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APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR THIS YEAR 

Thank you to everyone who has applied. The TEDxSquareMile team will be in touch shortly.

What is a TEDX Talk?

A TEDx talk is a way to spread ideas that are inspiring, thought-provoking, and aim to make the world a better place. The topic of a TEDx talk comes from a place of deep experience and knowledge, where the speaker and their idea unite to make a lasting impression on the audience.

For the speaker, this is an opportunity to explore, structure, and prepare a topic the world needs to hear about. Our TEDx Square Mile team will support speakers on this journey, from validating, to writing, speech rehearsals and 1:1 coaching. Commitment and quality of delivery are as essential to a TEDx talk as the ideas themselves.

Talks can be built around:

  • Personal experiences and their effects
  • Professional findings or opinions
  • Human creativity expressed through music, dance, spoken word, poetry, and more
  • Topics ranging from simple to complex, that have profound relevance for the audience

However, talks may not:

  • Be a marketing or fundraising pitch for a particular organisation
  • Give an imbalanced endorsement to a particular political party or religion
  • Be the same speech that a speaker gives regularly

Who can speak at a TEDx?

Short answer: Anyone.

Long answer: anyone with the generosity to reach within their own life experience and craft a message that is relevant to other people.

Life experience can range from day-to-day activities, to career learnings, to once-in-a-lifetime happenings. They may have had an emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual impact on the speaker. And they must intend to share this impact with an audience in order to inform, provoke and inspire.

Speakers’ careers can span entrepreneurship, charity, finance, health, performance, journalism, government, technology, and others. Or speakers may not have a job title: they can be students, freelancers, stay-at-home parents, or they can be retired. We seek diversity in our group of speakers, and this includes diversity of gender, age, race, nationality, disability status, sexual orientation, religion and political views. The more, the merrier.

How do speakers get on stage?

Nominate, get selected, prepare, deliver.

First, we ask for a few details on the speaker’s experience, ideas and supporting material. This is the nomination stage, which can be completed by the speaker themselves, or by someone nominating a speaker. The deadline for submitting the nomination is 30 April 2020.

Then, our team takes the applicants through a selection process, in which we help refine the initial ideas and ultimately curate the final selection of speeches. Please note that at this stage we aim to strike a balance, in terms of topic diversity and human diversity.

In total speakers spend 60+ hours preparing for their TEDx Talk. They report it’s hard, rewarding, and totally worth it.

About the TEDxSquareMile theme

The TEDx Square Mile theme in 2020 is ‘Limit / less’. Talks can be from 3 minutes of maximum of 18 minutes long. All successful candidates will be interviewed by our Speakers & Programme team. TEDxSquareMile Speakers will have a dedicated speaker’s coach who will work with you 1:1 to ensure you are prepared pre, during and post the big day.