I love TED – and here’s the good news: my husband is not jealous! You see, TED is not a man; TED is an annual uberconference started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Alon
g with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach (which just finished) and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer, there are a slew of opportunities for you to view the TED talks either on the website or through their YouTube channel. I subscribe to the channel and watch the uploaded talks when I can (and now that I have an iPad, that just became much more convenient!)
So I was delighted to read Paul Dunn’s account for being able to speak at a TEDx Conference in the Global Speakers Association website. In case you were wondering, TEDx is a licensed conference from the TED people, but not quite the real thing. It’s like the farm league, and they have to follow all the principles – so this still exciting reading! Paul does a great job of telling it like it is – and you can see his presentation too!
I think the TED Ten Commandments are actually appropriate for any important presentation:
- Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
- Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
- Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
- Thou Shalt Tell a Story
- Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
- Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
- Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer
- Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
- Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
- Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee
Darkness.
Don’t you?
Related Articles: Anna Kamanetz in Fast Company
