From left: Eve Ensler at TED2004; Phillipe Starck at TED2007; Vik Muniz at TED2003
Each TED conference features more than 50 of the world’s most innovative and influential individuals. Our presenters run the world’s most admired companies and design its best-loved products; they invent world-changing devices, and create ground-breaking media. They’re trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses.
Collectively, they’ve won every major prize awarded for excellence, including the Nobel, Pritzker, Pulitzer, Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, Tony and MacArthur “genius” grant. We also seek out emerging artists, scientists and thinkers, introducing them to the TED community well before they hit the mainstream.
Some of these remarkable people have included former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, designer Phillipe Starck, architect Frank Gehry, primatologist Jane Goodall, musician Paul Simon, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Genomics pioneer Craig Venter, Tiananmen Square organizer Li Lu, biologist E.O. Wilson, playwright Eve Ensler, photojournalist James Nachtwey, Nobel laureates Paul Berg, Murray Gell-Man and Jim Watson (of Watson & Crick), Lost producer JJ Abrams, jazz musician Herbie Hancock, Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell, eco-architect William McDonough, architect & sculptor Maya Lin, “Ashes and Snow” photographer Gregory Colbert, reverend Billy Graham, cellist YoYo Ma, Segway inventor Dean Kamen, Google Founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, leadership coach Tony Robbins.
We search year-round for speakers and performers who will inform and inspire, surprise and delight. If you know someone who belongs on the roster of TED speakers, we want to hear from you! Please use our Speaker Recommendation Form, and offer as much insight as you can into why this person would be well-matched to the TED stage.
A few things to know about speaking at TED:
This isn't a typical conference. The TED audience has exceedingly high expectations of the speakers; we will work with you well in advance of the conference to help you shape a presentation that will succeed on the TED stage. Rules for TED speakers include a ban on "selling from the stage" (i.e. no plugging your company or organization), and a strict enforcement of the clock.
TED presentations last just 18 minutes. We've found that a carefully prepared presentation of this length can have astonishing impact. This format also allows us to fit in more than 50 speakers/performers over 4 days. Everyone hears every presentation; there are no breakout sessions. Thanks to the intimate feel of the venue and the energy and attention of the audience, many speakers conclude that their TED appearance was the most exhilarating and valuable public speaking experience of their lives.
Most speakers stay for all four days of the conference, soaking up the inspiration, and connecting with other fascinating attendees, who range from rocket scientists to concert pianists. In fact, the main reason to come is to join an extraordinary conversation with an extraordinary group of people.
TED has never paid speakers to attend, but we're committed to creating an experience that's tremendously fulfilling and beneficial on all sides. We do, of course, cover travel costs to Monterey, and provide excellent hotel accommodation, along with a complimentary Main Hall conference pass. (These passes cost $6,000 and sell out a year in advance.) Other TED goodies include a famous "gift bag," complimentary membership of the TED bookclub which has a mailing every few months, a beautiful Program Guide with a full page devoted to each full-length speaker, and a set of DVDs after the conference recording the entire event.
Some TED talks are distributed online. An additional benefit of speaking at TED is that your presentation could become one of our TEDTalks: beautifully produced, broadcast-quality video podcasts of the best presentations at TED. Offered free to the public, TEDTalks have proven extraordinarily effective at spreading ideas.
