TEDx has become a rite of passage for those on their thought leadership journey over the last few years. It’s a chance to be associated with a globally recognised brand and have your message shared with the world.

But does it truly deliver on that promise?

I often worry that thought leaders think giving a TEDx talk will solve all their problems…

It’s not a magic pill.

It takes a huge amount of hard work and dedication to even land the gig, let alone the stress and pressure that comes with delivering the talk.

Oh and then you’ve got to promote it.

Once upon a time, most speakers were rewarded with a well produced video that went up on the TEDx YouTube channel (48.1 million followers), and with relatively little effort to get a few thousand views.

[A lucky few might even take off and be seen millions of times.]

But that time has long gone.

More often than not, the video production is poor to average* and unless your talk includes algorithm-friendly words like ‘sex’ or ‘feminism’ you‘ll have to graft extremely hard to get into the early thousands of views.

YouTube is a very different place from what it was 10 years ago.

A not-so-fun fact: Just 1 of the Top 100 TEDx Talks is under 4 years old.

But at least you can put ‘TEDx speaker’ on your LinkedIn profile, right?!

*The chance to speak in front of a professional camera crew is one of the biggest perks of being a TEDx speaker. The problem is that TEDx organisers are volunteers, putting their own money behind the event.

While they’ll do their best to have a professional set up as possible, the reality is that it is not only extremely expensive, it’s extremely difficult to get right. The most common mistake TEDx organisers make is underestimating how bright the set needs to be, which is why so many talk recordings end up looking like this:

As disappointed as Jess was in the final production, she didn’t let that stop her from using her talk as a showpiece for her idea. It’s been seen 1.2m times since and resulted in her being appointed as a Commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

I share this because so many go down the TEDx route with such high expectations only to be left disappointed that it didn’t achieve for them what they hoped it would.

If you want to go down the TEDx route, you need to understand that a poor quality recording is a risk. If that’s a dealbreaker, (ask yourself why…) and only apply to speak at TEDx events that have proven they can get the video production right.

P.s. If you’re only doing it for a showpiece video, you probably shouldn’t be doing it at all.

Giving a TEDx talk isn’t right for everyone, is it right for you?

When I was curating TEDxClapham ~90% of the applications fell into one of the following categories:

1. I want to share my story so it can help others

2. I want to (subtly) promote my business/book etc.

3. I want to motivate/inspire my audience (and look good whilst doing it).

In other words, I want to give myself/business more credibility. If your intentions fall into one of these categories, not only is the TEDx platform not the right platform for you, there are far easier ways of achieving those goals.

Curators read applications with a ‘self-promotion’ filter. If they sense that the talk is going to be more beneficial for you than the audience, they’ll stop reading it and move onto the next one.

Being truly honest with yourself about your intentions could save you a LOT of time and stress!

The ~10% of applications that get taken seriously say something different:

1. I have discovered a novel way to solve an important problem.

2. I have uncovered an insight that furthers my field.

3. I want to change the perception of [my topic].

4. I am implementing an idea that has the potential to make the world a better place.

5. I want to shine a light on an important problem that no one is talking about (and I have tangible proof it exists).

And even then you might not land the engagement.

The perfect talk concept isn’t enough. There are plenty of reasons why your application could still be rejected…

1. Balance of topics across disciplines ⚖️
   Curators may have already found a speaker talking about a similar topic.
   

2. They covered the topic at a previous event 🔁
   And want their latest event to feel completely different
   

3. Other ideas are more aligned with the event’s theme 🧩
   When in doubt, they’ll always choose the talk that fits best with the theme.
   

4. Local speakers/ideas are being prioritised 🗺️ 
   The very purpose of TEDx is to highlight local ideas.
   

5. The vibe of your talk doesn’t fit their vision 🧠

   Maybe they’re not looking for another serious talk.
   

6. Curator’s personal biases ❤️‍🔥

   Unconscious or not, we all have them.

So don’t be disheartened.

Some of the most successful TEDx speakers I’ve ever worked with have had to apply to 10+ events before they even made it through to the second round, let alone land the talk itself.

So why bother?

Well, one of the reasons is because when you deliver the right message with the right intention to the right people at the right time amazing things can happen.

1. Isabel Chapman used her talk to help change government legislation.
   9.8k views

2. Edwina Thompson used her talk as a pre-cursor for upcoming meetings she had with NATO and the UN. 
   27k views

3. Anna Machin is changing the conversation around fatherhood.
   100k views

4. Dave Chawner’s talk is the reason male anorexia is being talked about publicly.
   300k views

5. Jessica Butcher’s talk sparked a national debate on what it means to be a feminist
   1.2m views

6. Leon Taylor’s talk is changing how millions of people manage their mental health.

   2.2m views

I have countless other examples (but I’m running out of steam!).

The craziest thing about each of these examples? They applied to speak with the intention of making these exact things happen…

That was their pitch.
They were already thinking BIG.

I wonder… are you thinking big enough?

Suddenly adding ‘TEDx speaker’ to your LinkedIn profile seems rather meaningless…

The fact that these same talks also resulted in some cool stuff happening for them and their careers e.g. lucrative book deals, senior appointments to governing bodies, once in a lifetime job offers, increased speaking fees etc. is beside the point.

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I should also add that while the TEDx brand might have lost a lot of it’s shine to me, having been in this world for the last decade, it still carries a lot of weight to everyone else…

Just the other day, we had a member of MicDrop lose out on a lucrative speaking engagement to someone who’d given a TEDx talk.

When you hear stories like that, it’s easy to see why it’s become a right of passage for those on their thought leadership journey.

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I’m sharing all of this, not (necessarily) to put you off pursuing your goal of becoming a TEDx speaker, but to help you start your journey on the right track. To challenge you to:

1. Lead with your idea, not with your story 💡

2. Think BIGGER about the impact your idea can have 🌎

3. Drop your ego ⚡️

Whether you decide to pursue the TEDx route or not, every aspiring thought leader would do well to follow these three practices.

The bottom line, you don’t have to give a TEDx talk to become a thought leader.

I hope you found this useful!

Alex