CHAPTER 1: Bring TED to your Community

What is TED? Perhaps you have heard the acronym and that is what has brought you here. Welcome to a comprehensive guide that is full of resources, inspirations, video tutorials, and websites to help you as you take the journey to organizing your own TEDx event. Here you will learn about: TED and its initiatives, why you should host a TEDx event, where to set up your TED profile, how to choose your event type, how to apply for a license, what is the best way to assemble your TEDx team, and how to start a TEDxYouth Club. 

1. What is TED?

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It began as a small conference in California but has grown to be a worldwide community, many million strong, focused on exchanging and spreading ideas.

The people at TED understand that if people are inspired by a TED speaker’s ideas, and if that sparks an action - all those little sparks will create a roaring fire of change. TED is made up of events that people attend in order to watch people talk or perform. Those talks and performances are taped and put on the TED website for everyone around the world to view.

TEDx talks are a little bit different; they are local, in your city or town, and are organized by people just like you. TEDx organizers want to find people with clever, interesting ideas and give them a place to share those ideas with people who can help them turn the ideas into reality. They want people to hear what you have to say, what your thoughts and ideas are, and how you can engage other people around the world.

Think! If you could inspire just one person to make a change in the world, what impact could that have?
Introduction Letter to Community (Editable)
Access: "TED-ucate Yourself" eBook (PDF version)

2. Why Host a TEDx Event?

Did you ever have an idea that you thought could change the world? Did you ever shelf that idea, thinking that you couldn’t really make a difference? 

Hosting a TEDx event is like feeding into the biggest, most powerful, factory of idea makers and action takers. By hosting an event, you facilitate the most inspiring conversation of your life. You enable and inspire others around you and you become a change agent. You have many responsibilities as an organizer, but not to worry, you share the management of this big task with your team!

Reflect! Are you motivated to make changes in and to the world? Do you believe that you can make a difference?

3. Set-up your TED Profile

What are you passionate about? What is an idea that you have that is worth spreading? What expertise can you share with the community? What is your story? 

Create your profile and connect to millions of TEDers around the globe to start to make changes in and to the world.

4. Choose your Event Type

Where is your location? Are you part of a school, university, community club, library, or corporation? Who will be your audience: business-people, primarily women, only youth? How about your speakers: women, kids, teachers? 

There is an event to fit all of your needs. You define the parameters of your event and then find the type that fits your needs. Remember, it is important that your event maintains the ethos of TED.

Holding a TEDx Event at a University

5. Apply for your License

TEDx hosts unaffiliated, bias-free, religious and politically neutral events. They are untethered to commercial products or companies. Anyone over 18 or supported by an adult, anywhere in the world, is eligible for a license to organize a TEDx event.

You will need to choose a name for your event. The name you choose is not only tied to a location, but will exemplify your team, your audience, your speakers, and the community you create around your event.  

6. Assemble your TEDx Team

Part of organizing a successful event is the people you will choose to be part of your team. Although the event is managed by many smaller mini-teams, in the end, it all coalesces into this amazing production. Being able to compartmentalize the organization of your event leaves you free to oversee the event as a whole.

When working with youth we have found that creating a club is a successful way to up-skill youth in event organization and create sustainability of the event. We recruit teachers, parents or professionals from our learning community to mentor students in such things as accounting, video production, web design, and the like in order to have those students be proficient to teach future students the skills in subsequent events. 

Inquire! Start getting to know the skills of those around you. Start crowd sourcing by making personal connections with others and asking: “What are your hidden talents?”
Event Team Matrix (Printable)
File Size: 34 kb
File Type: pdf
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Volunteer Agreement (Editable)
File Size: 216 kb
File Type: docx
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Presentation for Volunteers (Editable)
File Size: 1571 kb
File Type: ppt
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7. Start a TEDxYouth Club

In the case of schools, colleges, and universities, it is possible to create a club to assist with the organization and structure of your TEDx event.