About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of discovering and spreading ideas, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)
About TEDxVancouver
TEDxVancouver is a volunteer-run organization in British Columbia, Canada. Our organizing committee is focused on producing the annual TEDx conference in Vancouver as well as several community experiences throughout the year.
We welcome people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world and connection with others, and we invite everyone to engage with ideas and activate them in your community.
The TED Commandments
Dream big.
Strive to create the best talk you have ever given. Reveal something never seen before. Do something the audience will remember forever. Share an idea that could change the world.
Show us the real you.
Share your passions, your dreams … and also your fears. Be vulnerable. Speak of failure as well as success.
Make the complex plain.
Don’t try to dazzle intellectually. Don’t speak in abstractions. Explain! Give examples. Tell stories. Be specific.
Connect with people’s emotions.
Make us laugh! Make us cry!
Don’t flaunt your ego.
Don’t boast. It’s the surest way to switch everyone off.
No selling from the stage!
Unless we have specifically asked you to, do not talk about your company or organization. And don’t even think about pitching your products or services or asking for funding from stage.
Feel free to comment on other speakers’ talks,
to praise or to criticize. Controversy energizes! Enthusiastic endorsement is powerful!
Don’t read your talk.
Notes are fine. But if the choice is between reading or rambling, then read!
End your talk on time.
Doing otherwise is to steal time from the people that follow you. We won’t allow it.
Rehearse your talk in front of a trusted friend …
for timing, for clarity, for impact.
About TED
TED is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to discovering, debating and spreading ideas that spark conversation, deepen understanding and drive meaningful change.
We welcome people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world and connection with others, and we invite everyone to engage with ideas and activate them in your community.
TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, but today it spans a multitude of worldwide communities and initiatives exploring everything from science and business to education, arts and global issues. In addition to the TED Talks curated from our annual conferences and published on TED.com, we produce original podcasts, short video series, animated educational lessons (TED-Ed) and TV programs that are translated into more than 100 languages and distributed via partnerships around the world. Each year, thousands of independently run TEDx events bring people together to share ideas and bridge divides in communities on every continent. Through the Audacious Project, TED has helped catalyze more than $3 billion in funding for projects that seek to make the world more beautiful, sustainable and just. In 2020, TED launched Countdown, an initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis and mobilize a movement for a net-zero future, and in 2023 TED launched TED Democracy to spark a new kind of conversation focused on realistic pathways towards a more vibrant and equitable future. View a full list of TED’s many programs and initiatives.
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