Xixi Wang

For over a decade, TED-Ed Student Talks has helped millions of students around the world find their voices, passion, and confidence.

Now, in partnership with the renowned organization Immerse Education, TED is taking that mission further with TED Summer School — a transformative two-week program for motivated students aged 15 to 18. Through core theory and practical sessions, guest speakers, and personal coaching from expert tutors, participants develop public speaking skills, storytelling mastery, and leadership abilities.

TED-Ed Program Manager Shraya Sharma spoke with student Samya Gupta, who participated in TED-Ed Student Talks in India, helped organize local TEDx events, and will be attending TED Summer School in Singapore. Here, they discuss Samya’s public speaking journey, how she earned a scholarship to TED Summer School, and what she hopes to gain from her next adventure.

Shraya Sharma (SS): How would you describe yourself as a student?

Samya Gupta (SG): I’m a bit more curious — I’m more on the social impact side rather than just the traditional schooling system. I like to focus on extracurricular activities, and my interests lie in finance, economics, and social issues. I’m definitely on the outspoken side. I like to interact fully with everybody in class. Just getting taught and learning the concepts is not what school life should be about. It should be about interacting in class, talking to your peers, and engaging in meaningful conversations.

SS: Can you share your experiences with TED-Ed Student Talks and TEDx at your school?

SG: Our school has hosted two TEDx events and one Student Talks program. The first TEDx in 2024 was a very new experience. We had people from all over India — people in politics, influencing, journalism. It was such an awakening event. That first TEDx taught me how to actually organize things, take up leadership, focus on deadlines, and make the event work.

Then, we had TED-Ed Student Talks. About 30 to 40 students were shortlisted to develop a talk, and then the teachers judged everyone and narrowed it down to eight or ten. I chose mental health struggles for teenagers in India as my topic. I wanted to get to my target audience, which were the parents. The talk really helped me share my thoughts because the audience in front of me were mostly parents, and I wanted them to understand what people of our age are dealing with.

For the most recent TEDx in September, I had more responsibility — I was appointed as the student coordinator. I managed logistics, speaker schedules, and presentations. It gave me valuable experience interacting with such intellectual and successful people.

Samya and her fellow students participating in the TED-Ed Student Talks showcase

SS: How have these experiences changed you as a speaker and as a person?

SG: It has definitely increased my speaking skills because it helped me share such a broad and vast idea in a short time. That taught me how important time is when you have to convey a powerful message. For the TEDx events we organized, it helped me become a lot more responsible. Even now when I look back, I think it prepares me for any kind of project I take up in the future.

SS: What drew you to TED Summer School, and how do you see it as the next step in your journey?

SG: TED Summer School for me is about seeking more mentorship. [It] is going to help me get more exposure and learn a lot…and think more deeply about situations. I’m going to implement what I learned, learn new things, and then deliver that actual talk.

SS: You participated in the “Learning to be Heard” challenge that invited students to record a one-minute video sharing a message with the world. Out of 2,000+ entries, you were one of the top 11 students, and won a scholarship to TED Summer School. How did you approach this competition, and what message did you share?

SG: The question was: “If the whole world is listening to you for a minute, what would you say?” I knew that whatever message I shared should be very personal and something I deeply care about. Issues like poverty, child labor, and climate change are things every other person is advocating for. But what really affects me as a person? What have I experienced?

I come from a small town in India. When I go to places like Delhi or Mumbai, I feel like we are lagging behind — there are things I didn’t know about, terms I hadn’t even heard. I was made fun of for being from a small town, and it affected me deeply. I didn’t want anybody else to feel that way. So I wanted my video to convey that your town is not your destiny. If a person like me, who didn’t even know what a summer school was a year ago, can make it to a global platform with a scholarship, anybody can.

SS: What did winning the scholarship mean to you?

SG: It was the first time I got a scholarship, so I was extremely happy. Being involved with TED is already a backbone to this whole experience. I chose Singapore as my destination because it’s a potential university country for me.

It meant a lot for my family too. My father shared this opportunity with me — he’s very involved in my extracurriculars and is actually the curator for our school’s TEDx events. TED is something he deeply cares about as well, so it was very exciting for him. For me, the scholarship was a kind of confirmation that despite where I come from, I can do what I set my heart to.

If it weren’t for the scholarship, I wouldn’t have thought about the summer program. Getting that scholarship gave me the [motivation] to go there, experience things, and tell other people about it — that if I can do it, you can too. It was definitely a lot more accessible thanks to the scholarship.

Samya Gupta giving her talk

SS: Looking ahead, what do you hope this summer changes for you — academically, personally, and career-wise?

SG: Personally, it’s about getting out of my comfort zone and becoming more confident speaking with people. I’m sure there will be people from all over the world, and that global exposure will help me communicate more efficiently and develop stronger ideas. The end goal is not just to be heard, but to actually say things that matter.

Academically, interacting with so many people who are also preparing talks will help me understand how others think. And career-wise, during the TED Summer School orientation, they mentioned we’ll interact with students from leading universities who will be our mentors. If my mentor happens to be from a university I’m considering, I can ask about the environment and what it’s like, so it’s going to help me narrow down my choices and learn from people who are actually in my shoes.

Join Our Global Community of Young Changemakers

You can join Samya and other ambitious students at the TED Summer School in Singapore, New York, London, or via our interactive virtual cohorts.

This transformative two-week program brings your ideas to life through a syllabus built for storytelling mastery and personal coaching from expert tutors. Whether you choose to learn on-site in an inspiring global environment or develop your public speaking skills from home, you will design, refine, and record your own TED-style talk on a topic that matters.

Explore TED Summer School and enroll now

We’ll check-in with Samya after her TED Summer School experience, and share what she learned, how she grew, and what she had to say in her TED-style talk! Stay tuned!

Xixi Wang

In a world increasingly shaped by AI, the skills it can’t replicate — like communicating, collaborating, and connecting — are more valuable than ever.

The Future of Jobs Report (2025), published by the World Economic Forum, ranks skills like empathy, communication, and leadership among the most critical for the future workforce. Yet these skills are also some of the hardest to teach in a traditional classroom setting.

