The first TED event was conducted in Monterey, California on
February 1984 as an idea of Richard Saul Wurman, an architect and designer and
Harry Marks who conceived a convergence of ideas in the fields of Technology,
Entertainment and Design. The 1980’s was time of tremendous ferment in the
domain of representations of knowledge and reality. Companies like Lucas Films,
Pixar, Apple, NEXT were creating and expanding technologies that were changing
the landscape of how we created, represented, consumed, transmitted, and
assimilated information and reality.
Despite its prescient notions and star line-up of speakers,
the event was a financial bust and a repeat event would not be attempted until
1990. The second attempt was successful, and the TED event became an annual
affair in Monterey, California. The first TED events were open to an
invitation-only audience and together with their high-ticket price rapidly
acquired a cachet as an exclusive networking event for the Silicon Valley
cognoscenti. Though current TED flagship events are no longer open to invitation-only
attendees (anyone can apply to attend), the audience composition at the main
TED events is still somewhat curated to ensure an immersive knowledge
experience that spurs cross-pollination of ideas and deep thinking. By
contrast, the speaker lineup at the main TED events is still somewhat of an
invitation-only affair though prospective speakers with “ideas worth sharing”
may apply by email submission to speaker@TED.com
.
Regardless it is exceedingly rare for a speaker to apply to
speak at a TED main event and most TED main event speakers have already
produced a body of significant work that establishes them at the forefront of
ideas that are currently shaping the human experience across the globe. While
this format has the advantage of propagation of ideas at the cutting edge, the
organizers of TED soon recognized that this format effectively closes the door
to emerging idea-generators and thinkers who would represent the first shoots
of what may well become the future of humanity. In an effort to expand the
curation of the field of ideas worth sharing, TED opened up the TED format of
idea promotion to licensees via the TEDx format.
In the words of TED: “TEDx is a grassroots initiative,
created in the spirit of TED’s overall mission to research and discover “ideas
worth spreading.” TEDx brings the spirit of TED to local communities around the
globe through TEDx events. These events are organized by passionate individuals
who seek to uncover new ideas and to share the latest research in their local
areas that spark conversations in their communities. TEDx events include live
speakers and recorded TED Talks, and are organized independently under a free
license granted by TED. These events are not controlled by TED, but event
organizers agree to abide by our format and are offered guidelines for
curation, speaker coaching, event organizing, and more. They learn from us and
from each other. More than 3000 events are now held annually.”
Even though TEDx events are “independently organized” their
independence is carefully supervised and regulated so that the TEDx event stays
within the TED format and mission at all locations. This means the TEDx event organizer's
work is closely scrutinized and guided so that the events produce presentations
that are of TED stage quality. Many TED speakers have been “discovered” by TED
based on their TEDx performance and have gone onward to present as an “invited
speaker” at the main TED event.
Appearing on a TEDx stage is an involved process. The
majority of TEDx events have an open application process that announces a
request for speaker applications with ideas worth sharing to pitch their idea
to the event speaker selection (or curation committee). These announcements
appear on the https://www.ted.com/tedx/events
site and require considerable diligence to identify the event one desires to
apply to.
In my journey towards the RED DOT, I found that the first
thing I needed to get clarity on was my “idea worth sharing”. I had to state
it, challenge it, clarify it, stratify it, structure it, and encapsulate it
into a single sentence or phrase. I had to define why it was a new idea and
what made it worth sharing. Most ideas are not new, and often the newness of an
idea may well be a new way of looking at an old idea such that it renders a new
way to access something fundamental in human experience. This is perfectly fine
as long as you can articulate the “newness” and “worthiness” of the idea
succinctly for representation on a TED stage.
The one thing that is simply not done on a TED stage is self-promotion.
The Idea is the only thing that can be promoted. Any light that may fall upon
you, the presenter, is only as a bounced reflection off your idea. The other
thing that TED is not about is it is not about motivation as the primary
purpose of your presentation. A powerful idea may serve as a motivation in the
way it finds application, or the presentation of an idea may be intensely
inspirational and motivational, but TED is not a stage for rah-rah motivational
speaking. The TED stage is also not a place for professional speakers who make
their living as paid speakers. However, a speaker who has delivered a paid speaking
engagement may also deliver a TED talk. The best way to describe this fine line
is that TED is not the place where you may not see TD Jakes or Eric Thomas at but you will see Bill
Gates or Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos on a TED stage.
Finally, a single speaker may give more than one TED or TEDx
talk but never the same talk or idea. It is this requirement to present
different ideas that are TED-worthy that makes the number of two-time and
three-time TED speakers an extreme rarity.
The final most noteworthy thing about the TED format is the 18-minute
speech length. To produce and deliver a globally impactful speech within 18
minutes requires command over the idea, practiced stagecraft and speech
delivery, a tightly sculpted speech architecture with a mesmerizing opening, a
captivating through-line, a clearly articulated conflict scenario and a
cathartic new bliss ending all the while remaining focused on creating
transmitting and propagating an idea worth sharing.
These are the unique characteristics that make TED stages
the mecca of speakers all over the world.
… Ravi R Iyer, MD
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