The Truth about TED Talks

Posted by Kristin Arnold on March 10, 2011

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. Along 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:

  1. Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
  2. Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
  3. Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
  4. Thou Shalt Tell a Story
  5. Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
  6. Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
  7. 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
  8. Darkness.

  9. Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
  10. Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
  11. Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee

Don’t you?

Related Articles:  Anna Kamanetz  in Fast Company

 
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