marketed properly.

Author, entrepreneur, and marketing expert Seth Godin has made it his life’s goal to understand and overcome that challenge.

In this TED Talk, Godin explains how you can make sure your audience knows about your ideas.

4. The Single Biggest Reason Why Start-ups Succeed – Bill Gross

Bill Gross is both a serial entrepreneur and a student of the science of startups.

He’s the founder of IdeaLab – a startup incubator that helped launch more than 100 companies over 20 years. And, after watching many of those companies fail – he set out to learn why.

Why did businesses with such great potential fail to meet the high hopes their founders, employees, and investors all shared?

So, Gross investigated which factors accounted for those businesses’ success or failure.  And, his research led him to discover the single most influential reason why startups succeed. The reason may surprise you.

5. Choice, Happiness and Spaghetti Sauce – Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell, renowned author of New York Times Bestsellers “The Tipping Point,” “Blink,” and “Outliers,” offers up a very unique and powerful TED Talk that no entrepreneur should miss.

In business – and in life – we’re often told to find the correct answer .

But, Gladwell shares research that decimates that concept. There is rarely a single definitive answer.

Instead, Gladwell’s insights reveal the importance of learning the diversity of correct answers – and building your business around those.

From choosing your startup’s niche to planning your specific products, this TED Talk has the potential to impact every layer of your business.

6. How to Run a Company with (Almost) No Rules – Ricardo Semler

Ricardo Semler simultaneously ran a successful conglomerate while also creating what he calls his “empty bucket list.”

The unique work/life balance he enjoyed inspired him to rethink the structure of his business .

This revolutionary TED Talk discusses how Semler dismantled traditional corporate barriers to redefine his employees’ working lives. Which, in turn, gave them the freedom to live fuller lives.

Startups are uniquely positioned to define not only their products, services, mission statements , and brands – but also the kind of company they want to be.

Ricardo Semler shares a blueprint for how your startup can put its people first and achieve success.

7. Don’t Fail Fast – Fail Mindfully – Leticia Gasca

Conventional business wisdom tells us to fail fast so we can get busy learning from our mistakes.

And, most entrepreneurs launch their businesses anticipating that they will beat the odds and succeed.

But, the reality is often somewhere in between.

Failure isn’t the alternative to success. It’s a frequent pit stop on the journey to success.

And, how you deal with failure is more important than whether or not you fail.

Leticia Gasca’s Talk “Don’t Fail Fast – Fail Mindfully” demystifies failure and provides entrepreneurs with a new, more helpful framework through which to view it.

8. How to Pitch to a VC – David S. Rose

David  S. Rose is known as “The Pitch Coach.”

He’s raised millions of dollars for his businesses as an entrepreneur. And, he’s funded millions of other companies as an investor. This experience positions him perfectly to coach others on how to pitch to investors.

Pitching to a venture capitalist is a rite of passage that many startup entrepreneurs must face – and most dread. But, it’s vitally important. Raising the necessary funds to launch a business is the hurdle that stops many startups from ever getting off the ground.

So, tune in and learn how to nail the single most crucial element of your start-up pitch – you .

9. The Fastest Start-up Ever Created (Probably) –  James Alexander

In this action-oriented TEDx Talk, James Alexander launches a startup in just 10 minutes.

Philosophy and strategy are all well and good. But, sometimes, what you need is to see where the rubber meets the road. And Alexander’s talk is informative, inspiring, and accessible.

So, if you’re looking for a detailed step-by-step, check out this practical, big-picture roadmap to launching a startup.

Personal management

Launching and running a startup requires a lot of work on the business itself.

But, many entrepreneurs ignore the fact that it also requires a lot of internal work.

You are the most critical asset – or hindrance – to your startup.

And, looking at what you’re bringing to the table may be uncomfortable. But, it’s essential if you want to succeed.

Here are a few of the top TED Talks for helping you become the best entrepreneur you can be.

10. How to Make Stress Your Friend – Kelly McGonigal

Kelly McGonigal is a health psychologist. And, she’s got some vital information for you.

Because, as an entrepreneur, you will face stress.

And, how you deal with that stress will determine whether it kicks your butt (leading to poor health or early death) or fuels your life.

Kelly’s talk is a science-based examination of how stress – and, more importantly, our perception of stress – impacts your health. And, she shares some vital information about what you can do about it.

11. How to Motivate Yourself to Change Your Behavior – Tali Sharot

Tali Sharot knows your brain better than you do. She’s a neuroscientist.

And, if you’re serious about starting a successful business, you’re going to need to master a pretty wily foe – your behavior.

Whether you battle procrastination, perfectionism, task-hoarding, or any other productivity-inhibiting habits, there will come a time when you need to change your behavior to enable your business to grow.

Sharot offers physiological insight into your mind, what motivates it, and how to initiate lasting change.

12. The Power of Vulnerability

Brené Brown is, in her own words, a researcher/storyteller. She is also an author, professor, and expert on shame, vulnerability, connection, and leadership.

Brown’s groundbreaking work into shame, vulnerability, and human connection began with six years of research and thousands of data points. She shares the highlights of her conclusions in this outrageously popular (at the time of this writing, over 52 million views) TED Talk “The Power of Vulnerability.”

While entrepreneurship is often regarded as a solo endeavor, it requires vulnerability and connection.

And, the truth is you cannot create a startup in a vacuum.

You must connect with clients, customers, investors, and vendors. Creativity, innovation, and growth all depend upon vulnerability. And, you can’t inspire and lead employees without authenticity and connection.

Brené Brown’s insights will prepare you to conduct business authentically, dare greatly, connect, and grow.

13. 3 Questions to Ask Yourself About Everything You Do – Stacey Abrams

Success is rarely simple or easy.

And, most things worth doing (like starting your own business) come with setbacks.

Stacey Abrams knows a little something about success and setbacks.

In this TED Talk, she shares three vital questions. Questions that – when answered thoroughly and honestly – will equip you to plan, try, regroup, and try again.

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Topic: TED Talks

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This lesson includes a lot of speaking practice. Students watch a video about what makes a protest successful and analyse some strategies. 

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Trees – an essential part of cities

In this lesson, students will watch a video about the important role of trees in urban areas, answer multiple choice questions and learn several (advanced) collocations and expressions related to the topic of green cities. 

The humble hoodie

In this lesson about the history of the hoodie, your students will discover the origins of this iconic garment (and some others) and learn several adjectives for talking about clothes.

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England’s most eccentric dresser

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How unconscious bias affects your chances of getting a job

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Use this flipped lesson plan to do conditionals review, teach your students new vocab and practise using new language items orally.

Why is spoken poetry awesome?

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Home > Blog > Speaking 101 > How To Write A TED Talk Outline From Scratch

How To Write A TED Talk Outline From Scratch

Whether you’re reading this as an aspiring speaker or having just booked your first TED appearance, it’s no secret that TED Talks can be a huge boost for a professional speaker. According to past TED speakers, in fact, giving one can be game-changing in terms of both reputation and speaking fees. That said, prepping for a TED talk isn’t just gratefulness and excitement. It can also be a source of nerves, due to their unique format and the prestige of the TED Organization . Fortunately, mastering how to write a TED Talk outline doesn’t have to be painful. In this guide, we’re going to cover all the steps to knocking one out in no time. 

Before we get into detail, please note that this guide focuses on the technical aspects of writing TED Talk outlines. In other words, while we at SpeakerFlow have no trouble compiling resources, none of us have given a TED Talk. In light of that, I highly recommend also reaching out to other TED or TEDx speakers in your network to learn about their experience and how they recommend preparing for a TED event. That way, when the event itself comes, you’ll be fully prepared and ready to dazzle your audience. ✨

Choose the main idea of your TED Talk.

First, before you begin writing your TED Talk outline, identify the main idea of your talk. Although you may not explicitly state it until the end, this idea will serve as the foundation for your presentation. As such, it should build off your experience as an industry expert while fitting the theme of the TED event. 

One way to approach this is to review past TED Talks to see where they overlap with your primary discipline. One of the most popular, for example, is “ The Danger of a Single Story ” by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In her talk, Adichie mentions that “Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize”. Although she is presenting this idea as it relates to books, the same argument can also be applied to political conversations, social media – any field in which exploring new ideas is key. Likewise, looking at your own field, compare how it lines up with other TED Talks. It may be the source of inspiration you’re looking for. 

