APPLY TO SPEAK

Submit Your Idea

Though our speakers come from all disciplines and all industries both within and beyond the Quad Cities area, all have an idea worth spreading and a passion to share it. Our speakers present bold, radical ideas that challenge standard conceptions, present new understandings of our world, or uniquely add to established bodies of work. Their talks are well-formatted, visually inspiring, and act as a launching point both for their idea and themselves. Although we haven’t set a date for our 2024 event, the search is on! Speakers are typically selected about 6 months prior to each event. To see past talks and performances, check out our amazing Speaker Community and their talks here!

What We Look For

First and foremost, we consider the “Idea Worth Spreading”. To be considered, an idea should be:
1. New, Interesting,Evidence-Based and Realistic (check out the TED Content Guidelines for more on this)
2. Able to be shared in 15 minutes or less (usually much less)
3. Be the best person to speak to this idea and have credibility among their peers in the subject area of the talk
4. Be compelling, authentic, and engaging in communicating their idea

The Details

Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis, however, candidates are encouraged to submit ideas early! For each event, a theme will be selected after speakers are identified. We are looking for a wide breadth of topics. If selected for the next round of consideration, you will be contacted by a member of the curation team to learn more about you and your idea. If you are not contacted for this season, there is still a chance we may reach out to you in the future, as each event features a different mix of topics and speakers.

What Happens if I Get Picked?

Celebrate! You are about to embark on a journey that many speakers cite as a highlight of their career.
Get ready to work. A lot. Each speaker collaborates with a team of TEDxDavenport coaches and producers (who rock, by the way) to help make your TEDxDavenport talk the very best it can be! This means meetings at least once a month and lots of homework in between to write, memorize, and perfect your talk.