

The TED commandments - rules every speaker needs to know - amilr
http://www.timlonghurst.com/blog/2008/05/16/the-ted-commandments-rules-every-speaker-needs-to-know/#more-317

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

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jsomers
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...

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rarrrrrr
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.

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quizbiz
is that true? photo?

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10ren
<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.

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

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merubin75
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

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a-priori
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.

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derefr
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.

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Hexstream
Given that this was his first comment I doubt it.