Alternatively, another way to approach your main idea is by asking the following questions from TED: “Is my idea new?,” “Is it interesting?” and “Is it factual and realistic?” Ideally, your main idea should check each of these boxes while also corresponding with your area of expertise. That way, you not only share a great idea. You also ensure that you have the greatest possible chance of connecting with your audience. After all, the purpose of TED Talks is sharing “ideas worth spreading” and, consequently, “chang[ing] attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world”. Your TED Talk outline and its main idea should aim to do the same. 

Choose a personal experience that relates to your idea.

Next, after choosing your main idea, ask yourself how it relates to your personal and professional life. What led you to your conclusion about your main idea? Who have you met that’s shaped this idea? How has your stance regarding your main idea changed over time? All of these questions are starting points, but the goal is to take your main idea and summarize how it relates to you, not as a speaker but as a human being. 

Within the TED Talk archive, a great example of this is Monica Lewinsky’s 2015 TED Talk, “ The Price of Shame “. In this lecture, Lewinsky outlines some of the long-term negative effects of public shaming including anxiety, depression, and, in extreme cases, suicide. However, she also opens up about her own all-too-famous scandal with former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and how the public shaming that followed made her life painful for decades after. In this way, she not only shows her audience the subject of public shaming from her point of view. She also successfully connects with them, reinforcing her primary argument that those targeted by public shaming are still human and even virtual shaming can have detrimental effects. 

In your own TED Talk outline, sharing your experience will accomplish the same thing. Standing on stage, it can be tempting to assume that because you’re in the spotlight, your audience will listen. Yet, any member of your audience (and on the TED team) will tell you that simply isn’t true. As a result, keep in mind that connection comes first from emotional investment. Be yourself and be vulnerable and your main idea will immediately become more intriguing for those watching you, guaranteed. 

Break your idea into manageable pieces or steps.

At this point, it’s time to break your main idea into easily digestible pieces of information. These pieces will make up the sections of your TED Talk outline, ultimately making your talk, as a whole, easier for the audience to understand and remember. It will also make it easier for you to memorize, as it’s generally recommended that you not use notecards during your presentation. 

One common structure is the argumentative approach. In this case, the term “argumentative” doesn’t mean “antagonistic.” Instead, it refers to typical discussion structure, like an argument in a professional debate. In a TED Talk setting, this generally includes three sections. First, introduce your main idea and any background information. Second, present evidence for the main idea, so as to prove your point. Lastly, give your conclusion, based on the evidence provided. In essence, this takes your audience through your thought process, ideally leading them to your conclusion in the process. This structure works well if you have a controversial idea for which you know you’ll have audience pushback or doubt.

Alternatively, for easy-to-accept ideas, another common structure is the step-by-step approach. Here, the main idea and benefits of accepting it are clear. However, after your introduction, the audience is still left asking, “How can I make that happen?” In this case, your TED Talk outline would have sections devoted to each step of the process that answers this question. In this situation, your audience enters your TED Talk interested but apprehensive and leaves confident that they can accomplish the goal your main idea describes.

Again, with these or any structure, your main goals are to (a) bring your audience to your point of view and (b) give them the tools to turn your words into action after they leave the TED auditorium. 

Write your outline using your experience as the intro and your steps as the body section. 

By now, you have all of the necessary components of your presentation in mind. Now, it’s time to build them into a cohesive TED Talk outline. Your outline, as a whole, should begin with a strong introduction, expand into a concise but thorough explanation of your main idea, and end with a reminder of how and why acting on your main idea is necessary. Combined, this invisible structure is a proven way to attract and retain your audience’s attention, as demonstrated by many past TED speakers. Luckily, many of these speakers have also shared their insights, so you can follow their lead and give an equally stellar performance of your own. Below are a few of their most valuable tips and tricks.  

Crafting the Introduction of Your TED Talk Outline

First, begin your TED Talk outline with a powerful introduction. This component of your speech is arguably the most important, as the more easily you can capture your audience’s attention initially, the more likely they are to stay engaged. It’s also important that your introduction provides a clear and easy-to-understand explanation of your main idea. Although the bulk of your explanation will take place in the next section of your TED Talk, the body, giving a simple explanation at the beginning of your Talk doesn’t just lay the groundwork for the rest of your evidence. It also demonstrates, to your audience, that your idea isn’t daunting. That way, they’re able to listen to your later call(s) to action (or your field as a whole) and think, “I guess this isn’t too complicated for me to take an interest in.”

To accomplish these goals, many speakers recommend building your introduction around the personal experience you chose back in Step #2. This allows you to relate more closely to your audience, lead up to the introduction of your main idea, and grab your audience’s attention all in one swift motion. In the event that your main idea is a heavy topic, beginning with a humorous story can also help lighten the tone of your Talk, making it easier for you to be frank with your audience without being depressing. In short, your introduction should be interesting but not overkill, honest but not harsh, and explanatory but not wordy. Remember, it’s only the prelude to the bulk of your TED Talk outline. 

TED’s Introduction Tips

• Be quick and concise (i.e. don’t dance around your main idea).
• Focus on the audience, not yourself.
• Avoid stereotypical openings to presentations (dictionary definition, list of statistics, etc).
• For a well-known main idea, start by clearly stating it.
• For a lesser-known main idea or an idea in a lesser-known field, start by explaining a related topic or idea that is well-known. Then, link that back to your main idea.
• For emotional or heavy topics, start by candidly stating it. Avoid being candid to the point of being harsh, and avoid anything that suggests you’re trying to force an emotional reaction. 

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Building the Body of Your TED Talk Outline

After constructing the introduction, it’s time to draft the body of your TED Talk outline. For this part of your Talk, the focus should be on retaining your audience’s attention and providing sufficient evidence to support your main idea. Here, it’s important to again provide balance, showcasing necessary information for your thesis but not so much that your audience loses interest or gets confused. In addition, the body of your outline should build upon your introduction and provide next steps for your audience to take with them, once your TED Talk is over. That way, your main idea lives beyond the room and the audience is guaranteed a more impactful presentation. 

To meet these objectives, the best TED speakers use the “manageable pieces” we covered back in Step #3 to build a sort of story or handbook. For the former, each piece is a different event that leads into the conclusion, or the happy or sad ending of your story. This is especially useful if you’re focusing on an emotional topic or lacing your personal experience throughout the content of your presentation. For the later, each piece is more evidence-oriented with each piece acting as support for your main claim. Contrary to the “story” layout, this structure is used largely in science-oriented presentations, where strong empirical evidence is mandatory. 

In essence, regardless of the route you choose, each “piece” is a different subsection of this section of your Talk. This allows you to build on top of each individual piece of information and, in doing so, bring your audience to understand and accept your conclusion. 

TED’s Body Paragraph(s) Tips

• Build a list of the evidence you want to cite in your presentation, keeping in mind that you will need more evidence surrounding things you need to convince your audience of. Then, with the help of a friend or daily member (not a colleague), remove any evidence that isn’t absolutely essential to your argument. 
• Focus on new information. If you must include basic information, for the sake of introducing more advanced information, keep it brief.
• Use empirical evidence, not anecdotal evidence.
• Keep your verbiage simple. If you must use complex terminology, leave time to briefly explain it. 
• Acknowledge and politely address any contradictions to your main idea. These include, according to TED speakers, “controversies in your claims, legitimate counterarguments, reasons you might be wrong, or doubts your audience might have about your idea.”
• Use slides to help explain complex or pivotal points in your presentation. For slides with citations, be sure to keep your citation confined to a corner of the screen, so that it doesn’t detract from the primary content of the slide.

Forming the Conclusion of Your TED Talk Outline

Lastly, every good TED Talk ends with a killer conclusion. As mentioned a few times in this guide, there are two things that your conclusion should be above all else: positive and compelling. While the body paragraphs of your TED Talk outline are all about explaining your main idea, your conclusion should drive home why it’s important. It should also communicate this in a positive way. Even for tough topics and uncomfortable situations, the purpose of TED Talks is to showcase problems and propose solutions. That way, members of the audience can approach them not only with well-rounded knowledge about the issue at hand but also with an “I can handle this” attitude. 

Depending on your personal style, there are many ways you can accomplish these goals and end on a high note. Some speakers opt for a joke, others an inspirational quote, and still others a straightforward reminder of why the audience should care. Keeping those options in mind, below are the most commonly-cited conclusion tips from past TED speakers. 

