TEDx Global Idea Search

Now's your chance to give a TED Talk

We're on a mission to find the best ideas and speakers from across the globe.

In partnership with nine incredible TEDx organizers, we'll hold Global Idea Searches on six continents in 2025. Each one will culminate in a spectacular in-person event showcasing remarkable ideas from that region.  We’ll then invite one speaker from each event to give their talk live at the TED conference in Vancouver in April, 2026. The theme for the event: All of Us. We literally can’t do this without you! 

How to participate

STEP 1

Record a 1-minute (max) video giving a sense of the idea you want to share and how you want to share it. (Find more detailed instructions in the application form.)

STEP 2

Fill out the application for the TEDx Global Idea Search event you want to speak at. We’re heading to the locations listed below. See a city near you? Follow the link to apply to be part of it.

LOCATION

APPLICATION DEADLINE

August 1
August 1
September 1
September 1
September 1
September 15
September 15
September 15
October 1

STEP 3

The TED and TEDx teams will review all the submissions and about two weeks after the submission deadline, will select a group of finalists. We'll then help each of you to prepare short TED Talks for the event.

If you're not selected, you'll hear from us and your application and idea will go into our database for future consideration.

STEP 4

The TED team will choose one speaker from each event to share their idea on the TED stage in Vancouver 2026.

Tips for applying

What we're looking for

We're looking for ideas that change attitudes, minds, lives, your region, even the world. That means we want to learn about ideas and projects that are new, unique, and can offer an insight or a new way of thinking to a very large audience.
Get creative. Show us what sets you apart! We are NOT looking for the boring or familiar.

We want something that’s authentically you: Fresh, creative, different. It could be:

  • An unexpected idea for your community that would bring delight or solve a big problem
  • A description of something remarkable that you’ve worked on for a long time and is now ready for prime time
  • A powerful story of an experience from which others could learn a crucial lesson
  • Surprising forms of photography, art or creativity that show the world in a new light
  • A plan that could make your community — or the world — a better place
  • A longstanding tradition from your part of the world that we could all benefit from adopting
  • A rant that’s hilarious but also instructive

Think big! Give us something we haven’t heard before (check TED.com to verify) and avoid straightforward self-promotion. We’re looking for intriguing, funny, insightful, imaginative, beautiful, jaw-dropping, inspiring, persuasive, filled to the brim with possibility.

What to avoid

Some talk pitches come over as annoyingly earnest or not particularly credible.

Here are some examples that we would likely NOT consider:

  • How I learned to speak my truth and be my authentic self
  • How to conquer your fears and achieve your dreams
  • Find your passion through unleashing your creativity
  • I had a rare experience and it taught me to face my fear
  • Find happiness using the L.U.V. method: Light, Universe, Vulnerability
  • I traveled to India and it changed my perspective on the stock market, even though I’m not a banker

Talks from Idea Searches