That’s where TED-Ed Student Talks comes in. The program gives students ages 6 to 18 a structured, supportive space to start building these essential skills now. Through guided activities, students discover ideas that matter to them, develop those ideas through shared conversation and feedback, and learn how to effectively share them with each other and the world.

Recently, we asked some of our student speakers to reflect on the skills they built through the program — ones that go far beyond a single moment on stage.

Fostering Empathy

Empathy isn’t a fixed trait — it’s a skill that can be developed and built. When people practice sharing their own stories and listening to others’, they develop stronger empathy and a deeper understanding of perspectives different from their own. Through Student Talks, students have the opportunity to share something deeply personal and to listen to others, which fosters empathy and connection with their classmates, educators, and audience members.

For Shrutarjo Ray, the experience revealed what happens when you share an idea out loud. “Student Talks showed me that ideas get life when they are shared,” he says. “I’ve realized that even a simple, meaningful story can spark connection, build courage, and change the perspective of the audience.”

Wong Kean Jee discovered something similar from the listener’s side. “When we share, we realize we’re not alone, and other people may also relate to what we’re going through,” he reflects. “Everyone has different experiences worth listening to. Every person you talk to can teach you something new or give you a different perspective.”

Lia Costa presented about her cousin’s experience with Autism Spectrum Disorder, weaving his story and his drawings into her talk. “When I present my cousin’s story, I hope that people will open their eyes to see stories and lives that they wouldn’t notice on a daily basis,” she says. “Most of my audience does not have this disability, but most know someone who does. They will be able to rethink the way they treat these individuals and hopefully act more compassionately toward them.”

Lia Costa

Communicating Complex Ideas

Communication is more than speaking clearly. It’s the ability to translate complex thoughts, emotions, and insights into something an audience can understand and connect with. Communication skills are consistently ranked by employers as one of the most important qualities they look for in candidates. Whether it’s scientific research or a solution to a problem, Student Talks helps students learn to communicate complex ideas thoughtfully and confidently, a skill that is essential for their personal, academic, and professional success.

Owen Hawthorne came into the program with a topic many adults would find intimidating: CRISPR and genetic editing as an alternative to chemotherapy. And his goal was just as ambitious. To inspire hope. He wanted to help people see “a really cool and interesting approach to cancer treatment” and walk away more hopeful than before, or even be moved to contribute to the research.

Lareen Abdelwahed faced a different kind of challenge: turning private, tangled emotions into something an audience could understand and feel. “My favorite part of Student Talks was the process of putting my thoughts together and turning something I’ve always felt but never really said into a talk,” she says. “It was honestly hard at first because I had to really sit with my experiences instead of just brushing them off like I usually do, [...] it felt good to take something personal and shape it into something I could share in a clear way, instead of just leaving it stuck in my head.”

Kira Aryslanova saw her communication skills shift in a concrete way too. “Before this, I might have focused too much on facts,” she says. “Through this process, I learned how to combine storytelling, data, and questions to make people think. This skill will help me not only in public speaking, but in any situation where I need to influence or inspire others.”

Lareen Abdelwahed

Advocating for Change

Young people are often told their voices matter, but are rarely given a real platform to use them. Studies on youth civic engagement show that when students are given meaningful opportunities to speak on issues they care about (and are taken seriously when they do), they develop a stronger sense of agency and a lasting commitment to making a difference. Student Talks gives students the structure and confidence to shape their passions into powerful talks with the potential to change how others think, feel, and act.

Kira Aryslanova’s talk on language monopoly was a call to action. “I wanted to give my audience a new way of seeing language, as something much deeper,” she mentions. “I hoped people would start questioning the idea that English is ‘enough’ and realize that every language carries its own worldview, culture, and identity.” She wanted her audience to leave with curiosity, “maybe even a little discomfort,” and ask themselves what they might be missing by limiting themselves to just one language.

For Arush P, Student Talks transformed his relationship to a cause he has cared about since the fifth grade. “I feel most proud of discovering the resonance of my own voice as I became an advocate for the ‘unheard,’ the environment itself. I think I am no longer just a student but a speaker for our planet’s survival,” he says. “It taught me that an idea, when shared, ceases to be a private concern and becomes a catalyst for collective resilience.”

Malak Youssef spoke about inner self-talk, and gave her audience permission to stop labeling themselves negatively for traits that might actually be strengths. Her reflection captures something at the heart of Student Talks: “Your voice doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. It just has to be honest. When you speak about something you genuinely care about, people feel it. And sometimes, that’s enough to make them think differently.”

Malak Youssef

Looking Ahead

Students come into the program with different backgrounds, skill sets, and goals. They leave with the conviction that their unique perspective matters, and importantly, the skills to share it effectively. Whether they’re opening up about a personal struggle, translating complex science for an entire audience, or speaking up for a cause they believe in, these are the skills that will nurture their personal, academic, and professional growth now and in the future.

TED-Ed Student Talks offers free, customizable activities for educators who work with students ages 6-18 in classrooms, schools, extracurricular settings and youth organizations. Submit an application to join today!

Xixi Wang

What if your summer could change how you see yourself, and how the world hears you?

For over a decade, TED-Ed has helped hundreds of thousands of students around the world find their voices, passion, and confidence with TED-Ed Student Talks. Now, in partnership with the renowned organization Immerse Education, TED is offering a more intensive opportunity for students to discover, shape, and share their best ideas under the guidance of expert tutors over the summer.

TED Summer School is a transformative two-week summer program for motivated students aged 15 to 18, with each participant building confidence, storytelling mastery, and leadership skills through core theory and practical sessions, guest speaker events, as well as personal coaching. Students have the option of participating either in-person in London, New York, or Singapore, or 100% remotely through the virtual program. Both the in-person and virtual programs include live, small group instruction with professional TED-trained tutors helping students work on their ideas.

At TED Summer School, students will learn to shape their ideas and deliver them with clarity, confidence, and presence, culminating in each student presenting their TED-style talk. The program experience combines TED-Ed’s credibility, inspiration, and global reach with Immerse’s expertise in delivering high-quality academic enrichment programs. It empowers students to become thoughtful, articulate communicators who understand the power of their own voice.

Immerse Education: London

Why should you participate?