TED’s Conclusion Tips

• End on a high note. Your audience should, ideally, leave with a sense of positivity towards you and your main idea. 
• End, if appropriate, with a call to action and a reminder of why your main idea is worth implementing in their lives.
• Avoid ending with transactional language or anything sales-related (book cover, company logo, etc.). The goal of the talk is to share ideas, not promote a specific individual, business, product, or service. 

Support your TED Talk outline with visual aids.

The next step in preparing for your TED Talk is adding visual aids. For many presentations, visual aids are immensely helpful both for the audience and the presenter. If you’re explaining a complex process, for example, a visual diagram can make it easier to understand. Likewise, if you’re describing a story, including images of the people involved can help your audience better follow along. In short, while you shouldn’t rely on visual aids to communicate your message on their own, they should act as supporting characters in your presentation. 

One example of this is the 2012 TED Talk, “ Strange Answers To The Psychopath Test ” from British writer and documentarian Jon Ronson. In this Talk, Ronson tells the story of his experience with a criminal who faked psychopathy in order to avoid prison time. Although it’s not a complicated story, Ronson’s slides provide a visual for the audience to follow as he explains his conversations with Tony, the aforementioned criminal. First and foremost, this makes it effortless to follow along with his story, despite any tangents or jokes that may otherwise distract from the “plot”. Secondarily, each slide also allows Ronson to add an extra “punch” to the comedic twists of his story. This makes his TED Talk, as a whole, not only engaging but also memorable, as the audience leaves with both visual and audible memories of the experience. 

To sum things up, although visual aids aren’t always necessary, they can provide support for your main idea and make it more notable for the members of your audience. Keep this in mind, as your write your TED Talk outline. Then, consider simple explanatory slides where your outline could use some reinforcement.

Practice reading your TED Talk outline aloud (to be sure it’s not too long).

Next, after your outline and visual aids are prepared, it’s time to practice. It goes without saying that more practice only leads to a better presentation in the end. However, in the case of a TED Talk, practice is equally important when it comes to staying beneath the 18-minute time limit. According to the TED Organization, this limit is non-negotiable, regardless of the speaker or the complexity of their chosen topic. This is for two reasons, the first of which is the audience’s attention span. As TED puts it , “We’ve found that a carefully prepared presentation of this length can have an astonishing impact.” In other words, 18 minutes allows the speaker enough time to share their idea without risking the attention of the crowd. The second reason is simply to create a level playing field. That way, no speaker is given preference based on their idea or their reputation. 

That said, depending on the setting, the length of a TED-affiliated presentation can range from fewer than six minutes to the maximum 18-minute limit. Part of this depends on the platform in which your Talk takes place. If you’re speaking at a TEDx event , it may be shorter. If you’re speaking at the annual, five-day TED Conference , it may be longe. For virtual speakers, it may even be extended to allow for additional audience engagement, such as a post-talk Q&A session. 

Essentially, the length of your TED Talk and, by extension, your TED Talk outline, is contingent on the setting, size, and budget of the event hosting you although it should be around 18 minutes. To be sure you’re under the limit, verify your limit with the event organizer. Then, practice performing your outline, cutting it down as needed to meet that limit. 

Practice and refine your outline until you’re 100% confident in it.

Finally, once you have your outline prepared to meet the time limit, there’s only one thing left to do: practice. As any professional speaker will tell you, nothing bad comes of over-preparing for an event. Likewise, when preparing for a TED Talk, the most beneficial thing you can do is rehearse as much as possible. 

In fact, the following excerpt sums up the recommendations of TED event organizers and TED speakers better than I could:

“We can’t stress this enough. Rehearse until you’re completely comfortable in front of other people: different groups of people, people you love, people you fear, small groups, large groups, peers, people who aren’t experts in your field. Listen to the criticisms and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. If someone says you sound ‘over-rehearsed,’ this actually means you sound stilted and unnatural. Keep rehearsing, and focus on talking like you’re speaking to just one person in a spontaneous one-way conversation.”

To summarize, if you want to write a solid TED Talk outline, the greatest thing you can do, besides preparing your main idea and personal experience, is practice as much as you can. That way, whether you’re nervous on stage or just nervous about the TED stage in particular, you’ll be able to confidently deliver your Talk and meet the TED goal of “chang[ing] attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world” head-on.

For more detailed information about the TED Organization and its events, check out our previous blog, “ What Is A TED Talk? The Fundamentals of TED Explained “. Additionally, for TED Talk outline tips and tricks straight from the TED team, see their TEDx Speaker Guide or their Illustrated Guide for TEDx Speakers . 👍

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How to Write a TED Talk: 4 Key Steps

• George Close
• July 3, 2024

Table of Contents

Giving a TED talk is an incredibly rewarding experience that allows you to share your message with the world, but crafting the perfect talk can be challenging. In order to captivate your audience and present your idea in a compelling manner, you need to carefully plan every aspect of your presentation with creativity and a deep understanding of your message.

In this article, we’ll explain how to write a TED talk successfully, breaking down the major steps involved in every part of the process and providing helpful advice so your talk can be the best possible presentation of your idea worth sharing.

Step 1: Find Your Big Idea

The first and most important step in crafting compelling TED or TEDx talks is finding your big idea. If you’re wondering how to write a TED talk, you may already know what this idea is. But if not, here are some of the most important aspects of a successful TED topic:

A New Perspective

TED or TEDx talks are not like other public speaking keynotes; instead, TED is looking for speakers who want to share new ideas (or new takes on old ideas) with the world. They want to catch the next big idea before the world knows about it.

This is why, if you’re an aspiring or actual professional public speaker, your TED talk will need to be different to your normal talk. In fact, TED generally discourages public speakers simply because they want ideas that haven’t been covered before.

A good rule of thumb is that if you can find other speakers sharing the same message, it probably won’t make a good TED talk. Trying to think of something no one has thought of before can seem impossible, but you don’t have to completely reinvent the wheel. In fact, the most successful TED talks are usually fresh perspectives on popular topics.

A Concise Message

Another thing to keep in mind when developing your TED talk topic is that the structure is also very different to regular keynote talks. This is because of a particular defining feature of TED talks: brevity. TED places an absolute limit on length at 18 minutes, but this is a cap, not a goal. Most TED speakers will be old to aim for either 3, 6 or 9 minute talks.

For this reason, it’s important to make your topic as concise as possible. Don’t structure it around 3 points or 5 steps. Focus your talk on one single idea and build around that clear and concise message. Everything in your talk should be focused on that foundational premise.

An Idea Within Your Area of Expertise

Another important aspect of your idea is your relationship to it. TED is looking for speakers who are uniquely qualified to speak on the topic they propose for a talk. This may sound intimidating, especially if you don’t have any relevant educational qualification, but this doesn’t always mean having a PhD in a field.

It can just as easily be a unique perspective on your topic through personal experience. This kind of personal connection to an idea makes your talk resonate more effectively with your audience.

Something that You’re Passionate About

When choosing an idea to build a TED talk around, it’s important to select something you’re deeply passionate about. An audience can tell how passionate a speaker is about what they’re speaking on. Even if you have a fresh idea and a unique perspective on a subject, a lack of passion will make it difficult for an audience to resonate with what you’re saying. After all, why should they care more than you do?

Meeting an Unmet Need

A big part of giving a TED talk is attempting to meet an unmet need in the world. This can be related to large-scale social and cultural issues, but it can be as simple as helping people meet a goal or gain a valuable new perspective. If your area of expertise and passion is relatively niche, try to hone your idea into a more universal goal or need that people have.

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Step 2: Structure Your Talk Effectively

Developing your core idea is a good start, but you still need to develop it into a full TED talk. As you do this, there are a few key principles to keep in mind. Here are some of the ways to make sure your talk is structured effectively:

Begin With the End in Mind

Have you ever gotten to the end of speech and been left wondering, “What was the point of that?” You don’t want your audience to be left with that feeling. That’s why, before trying to build the peripheral aspects of your talk, you should have a concrete idea of the destination you want your audience to arrive at by the end of the talk. Then, throughout your preparation, you should always keep that destination in mind as you work backwards to get your audience to that point.

