TED, a non-profit organization that describes itself as “dedicated to discovering and spreading ideas that spark imagination, embrace possibility, and catalyze impact,” has launched its own speakers bureau for the corporate, association, and for-profit events market.
Started in 1984 as a single conference that touched on technology, entertainment, and design—hence the name—the organization now oversees thousands of events worldwide that address a host of topics across business, science, society, and individual performance.
The defining characteristic of those presentations accepted by TED conference organizers: They must deliver an “idea worth spreading” in less than 18 minutes.
The new bureau “is a service to our speakers as well as to groups looking to find speakers for their events," says Theresa Brown, executive director. "Our speakers have requested this type of support from TED for years, and so have event organizers. People look to TED for impactful ideas, so we're excited to make it easier to bring TED speakers to new audiences."
The TED Speakers Bureau is a full-service resource, also handling logistics throughout a speaker’s engagement. Further, TED's Partnerships team is available to expand the scope of participation beyond a single speaking engagement at a given event.
Meeting and convention planners can browse available speakers at speakersbureau.ted.com, while videos of speakers’ talks are available for free on TED.com.
