Please read this text carefully before completing your application.

The TEDxKanata 2024 theme is EMERGE.

e·merge (/əˈmərj/) — to come forth, appear, or become visible; to come into existence; to become known or recognized.

TEDxKanata is returning on May 15, 2024. It will be an evening of conversations on the constantly evolving nature of our world and how individuals, ideas, social movements, cultural trends, and new technologies emerge to shape the present and future.

The sharing of ideas matter more than ever right now. As a community, we need to listen to each other and TEDxKanata is a platform for ideas worth spreading. We will host an intimate event, where idea seekers, curious souls and open minds are inspired to act for positive change.

Our speakers come from every walk of life, with diverse backgrounds and varied perspectives. They need not have public speaking experience. Our speaker community is united by their willingness to share an important idea with global relevance that has been shaped in their individual experience.

Speaker applications close Thursday November 30 at 11:59pm EST. Please be sure to provide both your application and video submission. We will review your application and get back to all speakers by December 20, 2023.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING APPLICATION

This is to help provide some guidelines as to how the curation committee will evaluate submissions. Curation committee submission evaluation guidelines

We evaluate applications against several criteria:

1. Ideas worth spreading – we are looking for a diversity of ideas
2. Uniqueness – does the idea already have a platform, has it been covered extensively? Is this a helpful new perspective?
3. Relevance – is this idea connected to our region, but relevant globally? Is the idea relevant to the theme: emerge
4. Lived experience – does the speaker to have the experience to speak credibly about this idea?

The following will not be accepted within any TEDxKanata talk:

• Commercial or sales agenda
• Political agendas or inflammatory rhetoric
• Religious agendas
• Bad or questionable science

Other important TEDxKanata guidelines:

• No late applications will be accepted.
• TEDxKanata may neither pay nor charge speakers.
• Sponsors of the event cannot be speakers and can never present from the stage.
• Organizers cannot be speakers at events to which they contribute.
• Speakers must commit to the preparation and coaching process including several virtual and in-person coaching sessions, workshops and dress rehearsal between January and May