As Grant Baldwin explains in his book, The Successful Speaker , you should always deliver your talk with two crucial questions in mind: “So what?” and “Now what?” “So what?” asks why your audience should care about your topic and how it applies to them, and “Now what?” asks what actionable steps they should take as a result.

Tell a Story

The next important thing to do when developing a TED talk is to structure your talk around a story. Academic lectures tend to be very matter-of-fact, with the speaker telling the audience what the message is at the outset and then elaborating, but this method makes for an ineffective and boring TED talk.

Instead, try to develop your TED talk around a story. You want your talk to captivate your audience, and humans love stories. We relate to them on an intuitive and emotional level, making this speaking strategy incredibly effective.

Some speakers wondering how to write a TED talk may be intimidated by the fact that they don’t have any relevant personal anecdotes from their life which relate to their topic, but this doesn’t have to stop you from using a story to your advantage. First, make sure you’ve tried thinking outside the box. A story may not appear to have any relevance to your topic initially, but it’s often possible to tie seemingly irrelevant stories in.

However, if you still can’t think of any way to tie your own lived experience to your topic, it’s okay to use stories about others or a case study instead. These don’t have the same emotional impact as your own story, but it’s better than not telling a story at all.

An important step in building a successful TED talk is outlining your talk. This can help you structure your talk without getting stuck in the finer details of delivery. Writing a top-level outline of your talk can also help you have a better grasp of the flow of your talk, leading to a more coherent and purposeful delivery.

Because of the time limit, don’t make your outline too extensive or ambitious. Your top 3 headings should be the introduction, body and conclusion of your talk. Under those sections, write your top points, but don’t try to be too exhaustive yet. It’s best to grasp the overall structure of the talk before trying to memorize the rest of it.

Step 3: Build Out Your Talk

Write out your material.

Now that you have a basic idea of the overall structure, it’s time to fill in your outline with specifics. Because of the brief nature of TED talks, it’s important to plan every aspect of your presentation in detail.

This isn’t a situation where some notecards and improvisation skill will suffice. You’ll need to have an exhaustive understanding of your material from the opening line to the conclusion and everything in between.

That’s why it’s recommended that you write out your material, carefully crafting your lines, transitions, jokes and stories to resonate as well as possible with your audience. However, you absolutely should not expect to read off of a written script or teleprompter when delivering your talk.

Audience members can tell when you’re reading a talk instead of delivering it, and this almost always leads them to disengage. Instead, you should memorize the entirety of your talk to the point where you can deliver your talk without referencing any notes or prompts.

Craft a Compelling Opening

A big part of delivering a successful TED talk is grabbing the audience’s attention from the moment you take the stage. The opening lines of your talk should be a carefully planned hook to accomplish this goal. Depending on your topic, this can be done in several different ways.

Some common examples include making a statement that will surprise or shock the audience, asking a question that grabs their attention by making them think or opening with a profound quote. However you choose to open your talk, it should set up the remainder of your talk and provide an overarching question or or conflict that will be resolved by your conclusion.

Use Visual Aids Sparingly

Sometimes, a TED speaker will make the mistake of attempting to have their entire presentation on visual aids such as Keynote or PowerPoint slides. In reality, visual aids should be used sparingly, if at all. After all, if your audience can simply read everything you’re telling them on your slides, why do they even need you?

Instead, you should build your talk first and then determine if slides would enhance your TED talk or merely direct audience attention elsewhere. There are instances where slides can be useful, however. For example, if you’re telling a story about your life, a well-placed picture can help put the audience in your shoes.

Slides can also be useful when representing complex data that involves numbers and statistics. When these are shown visually, such as on a graph, audiences are more likely to understand how statistics support your idea.

Write a Conclusion that Resonates

As you write the conclusion for your TED talk, make sure it ties the speech together in a satisfying way. Succinctly restate your conclusion with a key takeaway, and resolve any questions or mysteries you left hanging earlier in the talk.

As always, keep the questions “So what?” and “Now what?” at the front of your mind. Make sure the audience has a clear understanding of how your topic applies to them, and deliver a key takeaway and actionable steps they can take as a result of what you tell them.

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Step 4: Enhance Your Presentation

Rehearse your talk.

Rehearsing your TED talk will help you deliver your thoughts with confidence and effectiveness. As we’ve discussed, even the finest details of TED talks should be planned and practiced in advance. Start your rehearsal process by practicing to yourself, mostly paying attention to pacing and timing.

You should be able to give your entire presentation within the allotted time slot without rushing your delivery or dragging things out. If you can’t, you may need to either cut unnecessary material from your talk or add material to fill out the time.

Once you’ve rehearsed the talk by yourself several times and have a good feel for pacing, try giving the talk to friends and family members while asking for feedback. You should also ask if you have any noticeable verbal tics – words like “um” or “uh” that you use too often. Even some connecting phrases like “in fact” or “and then” can be distracting if used too much. It’s better to work these out in rehearsal before you take the TED stage.

By the end of the process, you should have rehearsed your talk dozens – if not hundreds – of times. You should have an intuitive and natural feel for the material, being able to effectively deliver transitions, stories and jokes in a way that feels natural. The more you practice the talk, the better your presentation will be.

Practice Your Stage Presence

While practicing the material itself is incredibly important, it’s not the only part of your TED talk you should rehearse. Body language is also a huge part of engaging your audience, and can immensely influence the way your audience perceives you. Watch other talks from TED events online and try to pick up on how the most successful of these speakers use body language to their advantage.

You should try to come off as relaxed, but passionate about your topic. Standing up straight with an open posture can make you appear confident, but approachable. Eye contact is also important to an effective stage presence. Practice making eye contact with different parts of your audience. This creates a connection and makes your talk feel more personal. You should avoid staring down at all costs. Instead, focus on the audience as if you were having a conversation with them.

During your early rehearsals, you should keep the focus on your material, but as you get a better grasp of that, increasingly focus on your posture, gestures and facial expressions. Incorporate movement into your practice sessions and video your rehearsal. This can be incredibly insightful, especially when you compare your movements to other TED talks.

Walking around the stage can help your talk come off as more dynamic and engaging, but you should be careful not to overdo it to the point of causing distraction. Body language should complement your speech, not overshadow it.

As you can see, crafting a successful TED talk is an involved process that goes beyond simply having a great idea. By following the steps we’ve outlined in this article, you can build a memorable and impactful talk that will leave a lasting impression on your audience.

As you pursue this process, keep your passion for your topic at the forefront. With careful preparation and a genuine desire to share your ideas, you can deliver a TED talk that not only captivates your audience but also contributes meaningfully to the wider world.

• Last Updated: July 3, 2024

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How to Create Your TED Talk: An 8-Step Process

by Jezra on March 9, 2017

First, A Little Background on TED

The TED conference (which stands for  technology, entertainment, design ) began life in 1984 as a yearly and very expensive conference where industry leaders and creative types gathered to exchange “Ideas Worth Spreading.”

Back then, it was all about the live experience, and speakers were expected to bring some quirky spontaneity to the stage.

But fast forward more than 30 years, and TED has become an institution, spawning countless local “TEDx” events, putting hundreds of speeches online each year, getting millions upon millions of views, and changing the way we all think about public speaking!

So, What  IS  a TED Talk?

According to Chris Anderson, the owner and global curator of TED, every TED talk starts with an idea :

“You have something meaningful to say, and your goal is to re-create your core idea inside your audience’s minds.” —from TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking

Anderson calls this idea “the gift in every great talk.” Your idea may:

• Be common-sense (“Every kid needs a champion”) or counter-intuitive (“The way we think about charity is wrong”)
• Describe a scientific breakthrough (“How bacteria talk”) or your own experience (“I am the son of a terrorist, here’s how I chose peace”)
• Motivate people to action (“We need to talk about an injustice”) or greater self-awareness (“Your elusive creative genius”)

But in every case, your TED talk will begin with an idea.

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And whether or not your talk actually builds a model of your idea in your listeners’ brain — Anderson takes that literally, and research on “neural coupling” backs him up — your TED talk exists to communicate this idea to your listeners.

That is your talk’s one and only goal.

Other Qualities of Successful TED Talks

In TED’s secret to great public speaking (an eight-minute video that’s worth watching), Anderson offers three guidelines for creating your TED talk:

• Focus on one major idea

Ideas are complex things; you need to slash back your content so that you can focus on the single idea you’re most passionate about , and give yourself a chance to explain that one thing properly… Everything you say [should link] back to it in some way.

