Social media

One of the primary goals of a TEDx event is to spark conversation, and one of the most effective ways to maximize the impact of your event’s ideas is social media. Platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok will allow you to amplify your TEDx event and connect with engaged audiences using creative methods.

Invest in your team’s social presence to build anticipation for your event, reach attendees, and keep the discussion about your talks going beyond event day. There are many ways to approach social media. Practice, experiment, adjust and repeat!

Instagram

Instagram continues to be an all-in-one platform to promote your event, connect with your audience, and share the magic of your TEDx events with a global audience.

Build anticipation by sharing updates leading up to event day, including behind-the-scenes moments about the planning process. During your event, share highlights live through Stories. Afterwards, share videos and photos of your stage, audience, and experiences.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a ready-made platform for your event’s ideas and a great place for your team to connect with potential speakers, volunteers, and audiences. Promote your event, share talk snippets, and engage with your speakers.

Facebook

Facebook is another great channel to promote your event. Many people continue to use the platform, even as newer platforms are growing rapidly.

Additional platforms

There are a wide range of other tools to tap into. Check out TikTok, Threads, and more. Several teams have also found success in directly connecting with audiences on messenger apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and WeChat.

How to get started on social media:

Create your account

First things first! Choose which platforms you want to engage on - different platforms will help you reach different audiences. When you create an account, use your TEDx event name as your handle (e.g., @TEDx[name]). Add a bio that introduces people to your event - assume that they may not be familiar with TEDx events. Include your location.

For more on naming your event's social accounts, refer to the TEDx Rules

Build a following

Invite your friends and event guests to follow your accounts and engage with your content. Consistency is key on social media - try picking a few content styles, and set regular days and times when you’ll post.

Follow other TEDx events’ accounts. This is a great way to build your audience and connect with the internal community while finding inspiration to boot. Engage with their content by liking, commenting and sharing.

Remember to promote your accounts in all your communications - add account links to your website, emails, and event programs.

Maximize photos and videos

Short-form video and eye-catching photos will help your account stand out in the sea of content. Before the event, introduce your event’s theme and ideas, venues, speakers, and experiences with engaging visuals. After your event, share photos and videos to relive the big day. You’ll also use these images to promote your next event.

Learn more about creating short-form video below.

Promote and leverage your speakers

As you confirm your speakers, introduce them to your followers. Share speaker bios and talk teasers, tag speakers’ accounts where applicable, and consider asking your speakers who have a social presence to cross-promote your event.

For best practices on engaging with sponsors on your event's social accounts, refer to the TEDx Rules.

Interact with your followers

Spark conversations and get to know your community by posting questions. Poll your followers about their favorite TED talks, which local topics they care about, and what they want to see at your events. Respond to comments and DMs from curious audiences.

Troubleshooting account challenges

Unfortunately, Meta’s policies operate outside TED’s control. If your team’s Instagram or Facebook account is blocked, we recommend seeking alternate platforms or creating a new account with an alternate version of your event name by using underscores, hyphens or periods. Please contact tedx@ted.com to work out the alternate name, so that it doesn’t overlap with another team’s.

Create short-form talk clips

You’ll be able to engage a wider audience with short-form videos that highlight digestible takeaways and notable moments from your speakers' talks.
Once your event’s talks are published on the TEDx YouTube channel, your team and speakers can create TEDx talk clips of up to 60 seconds long as Instagram Reels, TikToks, YouTube Shorts, and other short video platforms.
Experiment, experiment, experiment!

  • Continue to shorten your stage talks (we find that 8-10 minutes is a sweet spot).
  • While you’re curating, keep in mind that you’ll want to be able to promote a talk’s core idea in 60 seconds or less.
  • Play with a range of clips from your talks. Check out these examples that have performed especially well on the TEDx Instagram and TED’s TikTok. (Shoutout to TEDxUCSD, TEDxByron Bay Women, TEDxOslo Met!).
  • When you post, tag the official TEDx account on the respective platform so we can celebrate your work.
  • You can also share TEDx talk clips from events other than your own.
  • Please note that 60-second TEDx talk clips are permitted for non-commercial, social media use only. Those who wish to feature clips that are longer than 30 seconds for different uses must obtain permissions from the TED distribution team.

Releasing your accounts

If you decide not to renew your TEDx license, or TED does not renew your license, you must transfer administrative control and ownership of the social media accounts and pages related to your event to the next TEDx licensee of the series.

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