TED Summer School guides students through a structured, transformative journey to identify, develop, and then share their ideas in a TED-style talk. Over two weeks, students will:

1. Learn directly from TED-trained tutors who help students develop communication skills, storytelling expertise, and confidence to express their ideas with clarity and purpose.

2. Collaborate alongside and learn from peers from around the globe. Students will engage with each other through every stage of their talk development journey: from developing their big idea to stepping onto the stage with confidence.

3. Deliver their TED-style talk at the end of the two-week program and receive a recorded version to take home.

4. Earn a TED Summer School certificate of completion to add to personal accomplishments and portfolios.

You can learn more about the unique opportunities provided by TED Summer School here, and explore the financial and merit-based scholarships here.

Explore TED Summer School!

Immerse Education students

ABOUT IMMERSE EDUCATION

Immerse Education helps ambitious high-school students explore future university and career paths through personalized, transformative learning experiences. Rooted in the teaching traditions of Oxford and Cambridge, Immerse Education’s model brings expert tuition, small-group learning, and practical project work to campuses around the world and to their online programs. They create space for young people to build confidence, develop independence, and produce work they can proudly share as they shape their next steps

Xixi Wang

What if students and educators could share their best ideas with each other, their communities, and the world?

We’re thrilled to introduce InnovaTED — a new initiative from TED-Ed and TEDx designed to amplify the voices of students and educators around the world! Combining TED-Ed’s public speaking expertise with TEDx’s ability to activate local communities, InnovaTED is a global platform that elevates the voices and ideas of students and educators.

Ongoing support for Student Talks

For over a decade, TED-Ed Student Talks has provided free, customizable activities for educators to support their students in identifying, developing, and sharing their ideas with each other and the world. We will continue and expand our Student Talks efforts as part of this InnovaTED partnership.

A brand new Educator Talks program

As part of InnovaTED, we’re also launching a refreshed Educator Talks program: a free professional development experience that equips educators with the skills, platform, and support to identify, develop, and share their ideas. Educator Talks provides:

— Professional Growth: Educators learn essential presentation and storytelling skills directly from TED’s proven methods, boosting confidence and communication skills.

— Recognition and Impact: By creating pathways for educators to host and speak at TEDx events, educators can establish themselves as thought leaders and inspire others by sharing unique ideas on one of the world’s most recognized platforms.

— Connection and Community: Educators join a global network of peers who are passionate about creating change and sharing knowledge.

It starts with the Idea Workshop

Educators register for a virtual, interactive Idea Workshop to get started. Led by TED-Ed’s founder and executive director Logan Smalley, this one-hour professional learning session has been rated a 5-star experience by hundreds of thousands of educator participants. The workshop offers educators a dynamic opportunity to harness the power of storytelling and effective public speaking and apply it to their most powerful ideas. It guides educators through the initial stages of crafting a TED-style talk, and also provides meaningful professional development that supports enhanced communication and presentation skills to be applied in classrooms, school board and PTO meetings, and more.

Once the workshop is completed, educators are presented with exclusive benefits to continue developing their talk and sharing their ideas. These include free access to TED’s Official Public Speaking Course, a global community of practice, and unique opportunities to create or speak at TEDx events.

Register for the Idea Workshop!

How to get involved

Educator Talks is open to anyone serving K-12 students around the world. If you’re an educator, sign up for the Idea Workshop to access our newest transformative learning journey. And if you know an educator who might be interested, help spread the word by sharing this blog post and website.

Every educator has an idea worth sharing. The Idea Workshop is designed to help uncover it — and to spark a journey, supported by TED-Ed and TEDx, that not only amplifies the best ideas in education, but connects passionate educators to a global network of vital voices, defining the future of education. Make sure your voice is heard.

Winston Thomas

Ideas change everything —  and since language lets us share our ideas, learning how to use it well gives speakers the power to inspire people and even change how they think.

To help young people develop these skills and practice their public speaking, TED-Ed has created an exciting new video series! Public Speaking 101 is an 11-episode course that will teach you how to identify, develop, and share your best ideas, while mastering essential communication skills along the way. This course is great to use in classroom settings, for parents looking to guide their children on presentation and public speaking skills, or for independent learners who work best at their own pace.

How Public Speaking 101 works

The course guides you in developing your own TED-style talk through a progression of videos. Each episode focuses on an integral part of giving an engaging, memorable, and transformative talk. This ranges from strategies to uncover your best ideas, to choosing your presentation style, connecting with an audience, developing body language, and more.

The course uses excerpts from past TED speakers to highlight key ideas and prompts, and to offer a deeper understanding of what makes a talk meaningful to an audience. Each episode also comes with supporting resources and materials for further learning. This includes multiple choice questions that review the content of the episode, writing and brainstorming exercises, and a vocabulary list.

Here are the first 6 episodes of the course, with more to come by the end of 2025:

Episode 1: What happens when you share an idea?

Learn how to identify the qualities that make an idea worth sharing with an audience.

Episode 2: How to uncover your best ideas

Uncover your best ideas by exploring your unique experiences, interests, and perspective.

Episode 3: How to communicate clearly

Discover how to put together the throughline, or main idea that acts as a connective thread or roadmap for your presentation.

Episode 4: What’s the best way to give a presentation?

Decide on a presentation plan that makes you feel prepared to communicate an idea to an audience confidently and passionately.

Episode 5: How to speak with meaning

Learn to develop your voice and body language so that you are conveying meaning authentically, confidently, and comfortably.

Episode 6: 5 ways to connect with people

Find a way to build trust, interest, and a connection with your audience so that they will be open to what you have to say.

For educators looking to support students in building public speaking and communication skills in the classroom, check out TED-Ed Student Talks. This program provides free, customizable activities for educators to guide their students in identifying, developing, and sharing their ideas with each other and the world. You can find a sample of the Student Talks curriculum and more information here.

Watch the episodes and check out the course materials here, and make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the latest installments!

Xixi Wang

Since 2014, thousands of student groups across the globe have been developing and sharing their ideas using our free TED-Ed Student Talks resources. To celebrate 10 years of TED-Ed Student Talks, we have been collecting stories of impact from the program’s facilitators as part of our “10 for 10 years” series.

For this installment of the series, we are highlighting Priyanka Behl, an educator at the Empower Kids Personality School.