• Give people a reason to care

Stir your audience’s curiosity. Use intriguing, provocative questions to identify why something doesn’t make sense and needs explaining. If you can reveal a disconnection in someone’s worldview , they’ll feel the need to bridge that knowledge gap.

• Build your idea with familiar concepts

Build your idea, piece by piece, out of concepts that your audience already understands … A vivid explanation… delivers a satisfying ah-hah! moment as it snaps into place in our minds.

These are important best practices, but they don’t tell you what to  do  to create a TED talk.

For that, try this…

8-Step Process for Creating Your TED Talk

Step 1. find an idea you want to share.

To hone in on your idea worth sharing, it can be useful to ask yourself things like:

• What’s one assumption I’d like to challenge?
• What’s a belief of mine that has changed, and why?
• What does everyone miss when they think about my area of interest or expertise?

And remember, you’re looking for an idea . As Jeremey Donovan says in How to Deliver a TED Talk ,

…an idea is not a theme, a general truth, a platitude or a big goal. “Everyone wants to feel included” is not an idea, it’s a general truth. “Empowering women” is not an idea, it’s a topic.

Step 2. Develop an unexpected and/or catchy way to state your idea

If your idea can be stated in a catchy way, listeners will pay more attention and remember it more easily. Here are some examples (with more conventional versions of the same idea in parentheses):

• We can solve malnutrition now (vs. Malnutrition is a problem that is finally, in our day and age, able to be resolved by advances in science.)
• Almost dying saved my life (vs. A near death experience created the motivation for me to face and overcome problems that otherwise would have slowly killed me.)
• Never, ever give up (vs. Cultivate the ability to commit without wavering; it’s an essential component of your lifelong success.)

Step 3. Collect anything and everything that relates to your idea

To re-create your idea in the minds of your listeners, you’ll need vivid examples, illustrations, stories, facts, questions, comments, etc.

So take a few days to notice anything and everything that relates to your idea, and collect these materials by writing them down, taking photos, recording your thoughts as sound files, etc.

Examples of things you might collect include:

• a snippet of conversation
• a quote you heard in high school
• a story that relates to your idea
• a fact, or cluster of data that supports it
• a metaphor or analogy that helps explain it
• a personal moment in your relationship with the idea
• a physical object that will help your audience understand it (here, my client Erika Frenkel presents an anesthesia machine )

Basically, anything that comes to your mind at this stage should be collected.

And don’t worry yet about which materials will end up in your talk.

You can’t collect  things and evaluate  them at the same time, so just collect for now; you’ll have a chance to evaluate later.

Step 4. Start imagining how you might open and end your talk

While it’s too soon to choose your opening and close, it’s not too soon to start playing with ideas for these important parts of your talk.

An effective way to begin any speech (not just a TED talk) is to grab your audience’s attention — often with a human interest story, a surprising statistic, an unexpected observation, or a thought-provoking question.

There are probably some great attention-grabbers in the material you collected for Step 3. Pick one that you particularly like, and flag it as a possible  opening for your talk.

As for the close , you’ll probably want to end your talk in a positive, forward-looking way . This is often done by:

• calling the audience to action;
• painting a hopeful picture of the future; and/or
• “paying off” (finishing, resolving) a story or discussion that has run through your talk, so that listeners get a sense of closure.

With your provisional opening and close in mind, you’re now ready to…

Step 5. Put the rest of your materials in a reasonable order

The middle of any speech is tricky, and a TED talk is particularly so, because TED talks can take just about any form you’d like.

So to tackle this part of your TED talk, take the materials you’ve collected and shuffle them until you find a good arrangement. To do this, you can:

• Create a high-level outline (leave out most of the detail, just arrange the big points or elements)
• Write each element (story, comment, observation, fact) on a 3 x 5 card and physically shuffle them to see different possible orders. (You can do this on a table, or digitally, by creating one slide per element and shuffling them with PowerPoint’s “slide sorter” feature)
• Use sound (speaking out loud) instead of writing to put your talk elements into different sequences (Ask: Does it sound right if I tell that story first, then give the fact? How about if I give the fact first, then tell the story?)
• Try any other method that works for you.

How will you know when the order is good?

Keep in mind that your goal is to create an understanding of your idea in the minds of your audience members , and try to arrange your explanations, comments, and stories in a way that leads to that goal. (You’ll get to test this on real people in Step 7.)

Trust your instincts: If something seems out of place to you, it probably is. Try moving it to a different part of your talk or even skipping it, and see if that works better.

And don’t expect to find the best organization for your talk the first time you try, because that almost never happens!

Step 6. Talk your way to a rough draft of your script

This is where your “speaking plan” becomes a “speech.”

Take your outline or list of ordered elements and talk about each item in turn.

When I’m writing a speech, I like to literally talk it out loud and type up what I’m saying as I’m saying it — but you can also use your computer’s voice recognition software to capture your words, or talk into the voice memo feature on your phone (this used to be called “dictating”) and type up the sound file later.

Why  record yourself talking  instead of just writing out the speech?

Because most of us get all formal and stiff when we write, and the ideal for a talk is that it sounds like you’re…  talking !

And here’s a hint:

As you do this step, pay particular attention to the way different elements (materials) that you’ve used in your talk are connected.

If, for example, you tell me that:

• The river flooded, and
• Some people moved out of the neighborhood…

I’ll want to know: Did people move  because  the river flooded? Did most people stay even though  the river flooded? Did the river flood  after  people had already moved?

When you spell things out clearly, people will form a clear picture of your point.

Step 7. Try out your Ted talk draft on a volunteer listener

The point of this step is to get feedback on how to improve the structure and clarity of your draft.

Ask someone you trust — a smart 10-year-old is perfect — to listen to your talk.

Read it to them (because you haven’t finalized, let alone memorized, it yet), and then ask them:

• Did I explain my idea clearly?
• Was there anything in my talk that you didn’t follow?
• Was there anything you didn’t understand?
• Did anything seem out of place?
• Did I lose your interest anywhere?

If your listener wants to discuss the 6,000 facts you left out, or how your talk should really be about X instead of Y, gently lead them back to these questions.

The point is not to  change  your talk. The point is to  improve  it’s effectiveness.

Step 8. Repeat the following steps as needed

• Based on your listener’s feedback, make changes that will improve your draft. But don’t get carried away editing; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! (And keep your old drafts in case you want to go back to something you did earlier; I number mine v1, v2, v3, etc.)

2. Practice delivering your new draft out loud.

3. Try out your new draft on a volunteer listener, get their feedback , and repeat these steps as often as needed until your talk has taken a satisfying shape.

And finally…

There’s no better time to start working on your talk than now. Even if your schedule is crammed, you’re better off working for a few minutes each day than leaving everything to the last minute!

And as you work this process, remember that perfection isn’t possible.

So instead of striving for perfection, prepare carefully, take your best shot, and try to  relax .

Your audience is going to love this talk — and you deserve to enjoy it, too!

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• Giving a TED-Style Talk? Here's How They're Different from Business Presentations
• TED Has Eliminated Two Things That Used to Be Said In Most Speeches: Hello and Thank You. Should You?
• Masterful Public Speaking: Daniel Kraft's TEDx Talk

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28 Must-Use TED talks for the Classroom

December 28, 2020 //  by  Lindsay Ann //   Leave a Comment

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Are you tired of hearing about the same old TED talks like The Danger of a Single Story ? Do you find yourself searching for new and engaging TED talks for the classroom that will spark critical thinking and response? 

This post will offer 28 lesser-known (but equally as awesome) TED talks you can use tomorrow as a stand-alone writing prompt, rhetorical analysis activity , or response or as a part of your planning for a larger unit or writing and speaking assignment.

Using TED Talks in the Classroom

I think that TED talks, along with podcasts, are a great way to bring nonfiction into your classroom. Most TED talks come with a ready-made transcript which you can have students read while they are listening. This also helps students as they respond to the talk because they can easily pull evidence without having to re-watch. 

I have noticed students’ attention wanes after 10 minutes of listening. Therefore, it is critical to chunk the text. Maybe you want to pause for reflection and discussion during an especially long talk. Maybe you want to have students predict the speaker’s next points based on what they have heard so far. Maybe you want to show only a portion of the talk, the part that will spark the most discussion and thinking. 

