TED Talks open up for public auditions

Here at Memeburn we love TED. The conference embodies the kind of innovation we so fervently believe in. Imagine our delight then when we found out that TED would be holding public auditions.

Conference organisers say there will be series of 14 auditions in cities across the globe aimed at finding speakers for TED2013.

This isn’t some half-baked attempt at keeping the fans happy either. The organisers claim that “more than half of the speakers at TED2013” will be found using the audition process.

Anyone wanting to audition will be required to send in a send in a short video of themselves. From there 30 of the best applicants for each city will be invited to the actual audition, which will be three to six minutes long.

Once the auditions are complete, a crowdsourcing component comes in. According to TED:

After all the auditions have been held, we will post video of all the presenters on a special area of our site. You and other members of the public will have a chance to vote for the ones you think are best. We will then tailor our program from the top 50. Successful candidates will have the chance to deliver a longer talk or performance at TED2013 and we will offer coaching and AV support as needed.

TED has confirmed audition events in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Doha, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, Tunis and Vancouver — between April and June 2012.

TED claims it is looking among other things, for sages, teachers, prodigies, and inventors”.

What it isn’t looking for, however, is Product-hawkers, jargon-junkies, dullards, wafflers, motivator wannabes, self-promoters, spouters of new-age fluff.