Here, she speaks with TED-Ed’s Programs Manager, Sasha Rudenko, about integrating Student Talks into their after-school programs, the impact the program has had on their community, and how they used TEDx to host their speaker events to reach wider online audiences:

Sasha Rudenko (SR): Tell us about your school, your role, and your students.    

Priyanka Behl (PB): Empower Kids Personality School is a community school that brings together children from across 36 schools to work together in after-school programs. We also support NGO schools with the Each One Teach One program, where our students spend one weekend educating those who don’t have formal school education and are studying as part of an NGO. The whole idea is to bring resourcefulness to the resourceless, and that’s how Empower Kids has been working — more like a community initiative. TED-Ed has helped us bring this community even closer.

SR: How did you implement the Student Talks program into your school? How did it fit into what you were already doing there?

PB: We use TED-Ed as part of our skill-building after-school program. We have volunteers who help the underprivileged children who don’t have access to formal education and therefore will lack opportunities later in life, such as getting better jobs. We try to help them hone their communication skills, and I try to help them bridge the education gap so they are more employable and can potentially be pulled above the poverty line. While working with the Student Talks program, we realized that beyond communication skills, there were other gaps and things missing in their education. Gender inclusivity was missing; we realized how the younger children were vulnerable and unsure of who to talk to. We saw there were also gaps in knowledge about caste issues, socialism, racism and bias, which we had never talked about. We started with just a small group, and it was a great forum to listen, share their voices, and create an impact in the community by talking about these issues.

“It’s about you finding the voice that can change the narrative. It’s finding ideas that can create impact in your local community.”

SR: If you were to pick one standout moment from your time leading Student Talks, what would you highlight?

PB: We had birthday parties which had a lot of balloons, party poppers,  plastic plates, and all those kinds of things being used. Then, one of the students shared a talk about how unsustainable this is and the impact it has. So, we started using wheat cutlery instead of plastic. And this was largely implemented in all of the students’ 36 schools. Imagine the impact of that! They stopped using plastic cutlery and plates, and replaced it with wheat cutlery. At our events, as well, we use wheat cutlery every time. Outside of school, a big impact of this was in the landfills. Cows in India were dying because they would eat all the plastic out of the landfill that had leftover food on it. But with it being made from wheat, it was harmless for them to eat. And in our community, the cow is a holy animal, and we were able to impact the health of cows through one talk shared. I felt this was truly remarkable.

A student speaks at the TEDx event

SR: What skills have you observed improving the most as your students go through the Student Talks activities?

PB: The number one skill that they learned was leadership. Not only were they willing to be adaptable themselves, but they stepped up and helped others in the group and in the community. The number two skill would be research. When they started researching their topics, we started to see the understanding of how important it was across the board. It gave them a lot of experience finding studies, documents, and research papers, and really helped broaden their horizons for finding information. And the number three skill would have to be communication. They learned great oratory, presentation, and self-expression skills. And the workbook journal helped teach how to give better feedback and constructive feedback that really helped them improve their communication.

SR: As a facilitator, what has been the most challenging part about implementing Student Talks? And how did you overcome it?

PB: Our first challenge was to plan the first event. When you have an event, you have to think of everything from the technical list like cameras and soundproofing, and then logistically how do we get the funds to host the [TEDxYouth] event. I found it challenging for the first event to deal with the cost, and not knowing how to sell tickets or who to reach out to for a guest list. We didn’t know how to bring the right resources to the right place. But then we got a lot of great support from the TED team, and after that our second event ran much more smoothly. And we continue to learn with each event; everyone involved can teach you so much and help you evolve as a person. I’ve seen a transition in myself through building these events, and it’s related to accountability. It feels like you have been given something with a lot of trust, and you are accountable to bring forth these young voices who don’t usually have a platform to share. So I’ve evolved as a person as well.

[Editor’s note: Priyanka holds a TEDx license to host her school events. TED-Ed Student Showcases do not require tickets or funding].

A student speaks at the TEDx event

SR: So, hosting an event was your goal and something you wanted to do for your community, and you even applied for a TEDx license to host it. How did you find that it helped your mission to focus on hosting a culminating speaker event?

PB: Given that our event would be just for young people— the students— we were thinking of the potential audience for them. We wanted their talks to be seen by the change-makers, the decision-makers, and these young voices would not reach those people unless their videos were put out on a bigger forum. The TED-Ed Student Talk video selection process can take a long time, and so with hosting a TEDx event, the YouTube video links come faster. So their videos would reach more people sooner. We were thinking not only of the physical audience at the event but those online who can just listen and connect with it. I felt that TEDx gave us more access to reach a larger audience, and much sooner after the event.

“[Student Talks] is for anyone who is willing to help young voices who feel they have no forum, feel small, or that they have no impact. TED-Ed can lend you that.”

SR: What words of wisdom would you share with somebody who is thinking of becoming a Student Talks facilitator?

PB: This journey can be overwhelming, [but] if you are passionate about ideas, I think this is for you. I’ve been watching TED videos for years, and they turned out to be a perspective-shifter. So I’ve had that passion for ideas from the beginning. If you have that passion, and you want to bring ideas forward and create impact, I think this is a great forum for you. It’s not about you being a hero, it’s about you finding the voice that can change the narrative. It’s finding ideas that can create impact in your local community. It’s for anyone who is willing to help young voices who feel they have no forum, feel small, or that they have no impact, TED-Ed can lend you that. It’s a whole exploration of self-realization that comes with the idea journey. The self-exploration of why their idea matters, what impact is it going to create, how can it change the narrative— it’s something that connects and bridges the gap.

SR: Are there any tips you have after working with your students through the activities about helping them find their idea, their writing, or their research?

PB: I think the best thing that I find is giving them the space to explore. The first task we give them is to create a list of the things that they love. And on the other side, a list of things that they hate. Then we start with talking about one of the things that they hate and why. From there, they usually pick a topic from their “things they hate” list, because if you don’t like something that is happening in your community or life, then you want to talk about it and how to change it. That’s how our idea exploration begins. And it starts with a small group who don’t know each other, but eventually come to be helping each other explore their ideas, and sharing their thoughts. I think it helps them build a little community where they can be more vocal about how they truly feel. As a facilitator, seeing how much they have to share makes me feel like a student again. The ideas sometimes just blow my mind. They have such new perspectives to share, and while we think we’re facilitating, we’re actually learning in that process too.

