TEDx talk: how experts are selected and what it costs

A TEDx talk cannot be bought, because TED declares every fee-based TEDx service illegitimate, and the volunteer teams behind each event select their speakers solely on the idea. The occasion is the TED2026 conference, which began in Vancouver on 13 April 2026 and is the last one held at its current venue before TED moves to San Diego in 2027. On its programme page TED states that more than 4,000 TEDx events are held every year, and local teams organise each of them independently. For experts this means applying through the public application form of an event and bringing an idea that works without promoting their own company. For sales, specialist conferences with a call for papers remain the complement.

TEDx talk and TED2026: what the move from Vancouver to San Diego means

On the first day of TED2026, 13 April 2026, the session “All of Us” opened with seven speakers, as the TED blog reports. Among those on stage were Malala Yousafzai and Mark Rober as well as Silvana Konermann of the Arc Institute. The blog calls the conference the last at the current venue in Vancouver before TED begins a new chapter.

TED described that chapter on 2 December 2025 in a post about the move: after twelve years in Vancouver, the annual main conference will take place in San Diego from 2027. TED intends to announce the programme, the ticket structure and the prices for 2027 after the 2026 conference. In the same announcement TED cites more than 13,000 TEDx events in 150 countries since the start. The move concerns the main conference. TEDx events are run by local teams independently of it.

What a TEDx talk is and how it differs from TED

A TEDx talk is a talk at a locally and independently organised event that works under a free licence from TED and follows the TEDx format. TED2026 in Vancouver, by contrast, is the main conference of TED itself. According to TED, the organisers are volunteers who commit to the format and to guidelines for curation and production.

These volunteers matter to you, because they do the selecting. On its page Speaking at TEDx, TED writes that each speaker is selected by the volunteers without influence from sponsors, government or any organisations, and solely on the idea the speaker is putting into the world through their work. On professional speakers the page is explicit: TEDx is not a platform for professional or circuit speakers, such as motivational speakers and life coaches.

How speakers are selected for a TEDx talk

The guide for organisers sums up the selection in five words: “Look for ideas, not speakers.” An idea is accordingly either new and surprising, or it brings a new, challenging argument to a familiar thought. It needs evidence and a conclusion, because according to the guide an anecdote or a list of facts is not yet an idea. Stories may illustrate an argument and do not replace it. The organisers also check whether a speaker is rooted locally, presents their field in a new way and adds diversity to the programme.

The following table compares the TEDx rules with a talk at a specialist conference, where the right-hand column describes the usual case and individual organisers may differ.

For experts in B2B fields the last row gives a clear picture. The TEDx rules permit product demos, technology or books only when they bolster an idea presented in the talk. A TEDx talk therefore gives you a recording that TED distributes on its digital channels under the release you sign, and selling from the stage is excluded. How talks at specialist conferences generate business is covered in Why the specialist conference works so well as a sales channel.

Applying for a TEDx talk: an example calculation with ten applications

TED gives no figure for acceptance rates, so the following calculation is an example with assumptions. Suppose one in ten applications to a TEDx event leads to a talk, then you need ten applications for one talk. If you allow three hours per application for describing your idea and your details, that comes to 30 hours of application work.

Set against this is the number of opportunities. With more than 4,000 events a year, at least eleven take place worldwide on an average day. You can only apply to events that offer a public form and that you can reach.

How to apply for a TEDx talk: five steps

1. Put the idea in one sentence: As a test, the organisers’ guide says: if a speaker can be described without the idea coming up, the idea needs sharpening. Your sentence therefore contains an argument with evidence from your work.
2. Look for events with a public form: TED advises contacting only organisers that provide a public application form on their official event page at TED.com. According to TED, unsolicited messages to volunteers on social media are likely to receive a cold response.
3. Apply once per event: According to TED, multiple nominations for the same person do not influence the selection.
4. Check the local connection: Organisers look for speakers who are rooted locally. Name your city, your region or your client base there in the application.
5. Cut the topic to nine minutes at most: According to the TEDx rules, 3 to 9 minutes is ideal. An idea that is too large for that belongs at a specialist conference, as How to get on a conference stage describes.

An application costs you time and no money. Under TED’s rules a speaker may pay nothing, including production costs, recruiting sponsors, buying ticket blocks or hiring coaches, and an offer that sells a place operates outside those rules. How to assess such offers at other conferences is covered in Do speakers have to pay for the stage?.