Also, it’s important to give students something to look for as they are listening, a prompt for response, something to do as a result of their listening. 

What is the Outcome? 

The truth is that sometimes students should be able to listen and appreciate a text purely for the sake of listening. And listening skills are important. Still, if you break it down, there is still an outcome for students, even in the simplest of listening assignments. 

TED talks for the classroom are not superfluous texts. They are an untapped gold mine of nonfiction goodness. 

➡️ My students listen to understand, to appreciate, to consider multiple perspectives. ➡️ They listen to apply, to extend, to connect, to reflect. 

So, ask yourself these questions …

Why are students listening? What do you want students to know and be able to do as a result of their listening? What are they doing pre, during, and post-listening?

Pushing this further, consider the following outcomes …

➡️ Do you want students to identify the author’s overall message and main ideas?  ➡️ Do you want students to debate a core issue focused on in the talk?  ➡️ Use the talk as a springboard for research?  ➡️ Have students identify rhetorical devices and appeals?  ➡️ Make connections to another text they have read or an ongoing theme?  ➡️ Respond on a personal level to the speaker’s ideas?  ➡️ Write and share their own TED talks?

28 TED Talks for English Class

Here we go! 

These are some of the best TED talks that will inspire and engage your students. I’ve taken care to include a variety of different speakers and subjects here, so I hope you’ll find a new text to love. 💜

“Why We Laugh” by Sophie Scott

Cognitive neuroscience meets stand-up comedy in this talk that will surely pique your students’ interest. Who doesn’t love to explore the topic of laughter, an “ancient behavior that helps us regulate how we feel and makes us feel better”?

“3 Ways to Speak English” by Jamila Lyiscott

This is spoken word in TED talk form that explores the blending of languages as representative of identity and culture.

“On Being Wrong” by Kathryn Schultz

Embracing failure is an important part of learning, one that we can reinforce with this TED talk. So, step outside of the need to be “right” or “perfect” and learn to embrace wonder with this simple phrase “Maybe I’m wrong”.

“10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation” by Celeste Headlee

Be honest. Be brief. Be clear. Learn about 10 rules for better conversation, a must-use text for English teachers who are teaching the skills of listening and speaking.

“Beware of Online “Filter Bubbles” by Eli Pariser

This is one of my favorite texts to use during a research unit. If you are teaching about online source evaluation or digital citizenship, your students will be shocked by the author’s exploration of how “filter bubbles” control the flow of information in our online spaces.

“How Books Can Open Your Mind” by Lisu Bu

This author explores her love for the written word, discussing how it was through reading she was able to think about her world in a new way.

“Why You Think You’re Right – Even If You’re Wrong” by Julia Galef

This talk is a lesson in history and human behavior as the author explores why it is so hard for people to change their minds. Learn about how a “scout mindset,” not excellent rhetoric, logic, or even intelligence, is the key to improving our judgement as a society and seeing the world clearly.

“How to Buy Happiness” by Michael Norton

Focusing on others is the key to true happiness, but this requires a paradigm shift in a culture that suggests the opposite.

“What Adults Can Learn From Kids” by Adora Svitak

Rather than seeking to teach children, adults should also be open to learning from them. Kids can have big dreams, too, says child author and speaker Adora Svitak.

“Why Our Screens Make Us Less Happy” by Adam Alter

An interesting talk to pair with one on happiness or technology, this hits home for teenagers and adults who spend increasing amounts of time on screens. Why do our screens make us less happy, and what can we do about it? Hear a psychologist explore the psychology of screen addiction and offer solutions.

“I Got 99 Problems … Palsy is Just One” by Maysoon Zayid

In a personal (and comical) talk, comedian Maysoon Zayid explores how she lives her best life despite her limitations. Her ending line “If I can, you can” resonates with any listener.

“How I Fail at Being Disabled” by Susan Robinson

In this talk, laugh as the speaker encourages us to explore our hidden biases surrounding the idea of “disability.”

“ A Pro Wrestler’s Guide to Confidence” by Mike Kinney

Any student can benefit from the message of this TED talk which focuses on “turning yourself up” so that you can uncover what makes you unique and reach your fullest potential.

Meet a Young Entrepreneur, Cartoonist, Designer, Activist … by Maya Penn

A creative young entrepreneur shares about her art and inspiration, including her passion for the planet, suggesting that action is only sparked when we do more than think, heart over head.

“Why Videos Go Viral” by Kevin Allocca

What will define the entertainment of the future? Kevin Alloca explores the three characteristics that contribute to a video going viral and the new culture formed by this new media.

“We’re Building a Dystopia Just to Make People Click on Ads” by Zeynep Tufekci

This eye-opening talk discusses that we may be directing our concerns in the wrong place when it comes to artificial intelligence and control. The real enemy may be hidden and more widespread and more dangerous than we think…

“We Need to Talk About an Injustice” by Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson, author of the well-known Just M ercy discusses race in society, along with the shortcomings of the American justice system.

“Why Students Should Have Mental Health Days” by Hailey Hardcastle

Do students need mental health days to practice “mental hygiene”? Hailey Hardcastle talks about why the answer is yes.

“The Beautiful Balance Between Courage and Fear” by Cara E. Yar Khan

Courage isn’t a magical unicorn that comes and goes. It is the “balance between fear and bravery” which is what Cara E. Yar Khan explores in this inspiring talk.

“Does Photographing a Moment Steal the Experience From You?” by Erin Sullivan

Your phone does not need to document everything. In fact, sometimes it is better and healthier to put it down so that you can fully live in the moment. Overall, this speaker encourages us to make photography a part of our memories, but not a hindrance to them.

“What Bruce Lee Can Teach Us About Living Fully” by Shannon Lee

Learn more about how actor and martial artist Bruce Lee’s philosophy for life centered on “self-actualization” can help us all grow and achieve our dreams.

“What Reading Slowly Taught Me About Writing” by Jacqueline Woodson

In a noisy world, it is more important now than ever to slow down and let ourselves get lost in good stories. Author Jacqueline Woodson takes a reflective, storytelling journey in this TED talk about the power of storytelling.

My Identity is a Superpower – Not an obstacle by America Ferrera

This was one of the first TED talks for the classroom I used this year to help students reflect on identity and stereotypes. We were reading “label-defying stories” and chatting about Born a Crime , so this talk fit in perfectly and sparked some great conversations.

“How Boredom Can Lead to Your Most Brilliant Ideas” by Manoush Zomorodi

If you’ve ever come up with a really creative idea while doing something random around the house or when you’re “bored,” then you’ll resonate with this talk that explores the connection between boredom and creativity.

“How to Win an Argument (at the US Supreme Court, or Anywhere” by Neal Katyal

Winning arguments is about more than logic or rhetoric. It’s about making human connections, making “good” arguments that will reach beyond yourself and even the present moment.

“Secrets of the Mind and Free Will – Revealed by Magic Tricks” by Alice Pailhès

Who doesn’t love a magic trick? This is the hook that allows Alice Pailhès, scientist and illusionist, to discuss how easy it is to influence people.

“For the Love of Fangirls” by Yve Blake

Instead of judging fangirls, we might consider the lessons they have to teach us, of commitment, dedication, and enthusiasm.

“The Little Risks You Can Take to Increase Your Luck” by Tina Seelig

This is an interested talk about seeing “crazy ideas” as possibilities, about seeing “risks” as opportunities for connection and growth.

TED Talk Activities

Using TED talks in the classroom allows students to practice speaking and listening skills. These nonfiction texts (most of them with transcripts) are also visual texts, making them accessible to learners on more than one level. 

Whether you are studying rhetoric and argumentation, discussing the author’s purpose, practicing summary writing skills, or preparing students for their own speaking assessment, TED talks are versatile enough to allow for the practice of multiple skills. 

➡️ I hope you’ll stop by my TpT store to check out TED Talk activities that will help you to bring some of this magic into your classroom!

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

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11 ways to prepare: How to give a TED Talk

Nancy Duarte

I’ve given all types of talks . And while all presentations take an investment to make them effective, the creation of a high-stakes, beautifully staged TED Talk often proves to be especially difficult. It takes work to craft the talk, and then even more to make the delivery sound natural.

How long are TED Talks?

A TED Talk is 18 minutes long — a length that was chosen by TED organizers based both on  neuroscience and strategy . They understood that 18 minutes was long enough for a speaker to flesh out an idea, but short enough that a listener could take in, digest, and understand all of the important information.