TEDxYouth event

Interested in learning more about TED-Ed Student Talks? Check out our Student Talks page here to find out how the program works and how you can get involved.

Check out the other pieces in the 10 for 10 years series here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Xixi Wang

Since 2014, thousands of student groups across the globe have been developing and sharing their ideas using our free TED-Ed Student Talks resources. To celebrate 10 years of TED-Ed Student Talks, we have been collecting stories of impact from the program’s facilitators as part of our “10 for 10 years” series.

For this installment of the series, we are highlighting Laura Tudose, an ESL teacher at a bilingual high school in Romania and Student Talks facilitator for over 7 years.

Here, she speaks with TED-Ed’s Senior Community Manager, Peter Maccario, about her years as a facilitator, the lasting community the group creates, and the importance of letting students take ownership of their learning experience:

Peter Maccario (PM): Tell us about your school and your role there.

Laura Tudose (LT): Miguel de Cervantes Bilingual High School is a Spanish bilingual theoretical high school in Bucharest, Romania. Our students study Spanish as a first foreign language and then English. My role here is that of an English teacher. I teach English mainly to high school students, and coordinate the TED-Ed Student Talks group with my fellow teachers.

PM: Can you tell us about the students that attend your school and make up the Student Talks group?

LT: The TED-Ed group is a way for students to express themselves more. We have other after-school clubs in our high school but this one is more appealing to them. Every year we have students coming to our group, and more than 80 or 90% of them don’t leave the group. Even if they graduated, they are still coming to our meetings from time to time. They made friends, and they like sharing ideas, talking about a subject that they are interested in as opposed to, for example, the debate club. It’s more personalized. We always try to emphasize that we never know what the outcome will be at the end of the school year, and it’s up to them to get involved in the meetings. We encourage the students to be the leaders of the meetings and to get involved. We, the facilitators, don’t tell them, “do this” or “do that,” unless they need some help. Some come to overcome their shyness, or they are introverted people trying to find friends in a warm environment. We don’t judge them. The Romanian system can be a little bit rigid, so our club is trying to get them out of that formality of a class.

Cervantes participants getting their certificates

PM: How did you implement TED-Ed Student Talks into the school? Did it feel like it fit already within what you do, or did you have to adapt?

LT: We were familiar with TED Talks; we used them in English class. Then we learned about TED-Ed Student Talks back in 2017 and our principal was very open to new ideas. We had a group of students who knew about TED Talks, and the Student Talks was a way to take it a step further. So we started with those students, and we had no idea what to expect or how it would evolve. We are in a more rigid educational system, so it’s not easy to make students get out of that format of being told what to do, and we also had to learn how to communicate better as facilitators.

“It’s up to them to get involved in the meetings. We encourage the students to be the leaders of the meetings and to get involved.”

PM: Do you have a stand-out moment of your time leading the Student Talks program that you’d like to highlight?

LT: I always think of one TED-Ed talk in particular. It was with my first generation of students in the group, and delivered by a student who was, and is still, passionate about the environment. She spoke about an extinct species, the blue parrot. I remember this talk because I truly believe that it was something that defined the student. It’s been many years and she is still an activist. So, she’s followed this passion and it’s also become her job. Another highlight is that we have a special place in Bucharest — a cafe we go to. We extend the invitation to current students and our graduates, and they keep coming!

Program participants

PM: What skills have you seen your students improve the most going through these activities and the program?

LT: First it’s the communication skills. Specifically, the skills that they need to be open when communicating ideas and giving feedback. Not being afraid to speak up or speak their minds. I see this with every group — some are shy or they don’t know each other. But once they become comfortable with each other, feel relaxed and not judged by the others, they open up. Second, it’s the happiness that I see on their faces. At the school event, everybody is happy that they’ve reached the end, and [performing] in front of their families, friends, and teachers, they stand out. Not all of them will have that sense of achievement in high school, but with this event they have it.

“Once they became comfortable with each other, felt relaxed and not judged by the others, they opened up. [They’re] not afraid to speak up or speak their minds.”

PM: What tips or words of wisdom would you share with someone that’s considering starting a TED-Ed Student Talks group?

LT: At the high school age, it’s important to empower them to talk about everything openly, letting them take the lead, and taking a step back. Also, I think that with the Idea Journal, it was really important that they had the copies printed out, so they have it as a real journal. Whereas if we let them work with their phones or digitally, they might not have the materials organized. With the printed version, they can actually go back to what they said in the first sessions and keep track of their progress. Without it, they’re more disorganized and may forget what was discussed in our last meeting, since we meet every two weeks.

Student group art

Interested in learning more about TED-Ed Student Talks? Check out our Student Talks page here to find out how the program works and how you can get involved.

Check out the other pieces in the 10 for 10 years series here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Xixi Wang

Since 2014, thousands of student groups across the globe have been developing and sharing their ideas using our free TED-Ed Student Talks resources. To celebrate 10 years of TED-Ed Student Talks, we have been collecting stories of impact from the program’s facilitators as part of our “10 for 10 years” series.

For this installment of the series, we are highlighting Cynthia Dagmara Payes, Regina Blanco, and Violeta Morales, educators from the Instituto Guatemalteco Americano (IGA) School, a bicultural institute in Guatemala.

Here, they speak with TED-Ed’s Programs Manager, Sasha Rudenko, about integrating the program into the school’s curriculum and how it helped their students develop community, motivation, and responsibility:

Sasha Rudenko (SR): Tell us about the IGA School, your role, and your students.

Cinthya Dagmara Payes (CDP): The Instituto Guatemalteco Americano (IGA) is a bicultural institute joining the best of two cultures. We have an American culture program and we also have the curriculum from Guatemala. This is a private school where students who want to grow, learn a little bit more, and go further with the English language.

SR: How did you implement TED-Ed Student Talks into IGA? How did the program fit into what you were already doing?

