Talent Night
The stage for new, undiscovered Ideas Worth Spreading.
What is Talent Night?
Every year TEDxAmsterdam Women hosts Talent Night where we want to give the stage to individuals with little or no experience in public speaking. Coming from all walks of life they are given the opportunity to present their ideas on stage in 5 minutes. During these 5 minutes they strive to convince the jury and the audience of their TED-worthy speech. The winner will then get the chance to stand on the main TEDxAmsterdam Women stage. Each year Talent Night and Main Event have a theme, where we look for great ideas relating to this year’s theme Decoding the Future.
In addition to the theme we look for talks that touch on one of the TED pillars – Technology, Entertainment, Design, Global Issues, Business / Entrepreneurship, Art & Music, Science or Sustainability. Please note that TEDxAmsterdam Women is a non-commercial, non-political organization, so it is not permitted to refer to a commercial business – there will be no selling from the stage, no political agendas, no proselytizing – only reliable, good science.
Your idea should be new or surprising. It can challenge a pre-existing belief. Or it can be a great basic idea with a compelling new argument behind it. An idea isn’t just a story or a list of facts. A good idea takes evidence, and observations and draws a larger conclusion.
Do you have a groundbreaking, heartwarming, or innovative story that you would want to share? Apply for this year’s Talent Night and get a chance to stand on the famous TEDx ‘red dot’.
Winner Talent Night 2022
On September 30th, 2022 we hosted our fifth edition of Talent Night. Where our 10 finalists presented ideas relating to our 2022 theme: “Press(ing) Issues: fact or fiction” Our winner Malou van den Berg presented on the Main Stage on the 1st of December 2022.
Keep up to date!
Follow us on Instagram @tedxamsterdamwomen to get updates on 2023 Talent Night application dates, ticket sales and more.
Tips for a successful TEDx Talk
- Dream big. Strive to create the best talk you have ever given. Reveal something never seen before. Do something the audience will remember forever. Share an idea that could change the world.
- Show us the real you. Share your passions, your dreams and also your fears. Be vulnerable. Speak of failure as well as of success and connect with your emotions.
- Make the complex plain. Don’t try to dazzle intellectually. Don’t speak abstractly. Explain! Give examples. Tell stories. Be specific. And make sure you check your sources and data. Oh and skip any commercial, political or religious agenda.
- Make the story worth listening to. Connect with your audience, make them laugh! Make them cry! Take them on a journey. And make sure your audience feels motivated or more self-aware after your story.
- Rehearse and prepare. Don’t read your talk. Notes are fine, if necessary. But rehearse a lot and practice out loud and time it!
Video Pitch Tips
- Max 2 minutes
- Tell us about your ideas (if you have written down your pitch, please do not read it)
- Show your presentation skills
- Show your personality
- Create a new video in a calm environment with good sound (don’t send us a video of you presenting at a different event)
Application Tips
- What’s your idea worth spreading? Develop your idea to be one clear sentence.
- Answer all the questions included on the application form and make sure they are no longer than 3 sentences. It will help you to focus on your idea and answering the questions should support it.
- Remember, even if you are telling a personal story – where are you going with it? What’s your idea? How will it inspire others
FAQ Talent Night
Yes, all applications and pitches need to be done in English.
No, we are happy to welcome all participants regardless of location as long as you currently live in the Netherlands. However, if you are joining us from out of town, please be aware that you are responsible for any associated expenses.
Our team will be looking at all the entries after the deadline and will respond to all applicants by July 24th. If you haven’t heard from us by then it might be because we have the incorrect contact details for you, so please reach out to us at talentnight@tedxamsterdamwomen.nl.
After we have reviewed all initial applications, we will update you via email, if you have been selected to proceed to the video submission round. If you haven’t heard anything by July 24th, please contact us via email. After the round of video submissions all finalists will be contacted individually.
If you missed the deadline but feel passionately about your idea, please reach out to us at talentnight@tedxamsterdamwomen.nl. We’ll evaluate this on a case-by-case basis.
All pitches must be made in person. This is about giving you a stage to convey an idea worth spreading. We think you need to be present in person to connect with the audience and to ensure that your pitch makes the biggest impact. You will perform to a small live internal audience made up of the TEDxAmsterdamWomen team, representatives of our partners, crew and invited guests. The public will watch you via a live stream connection.
Yes, but consider refining your original idea or submit something else entirely that will be in line with the theme this year.
Members of TEDxAmsterdamWomen’s curatorial team will be reviewing all applications and videos. In addition, we will post all pitches online via diverse social media channels. The audience will be allowed to select their favourite via public voting on social media. On Talent Night, after hearing all the talks and audience input (public voting will be available), our jury will make a final decision.
We welcome all people regardless of gender identity. TEDxAmsterdamWomen specifically focuses on the unique way in which women and those who identify as women contribute to the world and women’s issues, spoken from the perspective of all genders. We are looking for ideas that reflect this.