TED Talk format: What makes preparing for a TED Talk so tough?

TED curator  Chris Anderson explains :

“The 18-minute length works much like the way Twitter forces people to be disciplined in what they write. By forcing speakers who are used to going on for 45 minutes to bring it down to 18, you get them to really think about what they want to say. What is the key point they want to communicate? It has a clarifying effect. It brings discipline.”

In reality, creating a talk that is ONLY 18 minutes, instead of 45, is tougher than you might imagine. Woodrow Wilson summed up the process of giving a short, but effective speech best when he said:

“If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now.”

Not only is the editing process for a TED Talk format (or an 18-minute speech) challenging, but the rehearsal process takes a lot of time, too. In fact, I discovered that the amount of rehearsal time required is inversely proportionate to the length of the talk.

True story: For the last 18-minute TEDx Talk I gave, it took me approximately 18 hours to rehearse.

Nancy Duarte’s TEDx Talk: The secret structure of great talks

How to do a TED Talk that gets a lot of views

While I’ve given a few TED Talks and TEDx Talks in my time, my firm has helped multiple TED speakers prepare for the stage. Whether it was for their TED Talk speech or just making sure folks sound smart in their TED talks, we’ve compiled a list for anyone to get started on their TED Talk journey.

Here are 11 preparation tips for how to give a TED Talk that fits within the TED Talk duration and results in a presentation that’s as effective as possible.

1. Make a TED Talk outline.

When making your TED Talk, the structure of your presentation matters. It’s actually what my original TED Talk was about, and I’ve since produced a book and training workshop on it called Resonate ®.

From there, you can set up your slides, and begin to outline your TED Talk speech.

2. Print your current slide deck as 9-up handouts.

You’ve made your slide deck, but now it’s time to prepare them for the TED stage . The  9-up format  is conveniently the same size as the smallest sticky note. When I prepared for  my TEDx Talk , I arranged and re-arranged my message onto sticky notes — adding sticky notes until I was happy with the flow.

If I’m whittling down my talk from, say, a 40-minute talk, I make sure I cut at least half of my slides. Keep trimming and trimming until you feel you are close to 18 minutes. During this process, it becomes clear that your Big Idea ™ can be communicated in a succinct, distilled manner.

3. Solicit feedback.

Assemble a handful of people who are effective presenters that you trust to give honest, unfiltered feedback on your narrative and slides. Verbally run the ideas by these folks (it doesn’t have to be a formal presentation). Have them look at all the slides at once so they give feedback on the “whole,” not the parts. And have them give you feedback on the content you’ve chosen, asking whether they think it will resonate with your audience.

Consider doing this a handful of times. When I did my TEDx Talk, I repeated this step four times, twice with my External Communications Manager and twice with my company President. After they added their insights, I was ready to have the slides designed .

4. Rehearse with a great (honest) communicator.

Choose someone you trust and also that understands how to give a TED Talk, and rehearse with them. In my case, I rehearsed with an Executive Duarte Speaker Coach . She would say honest things like:

• “When you say it that way, it can be interpreted differently than you intended.”
• “When you use that term, you come across as derogatory.”
• “I thought that when you said it last time it was better, you said … ”

She worked hard tracking phrases and rounds of what was said. When it comes to preparing for a TED Talk, honesty is the best policy. Make sure your communication coach is not afraid to speak up because 18 minutes goes by fast! You love your material and you want to include all of it, but if you want to master how to give a TED Talk successfully, you need someone you trust to help you murder your darlings .

5. Close the loop.

A lot of times, as the presenter, you know your material so well that you think you’re making each key point clear. Here’s a tip: You might not be. Your speaker coach should make sure you are telling people why . It’s the “why” around our ideas that make them spread, not the “how.” Articulate the why so your audience understands what’s magnificent about your Big Idea™.

6. Practice with your clock counting up.

The first few times, rehearse with your clock timer counting up. That’s because if you go over, you need to know how much you’re over. Do NOT be looking at the clock at this time. Have your presentation coach look at it because you don’t want to remember any of the timestamps in your mind. Finish your entire talk and then have your coach tell you how much you need to trim.

Keep practicing until you’re consistently within 18 minutes. Your executive speaker coach should be able to tell you to trim 30 seconds here or add 15 seconds there so that your content is weighted toward the most important information.

7. Practice with your clock counting down.

Once you’re within the timeframe, begin practicing with your clock timer counting down. This is a great strategy to really maximize your presentation rehearsal time . You need to set a few places in your talk where you benchmark a time stamp.

• Calculate where you need to be in the content in six-minute increments.
• You should know roughly where you should be at 6, 12, and 18 minutes.
• You should know which slide you should be on and what you’re saying so that you will know immediately from the stage if you’re on time or running over.

8. Be noteworthy.

Your executive speaker coach is there to jot down what you say well and what you don’t. They should work from a printout of the slides and write phrases you deliver effectively so they can be added to your script. They should help you capture phrases so you can type them into your notes. It goes without saying, but with an 18-minute time limit, they will also make sure you remove those pesky filler words , too!

9. Don’t be camera shy.

Videotape some of your final practices. It doesn’t have to be a high-end video setup — I’ve used my iPhone camera on a tripod in a hotel room before. You just need to feel like something’s at stake. Videotaping yourself helps you get used to looking at the camera, and you can review the video to look at your stage presence, eye contact, gestures , plus identify any expressions that need modification.

Also, if you do an especially good practice run, you can go back and listen to the audio and add the best snippets to your slide notes. The TED audience has only about 1,000 people in it, but the TED.com audience will have millions. So, talk to the camera like there are humans on the other side of it.

10. Do one more full-timed rehearsal right before you walk on the TED Talk stage.

Right before you go on stage (we’re talking the day of), do one more timed rehearsal. This will ensure that you know the speech and that you’re well aware of where you might need to slow down or speed up.

11. Have two natural ending points in your TED Talk speech.

I gave a TED-style talk in India with a head cold. Despite all my rehearsals and prep, I knew I’d possibly lose track of timing. To prevent this, give your talk two natural ending points. Pick two natural places you could stop in your talk, then demarcate those as possible endings. That way, if you’re running way over, you can stop at your first ending point, and while your audience may miss out on some inspirational or emotional ending, they’ll have heard all the most important information that matters.

How to give a TED Talk: The easy way

Preparing for a big stage moment doesn’t have to be a TED Talk. It can be a meeting with investors , or it can be an hour-long keynote on a really big stage. If you want a pressure-tested solution to nail your high-stakes moment, hire a Duarte Speaker Coach . They can help you with both your speech outline, delivery, and even overcoming a stutter.

And if you’d rather take things slow, an award-winning public speaking workshop like Captivate ™ is your best choice.

This article was originally published on April 5, 2018. It has been updated in August 2024 for relevancy.

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How To Plan A Ted Talk: The Key To Help You Reach Millions

TED events are all about ideas worth spreading, so if you’ve ever wondered how to plan a TED Talk, you’re on the right track. TEDx events allow speakers, coaches, and everyday people with big ideas the opportunity to impact the world.

Some of the best talks started with a small audience. However, they incorporated one aspect that helped what started as an independently organized event reach hundreds, thousands, and millions of real people.

The power of their stages is unique to both TED and TEDx. Despite its influence, taking the stage and talking for 18 minutes doesn’t change the world. However, there is a key to harnessing the opportunity TED creates.

This key can be as easy as seven steps or taking advantage of the one factor contributing to many viral talks. In this article, we answer the following questions:

How Much Does It Cost To Do A Ted Talk?

How do i start a ted talk topic, what are the top 5 elements for an engaging ted talk, how long does it take to prepare a ted talk.

Whether it’s your first time hearing about this form of speaking or watching them more frequently than you binge Netflix, it’s crucial to understand how your specific story could impact millions. We’ll start with the basics and then dive into the more creative aspects.

How Much Does It Cost To Do A TED Talk?

If you look up the TED organization, you’ll quickly find that while you are not paid to speak for TED, it does not cost you financially to present. Speaking for TED is an honor unto itself and gives you the possibility of landing future talks.

Of course, whether you speak at a local TEDx event or go on to make a name at TED conferences, it’s vital to prepare appropriately. TED focuses on ideas worth taking to thousands, if not millions, of listeners. Speaking for TED is entirely free, but preparing will take an investment of time and perhaps finances.