CDP: We had a public speaking course here at IGA because we wanted students to develop oral skills and have them share their ideas to an audience. Then [I came across] the program on the internet, I subscribed and received a newsletter every week and it said “do you want to join the TED-Ed community?” and I was very excited to do that. So, I applied and when we got confirmed, had access to the materials and were welcomed to the community, we were very, very excited. Regina was the first teacher who helped me with reading, getting engaged with the materials, the worksheets, and working with the first group of students.

Regina Blanco (RB): Our role is to be coaches to the students and [this year] we worked with seniors to prepare their talks. We divided the Student Talks manual among the four units we have at the school, and at the end of each unit they have an oral exam based on the Talks curriculum. So within their courses, they have TED-Ed — they have philosophy, they have seminar, they have math, and within those courses we use TED-Ed. We had it as an extracurricular, but now that we also have it within the curriculum, they’re excited to work on it and have new class content.

Students participate in the Student Talks activities

SR: If you were to pick one standout moment from your time leading TED-Ed Student Talks, what would you highlight?

RB: Something that I really love is when we see our students standing up in the theater and projecting and sharing their life experiences. That is rewarding for us because this is a challenge for them. When they are able to share, are secure, and don’t have problems with the English presentation. Our students have a high level of English, but the critical thinking that they develop in the English language is incredible. When they share that, their peers in the theater think, “my god I want to be like them!”

Another thing that we really admire is that they develop the responsibility to attend and participate in the extracurricular. They have to be on time, and complete the tasks [after finishing a full school day], and sometimes they are tired and might not want to attend. But they develop the responsibility because it’s worth it to them. They develop that consciousness about the importance of attending every single class, and that is something remarkable. They start on the very first day, attend the whole year, and then they present the talk— and behind all of that is responsibility.

Violeta Morales (VM): It was really nice to see them present their ideas, talk about their experiences, and see that they were very proud after their presentation. They felt very happy and I was very pleased to see middle school students participating for the first time in this event getting so excited.

CDP: I would say that something remarkable for me is to see them empowered and overcoming the fear of standing in front of a big audience. We had 300 students in the theater. It’s not easy to just stand in front of 300 students and share your life experiences. So seeing each of them sharing a special story, their own story, that they wanted to present and that they wanted to motivate others with was really special. And celebrating ideas in the theater with the whole community. We closed the year with a very sweet taste [knowing] that we did a good job with them and that they learned a lot.

“Our students realized that to overcome their fear of speaking and sharing personal experiences, they had to practice, practice, practice. And now they feel more confident and excited to present.”

SR: We’ve talked about confidence, empowerment, and that important moment of being on stage. What other skills have you seen students improve the most going through the activities?

CDP: I would say empathy. Once they hear someone else’s story, they generate that link with the person. Many of them identify with each other’s stories because they have been through similar things, and then they feel they are not alone. They feel like they’ve been there, it also happened to them, and there is a way to overcome it. And I think this is one of the things the TED-Ed program provides, not just for the students but for the community. Because when we celebrate their stories [at the end of the year event], the whole community is paying attention, is engaged, is happy to see them, and many of them identify with the ideas and the experiences.

A student performs her final talk at the end of year event

SR: For you as facilitators, what has been the most challenging part about implementing Student Talks? And how did you overcome that challenge?

RB: When we start and during the process, the students have to learn how to stop and remember their past life experiences. And sometimes it’s not easy because they don’t want to go back to certain situations, but they have to take that time to look inside of themselves. At the end, they realize it is a worthy part of the process. Because through those experiences, positive or negative, they are better people. So, we have to work with them during those activities and help them see that they don’t have to be shy or nervous.

VM: I agree. Also motivating them, because some of them come to class and they are shy. We have to motivate them to continue speaking, and to share their experiences with other students. So we try to do that during the year and do activities for them to feel comfortable and happy to be in the program.

“Be passionate about the program. If you are passionate about the program [it] motivates the students, because you are motivated.”

SR: For somebody who is thinking about bringing the Student Talks program to their students, what tips would you share about how to approach it and set it up?

RB: It is important to highlight community. We work within communities and when they develop that sense of belonging, it becomes their safe place. And it’s easier to develop and form their skills. So that is something that is very, very important to visualize: the community that they might have. Making a safe place and a friendly place where they can be relaxed, they can share, and nobody is going to question them.

CDP: As a facilitator, it’s important to read all the materials to get engaged, but also to be passionate about the program. If you are passionate about the program then you’ll take the energy to the next level. And taking it to the next level motivates the students, because you are motivated and they see you being engaged with it. Something else we did was we gave them a pin, and having this pin is very important for them. They know that not everybody has one of these, and that they are special because they took on the challenge of being in the program. If they get one of these, they are brave for taking on the challenge of sharing, of learning, of growing. We gave them a pin and some t-shirts, and that gave them an identity with the community, with the program, with the institution. They feel they are a part of a whole and it makes them feel special, which is also key for this process.

VM: Adding to what you said, giving them pins and t-shirts after their presentation made them feel very proud. I think that helped a lot for this year’s students because many have asked me when the program is going to start because they want to participate. They really got motivated by seeing the other students and they want to be part of the same club.

CDP: A pencil, a pin, a t-shirt. As little as it seems, it’s something special for them. It makes them feel special. That’s a good thing.

IGA Students who presented their talks in November 2024

Interested in learning more about TED-Ed Student Talks? Check out our Student Talks page here to find out how the program works and how you can get involved.

Check out the other pieces in the 10 for 10 years series here, here, here, and here.

Xixi Wang

Since 2014, thousands of student groups across the globe have been developing and sharing their ideas using our free TED-Ed Student Talks resources. To celebrate 10 years of TED-Ed Student Talks, we have been collecting stories of impact from the program’s facilitators as part of our “10 for 10 years” series.

For this installment of the series, we are highlighting Mahrukh Bashir, a TED-Ed Innovative Educator, longtime Student Talks facilitator, and director of Millennia World School in Indonesia.

Here, she speaks with TED-Ed’s Senior Community Manager, Peter Maccario, about how she seamlessly integrated the Student Talks program into her school’s curriculum, created a collaborative, safe environment for the students to flourish and build their perspective and confidence, and shares some hard-won wisdom on bringing the program into other schools:

Peter Maccario (PM): Tell me about Millennia World School, your role, and the type of students that you service within your school.

