The organizers of TED send upcoming speakers a stone tablet, engraved with the ‘TED Commandments’ which are as follows:

1. Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
2. Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou
3. Hast Never Shared Before
4. Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
5. Thou Shalt Tell a Story
6. Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Skae of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
7. Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success
8. 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
9. Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good
10. Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech
11. Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee

The TED Commandments – rules every speaker needs to know