Youth event resources

Since your primary audience at TEDxYouth events is kids, it’s important to make events fun! Consider hosting workshops and activity breaks between speaker sessions: Include games, icebreakers, experiments, hands-on workshops and more — anything that gets your community active and talking to one another.

Make the breaks longer than you think they might need to be, and serve food after each session. Focus is renewed with snacks!

Consider discrete supervision of one adult to every 15 or 20 young people. Ensure that entertainment and/or activities are suitable for the young attendees, or make arrangements for their exclusion when necessary. Consider getting appropriate insurance for participants. And, of course, make sure you have a first aid kit handy.

Your audience is youth, so keep this in mind when seeking sponsors and partners for your event.

Most youth speakers won’t have experience with public speaking, so start training early to give time to gain confidence. Encourage these young speakers to rehearse in front of their parents or friends on their own, and coordinate your calendar with speakers so that it does not coincide with important dates like school exams or vacation time.

Encourage youth speakers to watch TED Talks to get a sense of the different styles of giving a talk or presentation, and to help them figure out what might work (or not work) for them.

Practice is important for great results, but after hours of rehearsing, don't forget to have some fun! Encourage group activities, breaks, and energizing games.

TEDxKidsElCajon wows its audience each year with a playful visual design that creates a seamless look everywhere, from the stage and signage to activity areas and more. The team provides clear signage throughout the venue, including concise directions to different areas and instructions for games.

A team made up entirely of 11 to 18-year-old volunteers organized a TEDxYouth@Tokyo event — everyone from the hosts to the tech team were youth! Attendees skateboarded, talked with attendees from around the globe, and rock climbed during breaks.

TEDxYouth@Amman’s is organized by both adults and kids — at one event, the youngest team member was just 9 years old! The event is held in the Jordanian capital and livestreamed, with live interpretation in both English and Arabic.