TEDxEdisonHighSchool: A Template for Virtual TEDx Conferences

Abstract

Going Beyond The TEDx Guidelines: TEDx talks are brief and powerful. Limited to eighteen minutes, these talks are a concise glimpse into the speaker’s background and topic. Adding to the rigorous TEDx speaker guidelines (TED Conferences LLC), the TEDxEdisonHighSchool curation teams have devised three techniques for curating TEDx talks in a virtual world. Number one: the throughline is a pithy, memorable statement that encapsulates the point of the talk. In particular, Amy Cuddy’s and Melissa Marshall’s TED talks inspired this idea (Marshall, 2012, Cuddy 2012). The impactful throughline stimulates attendees’ interest, especially as ’Zoom fatigue’ reduces attention span for virtual events. Number two: a three-meeting curation timeline allows for the efficient curation of high-quality talks. This small time commitment appeals to busy professionals and academics who have limited time for speaking appointments. Employing this timeline, three independent curation teams have planned and executed an eighteenspeaker TEDxEdisonHighSchool conference in only two months, with a three hour per week time commitment. Number three: collaborative technology such as Google Documents, Calendly, and Miro facilitates efficient, on-time meetings. Calendly allows multiple teams to centrally schedule speaker meetings. Finally, a series of templates streamlines the speaker invitation and talk outlining process. Taking Advantage Of The Virtual Climate: Hosting a virtual TEDx conference lowers costs and expands reach. Normally, TEDx conferences are immense ordeals involving caterers, venues, stage designers, sponsors, and more (TED Conferences LLC). Additionally, TEDx limits most organizers to one conference in a twelve-month period with a maximum of one hundred attendees. However, a virtual conference only requires an online meeting platform and allows for multiple conferences in a single twelvemonth period without the one hundred attendee limit. For example, in addition to the one conference per year afforded by a TEDx license, TEDCountdown and TEDWomen allowed TEDx licensees to host their own offshoot conferences. Finally, there are no geographic limits to speakers. Next, the Zoom video conferencing service allows for further enhancements of TEDx events. Zoom is unique in having one of the most seamless, high-quality screen sharing features. Hence, live speakers can be supplemented by showing pre-recorded talks on the TED website. Furthermore, small-group discussions, called TEDxCircles, can be incorporated through Zoom breakout rooms. These allow for intimate conversations that delve deeper into the speakers’ background and topic. Finally, Zoom’s attendee limits can be bypassed by streaming live to Facebook or Youtube, further increasing the event’s reach. Impact On Online Learning: A virtual TEDx conference addresses the need for “diversity in [a student’s] learning experience” (Gillett-Swan, 2017). TEDx talks break up the monotony of lectures with its unique, fast-paced structure. And, by involving features such as TEDxCircles small-group discussions, students can learn soft skills such as public speaking, and networking. For example, the TEDxEdisonHighSchool Countdown conference shone a new light on climate change. Speakers from the NJ Sierra Club and Columbia University discussed novel viewpoints such as climate change youth outreach. When combined with online classes and assignments, TEDx conferences can enrich the learning experience for an otherwise isolated student.