Why Pursuing a TEDx Talk Might Be a Waste of Time

In 2009, an English business leader gave a TEDx talk at Puget Sound that became one of the most watched TEDx talks of all time. He launched his first book, Start with WHY, a month after his TEDx success. Now the world knows his name—Simon Sinek. 

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After a thorough and lengthy investigation process, in 2010 a researcher gave a TEDx talk called “The Power of Vulnerability” that went viral seemingly overnight. Today that video has over 65 million views. Her name is Brené Brown. 

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A year later, in 2011, a relationship expert, radio host, and life coach shared one visionary idea in the last minutes of her TEDx talk. Her idea, “The 5 Second Rule,” launched her career to new heights and earned her a spot on TED.com. A few million views later, Mel Robbins’s message was racing around the world. 

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Give a TEDx talk, go viral, get invitations to speak at keynotes around the world. That’s what many new professional speakers expect. 

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But Brené Brown, Simon Sinek, and Mel Robbins are three examples of outliers who earned their TEDx success many years ago. Back then, TEDx was just getting started, so there were fewer speeches, less competition, and greater odds of success. 

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Now, that’s not to discredit any of these speakers or their speeches. But the fact of the matter is, most TEDx talks don’t go viral, they don’t make you famous, and they don’t kick-start your speaking career. 

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In general, picking a few outliers and copying what they do is not a recipe for success—especially when their success played out in a very different landscape than today’s. It’s much more beneficial to look logically at the facts and follow what’s worked for the vast majority.  So, let’s look at the facts. 

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The TEDx Lottery

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Each year, hundreds of different organizations and individuals host locally organized TEDx events around the world. In total, there are over 50,000 TEDx talks given every year—and that number continues to rise. 

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When one of those videos starts accumulating views and likes online, TED will pick it up and feature it on their website. Those featured videos get millions of views and become popular very quickly. But the chances of making it to the TED website are slim. 

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Out of the approximately 50,000 TEDx talks delivered, only about 45 typically get featured each year. That suggests roughly a 0.09% chance of being highlighted, with the majority of TEDx talks often fading from public attention.

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In 2017, Amy and I were invited to give a TEDx talk at TEDx Cambridge, the largest TEDx event in the country. When the event organizers called us, they said: “We want something you’ve never done before, a new idea you haven’t put out yet.” 

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So, that’s what we did. We put in a lot of work to come up with a brand new idea, speech, and performance. It was dozens—if not hundreds—of hours of rehearsal dedicated to building and delivering a stirring new performance.  

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And when we delivered it, it was great—the audience applauded in the middle and gave a rousing ovation at the end. But it didn’t go viral. It didn’t get picked up by TED (although they did write an article about it). And it didn’t make us insanely famous. 

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Now, I’m still happy we did it—it was a great experience and Amy and I had a lot of fun performing together on stage. Of course, I can’t know for sure, but if we were new professional speakers, would it have made a huge difference in the overall success of our speaking careers? Well, not likely. 

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TEDx: Will It Launch or Staunch Your Speaking Career?  

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When considering whether to pursue a TEDx talk as a path to becoming a paid professional speaker, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons, understand how to approach it effectively, and recognize that the ROI might not justify the effort. 

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The Pros of Pursuing a TEDx Talk

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If you are one of the lucky few and your TEDx talk does get picked up by TED, it will likely get millions of views, which can help you establish yourself as a professional speaker. 

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A few years ago, Amy Port worked on a TEDx talk with organizational psychologist and bestselling author Davis Burkus. Their sole objective? Make it to TED.com. And, lo and behold, it did. His talk, “The simple way to inspire your team,” earned him a spot on the envied TED website, along with over a million views.  

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Now, no speech coach can promise you this type of outcome. Of course, the hours of rehearsal, blocking and staging techniques, and content-mapping changes they made did improve Davis’s talk tremendously. But that still couldn’t guarantee it would be picked up by TED. There’s a certain element of luck that not even the most prestigious and effective performance coaches can predict. 

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Even if your speech doesn’t get put on the website, giving a TEDx talk might still build your credibility and visibility. Some TEDx events are more prestigious than others, and giving a successful speech at a high-end event might open doors to more speaking opportunities and help you establish yourself as a thought leader in your field. 

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Participating in a TEDx event might allow you to build valuable relationships with event attendees, other speakers, and event organizers. However, it is important to note that most TEDx organizers are not professional meeting planners. Maybe you’ll find an upcoming meeting planner in the audience looking for speakers—but, the truth is, professional meeting planners usually have little need to attend TEDx events. 

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TEDx events can provide a great platform to practice and refine your speech. It might be a great way to improve your delivery, get feedback from the audience, and enhance your overall presentation skills.