The TED commandments - rules every speaker needs to know | Hacker News Reader

The TED commandments - rules every speaker needs to know

timlonghurst.com

111 pointsamilr11 comments

I believe there is, or at least was, also a rule about not bringing up politics.

I'm judging by the dearth of comments here that these rules are considered excellent (hence the upvotes) but obvious (so no discussion). Which makes me wonder how valuable they are, especially to the kind of people invited to speak at TED...

The real message is not contained in the content.

It's a fucking stone tablet personally delivered. The medium is the message: Your TED talk is a big deal. We're serious about it. Make it good.

is that true? photo?

Quoting from the article, there's a photo here:

http://www.shopliftwindchimes.com/0206archive.html

Scroll down to 20th Feb.

I had thought people were being a bit harsh since asking for evidence is a hacker trait, but now it's clear you didn't bother doing your homework, and deserved to be down-mud.

http://www.shopliftwindchimes.com/0206archive.html scroll to 20 feb - or you could follow the links from the article yourself. I have to say that it doesn't look like a stone slab to me, without an angled photo, but they clearly say it is one.

Even without the message of the medium brilliant people are notorious for getting lost in the details, and forgetting how things look from the outside. It doesn't hurt to be reminded.

This isn't just for great speakers. It's how I'd like to live my life.

These TED Commandments are terrific. I've organized conferences and recruited speakers for large events before, and I wish I had had this list to distribute.

You’d be surprised how many people willingly violate #7 ("Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desparate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness"). These people don't get that you actually add get MORE value in return by talking LESS about yourself/company/service. Instead of gaining respect and people's attention, it just makes you look amateur and low-class.

Respectfully, I would also like to suggest adding an Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt respect the moderator and not attempt to flout speaker rules just to make you look like a 'rebel.' It makes thine self appear as an ass.

...Michael

--- Michael E. Rubin merubin@gmail.com // 847-370-3421 // twitter: merubin

I find a great deal of irony in a comment that opens and closes with self-promotion, and in the middle talks about how futile self-promotion is.

Since you seem to be new to HN, you should know that people here do not add signatures. If someone wants to contact you, they can find your contact info in your profile; otherwise it's just noise.

Are you sure that he didn't do it on purpose? Along with his "eleventh rule" and the fact that you're repeating something stated in the HN guidelines, it seems on-the-nose enough to be absurd. I laughed when I read it.

Given that this was his first comment I doubt it.

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