Welcome! Thanks for considering submitting your talk to TEDxSeattle. We’re growing every year and 2018 promises to our best yet! TEDxSeattle will be held on Saturday, November 17th, 2018 in gorgeous McCaw Hall in Seattle. Expect a sold-out house of 2,800 for the day-long event. In addition to speakers, the day features entertainers, TED videos, audience engagement experiences in the lobbies, food, and lots of opportunities for you to meet and talk with other attendees.
The theme for 2018 is: Tall Order.
If you’re an entertainer interested in performing live this year, we’d love to hear from you. Please fill out the Speaker Submission Form below and tell us about your performance.
Important Dates (details below)
- April 16 Submissions open. A first draft of your talk is required.
- April 30 Submissions close.
- May 16 Acceptance email for Pitch Day are sent.
- May 19 Pitch Day.
Advice for Getting Accepted
We want you to have a great experience when submitting to TEDxSeattle. Below, you’ll find everything you need to help craft a compelling submission. Please read through all the materials before making your final submission.
TEDx Talks are about ideas worth spreading. To better understand how we think about ideas, please watch Chris Anderson’s video (below) and download our PDF How to Think About an Idea.
Tips
In the draft:
- Give your idea in a clear and compelling way early in your talk. Don’t tease us. Make sure anyone who reads your script could easily repeat the central idea in a sentence or two.
- Remember: you’re an expert on this subject, but the readers and audience probably won’t be. Write to make your idea accessible to the audience and to us. Make the complex plain. Don’t speak in abstractions. Be specific. Give examples. Tell stories and use emotion to help us connect with your idea.
- Keep in mind that the TEDxSeattle audience is a broad cross-section of the public – everyone from students to world leaders. They all have one thing in common: they want to have their minds expanded by new ideas. Help the audience have a great experience by making your idea relevant to them. Help them understand why your idea matters in their lives.
- Please don’t mention any product or company names – not even non-profits. Promotion is not a part of a TEDx Talk.
In the submission form:
- Tell us why this idea needs to be heard by this audience, at this moment.
- Let us know why you want to deliver this talk. What is it in your background or experience that makes you the best choice to share this idea?
- Remember that you’re one of many submitting talks, so we may receive similar ideas from other applicants. The best way to distinguish your submission is to make the idea clear.
In general:
- You don’t have to be a professional speaker to be selected. Our professional coaches and speechwriters will work with you to make your talk come alive.
- Watch lots and lots of TED and TEDx videos but, more importantly, before you write your draft read lots of talks. Every TED Talk has a transcription below it. Consider reading it before watching the talk.
- TEDxSeattle does not accept submissions from third parties. (Please, no publicists or public relations specialists.) Speakers must submit directly.
Check out tips from an insider: Dr. Fariba Alamdari, TEDxSeattle 2017 speaker. For more insights, visit our Tips from Past Speakers page.
Submission Checklist
Before you fill in the form below and upload your content, please make sure you’re ready to include the following:
✔ A complete narrative-style, first draft that communicates your idea worth spreading.
✔ Availability for Pitch Day on May 19th.
✔ Any links that provide examples of you speaking or documents that provide additional background for you or your idea.
✔ Contact information.
Want to time your talk? Check out this handy tool.
Submission Form
Submissions will be open April 16-April 30, 2018. Enter now by following the link below or feel free to read through the questions first and return later to enter your talk or performance art.