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• TEDx talks are not motivational speeches.
• TEDx talks are not just storytelling about a personal journey. If you are including your personal story, it must lead to a new surprising idea or concept to qualify for consideration.
• TEDx talks are not a promotional opportunity to showcase your company or brand.
• TEDx talks are not religious or political.

A TEDx Talk is a showcase for speakers presenting great, well-formed ideas in under 18 minutes.

Why under 18 minutes?
This short talk model works, since it only demands the audience’s attention for a short period of time, decreasing the chance of minds wandering or daydreaming about lunch. In fact, some of our greatest TED Talks have been as short as 5 minutes long!

What is a great, well-formed idea?
It can actually be one of two things:

• Something that’s new and surprising; an idea or invention that your audience has never heard about.
• A great basic idea (that your audience has maybe already heard) with a compelling new argument behind it that challenges beliefs and perspectives.

TED offers speakers a platform to provide information directly to millions of people around the world. It’s a responsibility we take seriously. First and foremost, that information has to be accurate at the time of publication.

If a talk does not follow the Content Guidelines or Copyright Guidelines and the organizer chooses to upload the talk, TEDx reserves the right to add an editorial flag describing how the talk falls outside the guidelines or to decline its publication.

All TED and TEDx talk must follow:

• No commercial agenda
• No political agendas or inflammatory rhetoric
• No religious agenda
• No bad science

See TEDx Content Guidelines here.

See TEDx Copyright Guidelines (PDF)

TED and TEDx are platforms for showcasing and explaining genuine advances in science that are backed by research. Scientific claims by speakers should be based on data that has survived scrutiny by experts in the field. Speakers should be transparent about the basis for any factual claims, and the scientific evidence for them.

Claims made using scientific language should:

• Be testable experimentally
• Have been published in a peer-reviewed, respected journal
• Be based on theories that are also considered credible by experts in the field
• Be backed up by experiments that have generated enough data to convince other experts of its legitimacy
• Have proponents who are secure enough to acknowledge areas of doubt and need for further investigation
• Not fly in the face of the broad existing body of scientific knowledge
• Be presented by a speaker who has the right scientific qualifications
• Show clear respect for the scientific method and scientific thinking generally.

Claims made using scientific language should not:

• Be so obscure or mysterious as to be untestable.
• Be considered ridiculous by credible scientists in the field.
• Be based on experiments that can not be reproduced by others.
• Be based on data that do not convincingly corroborate the experimenter’s theoretical claims.
• Come from overconfident advocates.
• Use over-simplified interpretations of legitimate studies.
• Include imprecise vocabulary. (Phrases like “quantum consciousness,” personal “energy fields,” “crystal healing”, and the like, should be considered major red flags.)
• Abandon evidence-based thinking or be dismissive of the scientific method.

What is fact-checking, and why does it matter?

Fact-checking means going through a script’s empirical claims — basically, anything that can be verified in the real world — and making sure that they are as accurate as possible. There are real consequences to the talks you produce, since people will often change their behavior based on a talk that they watch. So, you want to be sure you are not accidentally sharing misinformation or disinformation on your TEDx stage. It protects the reputations of you, the speaker, the event, and TED at-large.

See more details here.

Speaker fees and ineligible speakers:

• TEDx events may neither pay nor charge speakers.
• Sponsors of the TEDx event cannot be speakers and can never present from the stage.
• Organizers cannot be speakers at TEDx events to which they contribute.

No commercial agenda:
Speakers cannot promote their own products, books, or businesses, or those of a company which employs them. Talks can only feature technology, product demos, or books that inform an idea presented in a talk.

Copyright:
Every talk’s content must be in compliance with copyright law. Speakers must inform you beforehand of any third-party material that will be used in their presentations and seek written permissions to copyrighted materials when applicable. TED cannot assist with this process nor act as a consultant on individual cases. Read these Copyright Guidelines to ensure as speaker you clear everything with permission before we record your TEDx talk.

Talks are thoughtful, not divisive:
No talks with an inflammatory political or religious agenda, nor polarizing “us vs them” language. TED and TEDx seek to build consensus and provide outside-the-box thinking, not to revisit familiar, unresolvable disputes on these topics.

Speaker content guidelines:

• All talks should comply with TEDx Content Guidelines and Copyright Guidelines
• If a talk does not follow the Content Guidelines or Copyright Guidelines, organizers have the discretion to withhold the talk. TEDx organizers must inform both TED staff and the speaker(s) that they have made this decision, along with their reasoning.
• If a talk does not follow the Content Guidelines or Copyright Guidelines and the organizer chooses to upload the talk, TED reserves the right to add an editorial flag describing how the talk falls outside the guidelines or to decline its publication.

At TEDxBITJaipur, a talk is more than a performance — it’s a process of thoughtful discovery, crafted with care and intention.

• You’ll join us on stage in January 2026, delivering a talk that speaks to both heart and mind.
• Talks should reflect clarity, originality, and purpose.
• Be open — to collaboration, coaching, and creative dialogue.
• Attend speaker curation and development sessions from September to December 2025.
• Follow the spirit of TED: No promotion. No politics. Just ideas worth spreading.
• Above all, bring your most authentic self to the stage — the rest, we’ll build together.

At TEDxBITJaipur, we’re building a stage for voices that often go unheard — the thinkers, the tinkerers, the quiet revolutionaries. We seek speakers who bring not just ideas, but the courage to reframe perspectives and move hearts. Whether you’re a first-time speaker or a seasoned storyteller, what matters most is the power of your idea and your willingness to shape it with intention.

TEDx events, including ours, are fully volunteer-led — powered by passion, not profit. Every speaker is guided through a thoughtful curation journey to ensure their talk reaches its full potential.

Before submitting your application, here are a few important notes:

• Please take time to understand and honor all TED, TEDx, and TEDxBITJaipur content guidelines.
• Familiarize yourself with the spirit of our event theme (P.S. we might share a hint if you message us!) and consider how your idea might resonate with the theme’s depth.
• Ask yourself: “Why me?” and “Why now?” What makes your story or insight urgent, fresh, and transformative in this moment?
• We encourage applicants with a connection to Jaipur or the broader Indian ecosystem, though applications are welcome from everywhere.
• Know that submitting your talk idea is only the beginning. If selected, you’ll work closely with our curation team to develop, refine, and rehearse your talk.
• We receive a high volume of applications and review each with care. While we may not be able to respond to every entry individually, please know that your voice matters and is appreciated.

Remember, TEDxBITJaipur isn’t just about the talk — it’s about the idea, the energy, and the community you help create. We’re excited to see what you’ll bring to the stage.