Mahrukh Bashir (MB): I am the director of Millennia World School, with a team under me of principals, operations, research and development, and technology. At Millennia, we believe in empowering students to discover their best selves. Rather than focusing solely on academic achievement, we encourage children to pursue their passions and find joy in their learning journey. Our mission is to cultivate change-makers who are genuinely enthusiastic about making a positive impact in the world. We cater from kindergarten up to grade nine. The children are mostly Indonesians, locals, mixed races, mixed religions — it’s a school for everyone basically.

PM: You’ve been doing this for a very long time with your school, which is incredible. How did you implement TED-Ed Student Talks into Millennia and how does it fit into what you already do at the school?

MB: I have been using TED-Ed Student Talks since it started. I started TED-Ed as a club, but I wanted it to be more than a club, I wanted it to be part of our curriculum. When TED-Ed Clubs changed to TED-Ed Student Talks— when the first TED-Ed curriculum book was changed— it was a good opportunity for me to put it in the curriculum, and not to teach it as an extracurricular or as a club anymore. So then we started doing TED-Ed as part of student development; as a class which focuses on public speaking using the TED-Ed curriculum. It kind of fit in perfectly because kids liked it— it was public speaking but it was fun, and it wasn’t as structured as other subjects they had to do.

Mahrukh Bashir and students working on Student Talks activities

PM: What is the atmosphere of the class? And why do you think students like it so much? 

MB: I have asked my students “why do you like it? If we made it optional, would you still want to do it?” Most of my students said yes they would still want to participate in it. And I asked why. They said that it helps them look at things in a different perspective. When we start the [class], I tell my students that when you are going to speak, when you are going to choose a topic or subject for the talk, it [should] be something which is meaningful; an idea which is beneficial for other people. So they feel that they are able to contribute to the world in some way. And it aligns completely with Millennia’s philosophy since we focus a lot on social responsibility.

“Judgment-free expression has shown me how creating safe spaces for students can unlock their potential in unexpected ways.”

With [Student Talks] they feel like they are contributing to a broader audience because once their talks are on YouTube there’s a wider audience that sees it. I had a student who was facing body shaming from her own family, and it was very difficult for her. When she was thinking about her topic, this was not something that she really wanted to talk about. But then later she realized that there are a lot of kids who could be feeling the same thing, and would benefit from it. It was sharing something with others which made it feel that it could be more meaningful. I feel that when kids feel comfortable in that way, they want to do it. They are willing to put themselves out there even though I know that they are nervous.

Mahrukh Bashir with Millennia School’s Student Talks participants

PM: Is there one moment that really sticks in your mind as being the reason why you do this?

MB: There are multiple! One highlight is that I had this student who was absolutely scared to talk in public. She would do everything to stay away. Extremely smart girl but very scared even to be seen in public. So when she came to my class we started talking about it, and she asked if she had to do the talk. I told her that it’s completely up to her, we will work on it, we’ll go through the process, she’ll write the talk, and in the end if she doesn’t want to perform it, it’s okay. We can just publish her work as she’s written it. No pressure. And then she was okay. She worked really hard on it, we practiced speaking, and she did her research.

Then, finally it was one week before they had to do their talk. She came up to me, and said “I think I want to do it; but will you be disappointed in me if I back out at the last minute?” I responded, “I can never be disappointed, you have done amazing, and saying that you want to do it is a proud moment for me.” Then, on the day [of the talks], she comes and tells me she wants to be the first one to do the talk. So, I was like, “okay, let’s go!”

And she did it; she did it so beautifully. Her parents were in the audience and they started crying after her talk finished. She overcame her fear of speaking in public. This really gives me goosebumps every time I think about it. There was no pressure for her if she didn’t want to do it, and I left it to her. And that is one of the moments that I think really changed her, and she was able to overcome that fear.

“It gives them a lot of confidence. It tells them that they are capable of sharing something meaningful with the world.”

PM: What skills have you seen your students improve the most by going through these activities and the program?

MB: One of the skills I’ve seen developing in my students is confidence. Skills like research, collaboration, and feedback they also get from other subjects we are teaching them. But the confidence of coming up with the idea and then sticking to the idea, saying this is what I want to share, it’s my story, and my perspective. And then actually being brave enough to come up in front of an audience and speaking. So, for me, that is the skill which is developed most in the kids: being brave and having confidence.

Millennia World School’s Student Talk event

PM: What tips or words of wisdom would you share with a teacher, a director, or someone who is considering bringing TED-Ed Student Talks to their students?

MB: First, if you have not started TED-Ed Student Talks, what are you waiting for? You need to start as soon as possible.

Second, I would say don’t rush the kids. Let them go through the process of trying to understand what they want to talk about. Don’t push ideas or your own agenda. Let the topics or ideas come from the kids. It cannot be from the adults and I spend a lot of time with children on helping them come up with ideas. Let them marinate in their own process of generating the ideas.

Third, give children voice and choice. I feel that TED-Ed Student Talks is a platform which has been created to help children look at different perspectives and help them share their experiences with the world.

Lastly, let this be run by kids. You just facilitate and nothing else. Let the students do it.

I think that’s it. If you have not started it, please do start it. It’s one of the best things for children, because it gives them a lot of confidence. It tells them that they are capable of sharing something meaningful with the world.

Interested in learning more about TED-Ed Student Talks? Check out our Student Talks page here to find out how the program works and how you can get involved.

Check out the other pieces in the 10 for 10 years series here, here, and here.

Xixi Wang

Since 2014, thousands of student groups across the globe have been developing and sharing their ideas using our free TED-Ed Student Talks resources. To celebrate 10 years of TED-Ed Student Talks, we have been collecting stories of impact from the program’s facilitators as part of our “10 for 10 years” series.

For this installment of the series, we are highlighting Illana Raia, an entrepreneur who founded ÊTRE, an organization which connects girls with mentors across dozens of industries, and has integrated the Student Talks program into ÊTRE for the past four years.

Here, she speaks with TED-Ed’s Programs Manager Sasha Rudenko about her thoughts on how the program fits into the mission of ÊTRE and how it has helped girls bridge the middle school confidence gap:

Sasha Rudenko (SR): Tell us about ÊTRE, what the organization is, your role, and what students you serve.

