2022 Speaker Information

TEDxCarrollUniversity’s focus is strength in community, through the lens of multiple disciplines joining together to assess, discuss and strategize as we seek to find progress taking place in pockets of the Waukesha and Greater Milwaukee communities. We are calling for speakers who can speak to experience in both traditional and non-traditional community development. Our hope is to bring together students, educators, local entrepreneurs, city and state officials, researchers, and citizens that can help create content that is engaging, moving and calls our community to action.  


To Submit a Proposal 

If you review the information provided and determine that you would be a qualified candidate to speak at the October 22, 2022 TEDx Carroll University event, please provide the following to tedx@carrollu.edu:  

  • A brief biography of yourself

  • The main idea and a basic outline of your talk  

  • Note: applicants should heavily explore in their main outline how their “talk” fits with the TEDxCarrollUniversity theme of "Strength in Community".  This main outline should not exceed one page in length. Please provide an estimated time for your “talk.” 

  • Links to any books, articles, blogs, or past speaking engagements that would help our selection committee understand who you are. 

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2022 


What can a “speaker” do for their proposal? 

  • Presentation/lecture

  • Performance with a descriptive piece 

  • Demonstration or testimonial 

  • What is not accepted based on TEDx guidelines: panels, workshops or Q&A 

Guidelines for Talk 

Your “talk” should be roughly 12-15 minutes in length; it is important to balance explanation and research with holding audience attention and engagement. Some speakers will have “talks” as short as 5 minutes and up to 18 minutes. Aiming for 12-15 minutes should provide you ample time to engage with the audience and allow for the TEDxCarrollU setup team to prepare for the next speaker on stage. 

Any chosen speakers will be required to follow the rules listed out by both the TED organization and the Carroll University TEDx committee. If you’re unfamiliar with TED or the format of a TED Talk, we encourage you to view examples on the TED website: www.ted.com.  Additionally, speakers should anticipate staying until the end of the event (see tentative schedule on the website.) There will be opportunities to further engage with the campus community after the Talks. 


The Ten TED Commandments 

  • Dream big. Reveal something never seen and heard before. Do something the audience will remember forever. Share an idea that could change the world.

  • Show us the real you. Share your passions, your dreams, your fears. Be vulnerable. Talk about failure as well as success. 

  • Discuss complex issues in plain talk. Don’t try to dazzle people with your intellect of speak in abstractions. Explain everything. Give examples. Tell stories. Be specific. 

  • Connect with people’s emotions. Make us laugh! Make us cry! 

  • Don’t flaunt your ego. Don’t boast. It’s the surest way to switch everyone’s attention off. 

  • No selling the stage. Unless TED specifically asks you to do so, do not talk about your company or organization. Don’t even think about pitching your products or services or asking for funding from stage. 

  • Feel free to comment on other speakers’ talks to praise or to criticize. Controversy energizes! Enthusiastic endorsement is powerful! 

  • Don’t read your talk. Notes are fine. If the choice is between reading or rambling, then read. 

  • End your talk on time. Doing otherwise is to steal time from the speakers who follow you. 

  • Rehearse your talk in front of a trusted friend for timing, clarity and impact.