How to plan for a TED Talk doesn’t need to start with worrying about the financial aspect. Instead, you can focus on deciding how best to grab the audience’s attention, so they receive the message you worked so hard on.

Choosing a topic for your speech can seem overwhelming, but following the TEDx speaker guide and surrounding yourself with a team will alleviate some pressure. The TEDx program is specific to local communities. Knowing your audience helps you choose the perfect topic.

Below we will break down a list of talks that gained thousands if not millions of views and span subjects such as technology, entertainment, and design. Whatever the area of your expertise, take note of how these speakers approached their topics.

TED Talks That Reached Millions

Some past TEDx events include names such as Brene Brown, Tim Urban, and Simon Sinek. They crafted such an excellent talk that millions viewed their presentation. Their talks span a variety of topics:

Listening To Shame

Inside the mind of a master procrastinator, how great leaders inspire action.

While their speeches are pretty different, one unique aspect ties their TEDx Talks together—and it’s not that they each share millions of views. But yes, each of these individuals spent time going through a process.

They worked hard to land their talk and prepare their talk, but when they gave their talk, one facet particularly resonated with their audience.

The One Commonality They Share

In every one of these three talks, the speaker walked on stage and talked about a topic in which they had some expertise but also experienced vulnerability. Authenticity feels a bit like a buzzword at this point, and rightfully so.

However, authentically presenting your speech is critical since genuine connection relies on vulnerability. Brene Brown understood the power of shame but showed audiences a new side to this feeling.

Tim Urban called out himself and every other procrastinator in the room but used a comedic twist to soften his message. Finally, Simon Sinek dug his way down to the root of our decision-making processes and helped us understand why our decisions start with a question.

Presenting with vulnerability unites the speaker with the audience, builds commonality, and creates empathy. Once your audience can empathize, incorporating the following five elements becomes easier.

An engaging speech should include some level of vulnerability, but there are five essential elements to layer into your talk. Just as books, movies, and TV shows usually follow a three-point structure, speeches follow a format as well.

The better you grasp the right format, the smoother your speech will turn out. Creatives are often told they must learn the rules of their craft in order to know how to break them. The same sentiment goes for speeches. Ironically, let’s start at the end.

1. Begin With The End In Mind

If you don’t know where you plan to take your audience, deciding what to say will be difficult, and reaching the end will be nearly impossible. Articulate where you want to go to effectively lead your audience on the journey.

2. Have A Catchphrase

Calls to action, or CTAs, make the marketing world go round. For example, if you give a speech you want your audience to take action after your talk. Presenting them a catchphrase lets them implement what you teach after you walk off stage.

Example: Nike’s “Just Do It.”

3. Avoid Intro Buzzkill

If someone introduces you, do your best to ensure they are concise as they summarize who you are and why you are the one to take the stage. You don’t want your audience bored before you have a chance to step in front of them.

4. Open Strong To Hook Your Audience

While on the topic of intros, make sure you start your talk off well by grabbing your audience from the first sentence. Include your audience in your story as quickly as possible: Say something profound, tell a story, and state a shocking fact.

5. Reiterate The “Why”

Before ever stepping on stage, make sure you can articulate in a phrase or sentence why you chose to give your talk. The better you can understand your reason, the more quickly your audience will grasp the purpose of your talk and what their response can be.

You know what you need to do, but now comes the question: How long will it take to make your dream happen?

Preparing your talk is one of the most critical aspects of the entire process. Of course, you could beat the odds and book yourself on your first try, but if your talk isn’t spellbinding, giving a talk early will work against you.

Instead, the question is: How can I best prepare my talk? Usually, it takes a village of people to make something truly great—and TED is all about great ideas. So if you feel unsure how to prepare a talk, surround yourself with the right team .

Your team is what will help you take your talk from ideation to execution. Never underestimate the power of individuals banding together to form a group focused on a singular goal. The more focus you can create with your team, the more clarity your talk will have.

How To Make The Best TED Talks Of 2022: Start With TEDx

Preparing with a team of like-minded individuals can take you to the TEDx stage and beyond. How to plan a TED talk does not need to be a process filled with intimidation and stress. In fact, the more you can offload the process of landing your talk to your team, the more time you can focus on preparing the talk itself.

When you land your talk with TEDx, your journey is only just starting. But, as so many TEDx speakers show , you too can find success on the TEDx stage and possibly allow yourself to make it to TED.

The best way to use TED Talks is to present on TEDx yourself, open your possibilities for TED, and influence thousands, if not millions, on your journey. The world is waiting for what you have to offer.

How To Write A TED Talk In 7 Easy Steps

TED organization

5 Elements of a Great TED Talk

Check out more great articles from the Thought-Leader Blog covering TEDx Talks, success mindsets, and everything else in between

How to Get a TED Talk

How to prepare a ted talk, how to market yourself effectively, how to become a keynote speaker, how to speak professionally.

Outline + script

Constructing a TEDx Talk takes a lot of discipline and creativity, so it’s important your speaker has some great guidance.

First and foremost, you will want to give every speaker for your event a copy of our TEDx Speaker Guide . It provides all of the guidance they’ll need to draft and deliver a compelling talk. However, it’s still important to check in, offer support, and make sure they’re not falling behind.

Here are the things you need to keep track of when your speakers are putting together an outline and script:

Set expectations

The first draft of your speaker’s talk will not be their last. Set a timeline with specific milestones for which your speaker can aim. Here’s a sample timeline:

• 6 months before the event’s day: Thesis and basic outline due
• 5 months out: A script or detailed outline due
• 4 months out: Second draft and first rehearsals
• 3 months out: Final draft and more rehearsals
• 2 months out: Bi-weekly rehearsals
• 1 month out: Weekly rehearsals
• 2 weeks out: Take a break. (Don’t think about the talk.)
• 1 week out: Rehearsals
• 1-2 days out: Dress rehearsals

The above is just an example; your own timeline depends on your overall schedule and the needs of your speakers. Once you have set a realistic timeline with milestones in place, make sure you check in regularly to make sure your speakers are on track.

Look for structure, brevity and purpose.

When you’re reviewing drafts of your speakers’ outlines and talks, you should look for the following:

This is the foundation of a good TEDx Talk. Make sure each speaker’s script has a clear introduction, middle, and end.

Your speaker should know how many minutes they have for their talk. Make sure their script is an appropriate length for their time slot, or else their content may seem cramped. Think: Is there more than one major idea here? If so, which is the best? Help your speaker hone in on the one major point they’re trying to make.

You’ll learn more about assigning the length of a speaker’s talk when you design your program .

Every point within a talk should serve the purpose of proving the talk's main idea and its importance. Make sure these points will be understood by the audience, and there’s a clear explanation as to why they matter.

You also want to make sure the talk is relevant to the audience. Does this talk make a connection with the guests? Is it relatable? Speakers' should always keep the listener and what they might want or need to know in mind.

Next: TEDx Publishing Guidelines + Fact-Checking Guide

Some guidance is best with a little creativity sprinkled in. Check out the illustrated guide for speakers!

• Some TEDx teams choose to include a volunteer speaking coach. While there are advantages to doing this, many professional speaker coaching tactics go against the TED and TEDx format. If you decide to try one out one, keep a close eye on their work and make sure the speaker's independent voice is preserved.
• Speakers should talk like they talk, not how they write. This is why it’s sometimes better for speakers to simply outline their talks and never produce a full written script.
• Make sure that your speakers’ language is conversational in tone, never bombastic.
• Encourage honest, contagious emotions – wonder, optimism, anger, surprise, etc.
• Be wary of overstatements, utopianism, fake emotion, fake self-deprecation, TED puns, and suspicious claims.
• Personal anecdotes are like garnishes. Just the right amount can make a delicious meal, but too much of the wrong kind can destroy a meal.

Rules to remember

Our Content Guidelines give you a set of standards to follow when it comes to TEDx talks, so it’s important both you and your speaker use this as a guide. In fact, make it a requirement that your speaker reads it. This includes:

• No selling from the stage
• No political agendas
• No religious proselytizing (including new age beliefs)
• Only good science.

Also make sure that your speakers know the TEDx rules , which includes information about content and copyright laws, and make sure they sign the speaker release (located under the Recording and sharing content section).