Illana Raia (IR): We take girls directly into companies that they are interested in and meet female leaders face-to-face. It’s very girl-driven. We go into companies like Spotify and Google, we ring the bell at NASDAQ and we meet the women who work there. And we do this because, as our research from 2024 confirmed, girls’ confidence between ages 13 and 18 is dropping by 20%. But 91% of girls said that higher confidence is directly related to mentorship. So a big part of what we do— whether it is through company visits, books, or TED-Ed— is we bring girls into close proximity with amazing mentors so that their voices can be heard and their ideas can be explored in a bigger way earlier on.

Avery Nemo

SR: How did you find the TED-Ed Student Talks program? How did you implement it into what you were already doing with ÊTRE?

IR: A lot of the things that were defining girls, particularly in high school, particularly looking at college, suddenly went up in smoke [at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic], right? There’s no varsity soccer season. There’s no school newspaper. There’s no spring musical. From middle school all the way through high school, girls were losing the thing that excited them at school. And they were looking for ways to define themselves. I knew about TED-Ed and I reached out and I said, “Look, I’m not one school, but I work with a ton of schools.” I asked if it would be possible for me to get a license so that girls could continue to explore the things that they were closest to outside of school and we can work on the mentorship side. And TED-Ed said yes.

“Connection and community were key for girls at the [beginning of the pandemic], and TED-Ed unlocked their world.”

2021 was our first year and it was such a game-changer for our girls because they suddenly found that thing that they couldn’t do at school. They could talk to other founders and let the world know what their idea was. It gave them a different springboard at a time when everyone was so isolated and it immediately gave them a larger community. We pair each girl with a particular mentor and encourage the girls to think really big. The mentors we’ve had have been incredible. We had a 10-year-old from Canada write about protecting the environment and four women from the Jane Goodall Institute gave her suggestions, quotes, and talked to her about what her premise was. I don’t know that that would have happened before [the start of COVID]. They give the girls a little extra confidence to be able to get up and share their own idea because they bounced it off someone who’s already an expert.

SR: If you were to pick a standout moment from your time leading the group, what would you highlight?

IR: I’m going to give you two. First, from the mentorship side, something that really thrilled me is how the girls who have been through the program are now mentoring each other. We’ve got three girls, all under 16, mentoring each other within the Student Talks program. That completely surprised me.

Second, from a facilitator point of view, watching girls, from the rehearsal day to the performance day, come into their own. [A lot of] these girls have never been brave enough to try out for choir, or debate team, or anything else that involves getting on a stage. They might be shy or they’re nervous about their braces. And then they stand on that carpet and step up to that mic and it’s like someone flips a switch. There’s a different kind of confidence that comes because they’re talking about something they chose. They weren’t assigned this. They’ve been thinking about it for six months. They did all the writing. TED-Ed is special because it’s so student-driven. And that I’ll take that type of confidence all day.

“It’s not the ultimate grasping of the mic that raises their voices — it’s support from fellow speakers, the encouragement of epic mentors, and the step-by-step process that TED-Ed lays out that helps them find their voice.” 

SR: Aside from confidence, if you were to pick skills — soft and hard skills — that you’ve seen your students improve the most by going through the Student Talks activities, what would those be?

IR: TED-Ed lets them take on a really big topic. [Whether it’s] entrepreneurship or grief or climate change or cultural norms in their country, it’s different from a regular assignment than they’re used to. The expansiveness of thought is really great with this program— it lets them think big.

I love the feedback they give each other, especially in the beginning when we’re in those group settings before we’re rehearsing individual talks. They don’t know each other and yet they are really willing to listen. If you tell most people that middle school girls are going to be immediately collaborative and supportive, most people are going to roll their eyes. I only see that with TED-Ed. It affords a lot of collaboration and peer support, which is nice outside of your own school system.

The girls always surprise me with how well they do [with the activities] in the very beginning. They write beautifully. And I don’t know if that’s the girls who are drawn to TED-Ed or if it’s just that blue sky, say whatever you want aspect of it, which is different than regular homework.

Alena McQuarter

SR: Think about somebody who wants to start this in their school: what would you tell them? What has been the most challenging part about  implementing Student Talks at ÊTRE and how did you overcome it?

IR: For the first three years when we were only virtual, girls were busy. Making sure we could get everyone was hard. And so one thing I did every month was offering at least three meeting choices for each time zone. You can jump into any one of the [meetings], and they knew that they had to be in a meeting every month. If someone couldn’t make any of them, I made sure that I could meet one-on-one with her. If you’re facilitating the program for a lot of different schools and [trying to accommodate] everyone’s schedules, offer way more options than you think you’ll need.

Another challenge was that I was worried they were going to be really intimidated being on stage. We had a rehearsal day, and one thing we did was we put a bunch of red bean bags in one corner of the stage and divided the girls into groups of five. So when they first got to the stage, they were with a group. They all got on the stage together and then one by one they’d get called to the mic. Adding that little intermediate step getting to the stage I thought was helpful because this may be the first time a girl has ever been on a big stage. And it’s a big theater and there are lights and it’s intimidating. I would tell someone who’s starting it, if you see that [nervousness] at all, have them go up on stage in teams. Then at least they’re sitting among their peers, and they’re getting a few minutes on stage to look out at the audience before they’re up at the mic and they get more comfortable.

“That middle school confidence gap? I have witnessed TED-Ed bridge that gap again and again.”

SR: You’ve been doing this for four years. What tips or words of wisdom would you share with someone considering Student Talks for their students?

IR: I would say first of all, do it! It’s going to seem like a giant thing. It’s going to seem like there are so many requirements and it’s overwhelming. Do it. Anytime I had a question and I emailed anybody at TED-Ed, I got the information. That was really great.

I think the students have to really want to do it. If a parent comes to you and assures you that this child— who’s not saying one word— really wants to do it, the kids have to really want it. And those are the best talks. It’s a really enriching thing to add to your program, whatever your program might be.

Speakers at the ÊTRE talk showcase

Interested in learning more about TED-Ed Student Talks? Check out our Student Talks page here to find out how the program works and how you can get involved.

Check out the other pieces in the 10 for 10 years series here and here.