Like many posts on Medium, TED talks are a great source of both inspiration AND education but what about these two platforms make them so successful in getting their content across? Well, here are my thoughts as to why.

1. Collections — Through the Playlists page on TED, viewers can find playlists which are curated by both TED and Guests. In both cases, users can find videos based on their personal taste preferences rather than simply based on a topic. Just because we might like a talk on a certain subject doesn’t mean we will necessarily like all talks on that subject. Instead we may like the style/tone/manner in which the talk is delivered in, which is where a curator can help find other talks that are similarly presented.
2. The Authors — Both Medium and TED allow for anyone to be an author. While Medium allows for anyone with an account to publish their story, TED does too (although slightly differently). There are the those who are highly profiled personalities like Tony Robbins and those who aren’t. The major prerequisite for presenting a TED talk and what allows anyone to present is that the host of the event believes that the presenter has an “Idea worth spreading”.
3. TED vs TEDx — A presentation can be given at either a TED conference or a TEDx conference. A TED conference is an official event created, run and organized by the TED organization while a TEDx event can be hosted by anyone whose application to host a TEDx event is approved by TED. The main advantage of licensing the TED experience out is that TED will ultimately be able to get (more) content that they wouldn’t have necessarily been able to get themselves if they had to travel and organize the 4,000+ events in over 130 counties across the globe. To see a fantastic infographic on TEDx created in 2012 by Forbes contributor Mark Fidelman you should click here. Similarly, it wouldn’t be possible for Medium to explore and gain access to fantastic content if it tried to research/write/create it themselves.

Ultimately, I feel like the 3 points above are also good points on being a better human. As…

One should live with values or virtues which aren’t necessary industry/field specific

Don’t discriminate, rather…

Treat everyone with an equal level respect

And finally…

Work with those around you because you can only do so much as an individual

I want to know what your favorite TED or TEDx talk is and share it so we can share it with others here on Medium;

So send me a message on twitter @StuSim and I’ll add it to a list below