A ROAD OF REJECTIONS

The best way to think of the TED application process is to visualize it as a college application.

Your idea worth sharing and your pitch as well as the talk you build around it is like your college application essay. The application process to various TEDx events is very similar to applying to different colleges. In each case, you the applicant are reviewing the TEDx event organizers by listening to their past performances and the quality of the speakers that have presented on that stage in previous years. At the same time the selection committee at each site is reviewing if you, the prospective speaker, are an ideal candidate for their event.

When I started my journey to the TED stage I applied to multiple TEDx events simultaneously. Each TEDx event has a particular goal. TEDx events are curated events. That is to say that the speaker selection is based on choosing speakers with TED-worthy ideas but among all the TED-worthy ideas that make the first cut in the selection process, the curator then filter the choices based on certain criteria.

1)      Does this idea fit the theme chosen for this year’s TEDx event at this site?

The Theme is the broad idea that the event organizers have chosen for their TEDx stage that year. Each TEDx event is like a gallery of paintings mounted for display that showcase the theme of that show. The organizers are not merely selecting speakers with TED-worthy ideas. They are putting together a show of ideas that have to fit the “Theme” for that year. In addition they are creating an immersive experience for both speakers and the audience that is designed to produce deeply impactful communication experiences for everyone.

 

2)      Is the speaker qualified to speak on this idea.

As a speaker, you do not have to be the world’s foremost expert on the idea that you are speaking on, but your background and body of work must provide you with believable expertise to speak with credibility on the issue.

 

3)      Is the data and claims supporting this idea based on proven science?

Ideas that are chosen for the TED stages have to be based on credible scientific data. They don’t have to be Nobel Prize quality science but they cannot be Aluminum foil hat proponents drawing electricity out of air ideas either. This feature of the selection process also results in TED events being labeled as unduly elitist but it is obvious that in this era of internet conspiracy theorists, it is important to have a strong curatorial vetting process especially when you are responsible for the world’s largest stage of transformative ideas.

4)      Is the idea political or religious?

TED stages are not platforms for either political or ideological proselytizing. So that is the second big NO after bad science ideas. The same also applies to inflammatory ideas. TED stages are for the promotion of spirited conversations not confrontations. However a notable exception is a recent talk by firebrand Scott Galloway which actually only serves as the exception that proves the general rule the vast majority of TED speakers are selected on their ability to create transformative Ah-Ha’s without shocked OMG’s

5)      Other considerations: These include a preference for new TEDx speakers, speakers from the same community as the TEDx event and a preference for speakers who do not speak as a profession.

It must be obvious by now that applying for selection to a TED stage will result in 90-95% rejection rate. There is about a 4-6% chance of making it past the initial vetting into the final selection pool in any TED event.  And the chance of actually being selected as a speaker is in the order of 1-3%.

Therefore, any person applying has to have a very high tolerance for rejection. I approached the stream of rejections that continue to flow in my inbox as redirections. I view each of them as saying that not here, not this room, your door is further down the way…. Keep going.

... Ravi Iyer, MD