Xixi Wang

Every educator knows the challenge:

Teenagers have incredible ideas, but getting them to step up to the microphone takes more than just an invitation. It takes an ecosystem of support, practice, and inspiration.

At Unity Concord International School (UCIS) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, educators have cracked the code. By linking their year-round TED-Ed Student Talks group with their annual TEDxUCIS Youth event, they didn’t just create a one-off public speaking project — they built a self-sustaining pipeline of confident youth voices that is actively transforming their school community.

Fernando Oringo, International Co-curricular Coordinator of Ambassador Education Group, sat down with Abby Schrantz, the school’s TED-Ed Student Talks Coordinator, and Madison Conger, the TEDxUCIS Youth license holder, to learn how these two programs work hand-in-hand, and how other schools can replicate their success.

The Foundation: Building a Culture of Ideas

For UCIS, the journey begins in the TED-Ed Student Talks group, designed to give younger students a low-stakes environment to “get their feet wet.”

But how do you get 5th and 6th graders excited about public speaking? According to Abby, it requires more than just an email blast. It requires a personal touch.

“I always go to every 5th and 6th-grade homeroom and explain what TED-Ed Student Talks is,” Abby shares. “It really helps when their peers have done it themselves. I love hearing kids say to each other, ‘Oh, you should join the group, you should try it!’… It’s because of that personal touch that it has really grown into what it is today. Our group is currently at capacity.”

Inside the group, the focus is on constant innovation to keep the curriculum engaging. Abby regularly diversifies activities, stepping outside the facilitator guidebook to include interactive peer-review sessions. “Many times, we’re watching a talk from last year or last semester, and having them give feedback,” she notes. This peer-to-peer inspiration is the engine that drives the group forward.

Student giving their talk at TEDxUCIS Youth event

The Catalyst: Experiencing the Main Stage

The true magic of the UCIS program happens when TED-Ed Student Talks intersects with the TEDxUCIS Youth event. Rather than keeping the two programs siloed, Abby and Madison ensure that the younger TED-Ed Student Talks students are part of the TEDx audience.

For the students, seeing older peers command a professional stage is a transformative “Aha!” moment. It takes the concepts they’ve learned in the classroom and makes them real.

“They were very excited and motivated,” Abby recalls after the recent TEDx event. “They came running up to me afterward to talk about the talks that really stood out to them. I think they then felt more inspired to fine-tune their own performances… How can they really add emotion? How can they improve their visuals? It was a great learning experience.”

Madison agrees that the event serves as an ultimate showcase, not just of speeches, but of ideas. The organizing team intentionally creates a multisensory experience — complete with art exhibitions and sensory rooms — turning the day into a true “celebration of ideas” that captivates the younger students in attendance.

The Pipeline: Why Organizers Love TED-Ed Student Talks

For educators looking to organize a TEDxYouth event, launching a TED-Ed Student Talks group first might seem like extra work. However, Madison points out that it actually makes the organizing process vastly easier.

“Young people are so busy,” Madison laughs, noting the struggle of managing extracurriculars, homework, and talk milestones. But having TED-Ed Student Talks acts as a training ground that pays massive dividends down the road.

“I spoke to some of the students that were in TED-Ed Student Talks  last year who have since moved on to middle and high school, and they already know what to do,” Madison explains. “From our perspective organizing TEDx, it makes it a lot easier that you don’t have to start from square one. The kids know what TED-Ed Student Talks is, they know the process, they’ve been through it.”

By the time these students are ready for the main TEDx stage, they have already spent years generating ideas and presenting in front of peers. “It really helps create a roadmap for the kids,” Madison says. “They start in the younger grades, and then we guide them to the ultimate goal, which is the TEDx stage. They are very confident and know exactly what they’re doing.”

Student giving their talk at TEDxUCIS Youth event

Ideas That Spark Real Change

Ultimately, the goal of this dual-program approach isn’t just to teach public speaking; it’s to foster real-world empathy and community action. The ideas cultivated in TED-Ed Student Talks and amplified on the TEDx stage are actively shaping the culture at UCIS.

Abby notes that many students are tackling highly relatable, vulnerable topics like the dangers of overthinking and the pressure of societal expectations. “These are struggles everyone faces,” she says. “It’s a good reminder for all their classmates, and they have a platform to share about it.”

In some cases, the talks have led to direct institutional change. Madison proudly recalls a powerful moment from last year’s event: “One of our students gave a speech about cross-cultural kids and the challenges they face in an international setting. That talk inspired change to create a cross-cultural kid community here of parents and students to provide support… It’s not just a talk that people hear and then forget about. It actually inspires change. That was just so cool to see.”

Advice for Educators

For teachers hoping to bring this magic to their own schools, the roadmap laid out by UCIS is clear:

1. Start small and personal: Build excitement for your TED-Ed Student Talks group through classroom visits and peer-to-peer word of mouth.

2. Bridge the gap: If you host a TEDx event, give an opportunity for TED-Ed students to be part of the audience experience. Use the main stage as a real-time masterclass for your club members.

3. Play the long game: View your programs not as isolated events, but as a multi-year pipeline. Let the club serve as a low-stakes incubator, preparing confident, experienced speakers for your eventual TEDx stage.

“TED has actually become a part of our identity here. It’s a big brand that kids know,” Madison reflects. “It gives a platform for kids to talk about things they might not normally be able to share with a wider audience. It’s been really cool seeing kids get that opportunity.”

TEDxUCIS Youth event

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fernando Paet Oringo is an international educator and youth advocate who currently supervises the TED-Ed Student Talks program across a network of schools in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Driven by a passion to amplify student voices, he is an active TEDxYouth organizer and a dedicated volunteer for standard TEDx events in Chiang Mai and Saigon. Fernando’s core mission lies at the intersection of cross-cultural pedagogy and student empowerment. He centers his career around mentoring the next generation of global change-makers.

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!

Journalist Anna Lelik took on her first investigative report when she was just 17. She was looking into online censorship in Central Asian countries — including in her home country of Kyrgyzstan — and was worried she wouldn’t be taken seriously as a journalist. Luckily, her first big interview was over the phone, she says at TEDxYouth@Tallinn, so her interviewee couldn’t see that she had just graduated from high school.

Lelik was writing for Kloop, a youth-powered news outlet in Bishkek. “Most people at Kloop [are] young people,” she says. “Most of the stories for the website are done by young people aged 15-25.”

When Kloop first started, it was hard to get “grownup journalists” and the public to take them seriously, Lelik says, but everything changed once the site started covering the Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010. “The other media — with the grownup journalists — only covered the official side of the story [with] the comments of the state — or [they] kept silent, while protestors stormed local administration in the provinces,” Lelik says. Kloop journalists were on the scene during these clashes, Lelik says, and the internet turned to these young reporters for coverage of the events.

“Hundreds of thousands of users visited our website [during the April revolution],” Lelik says, “and step by step we started gaining more trust.” Soon, Kloop was being quoted in outlets like the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Associated Press. It became the fifth most popular news website in Kyrgyzstan.

As Kloop grew, it began to take on more in-depth investigative reports, live broadcasting, and news video. One of their reporters discovered the illegal construction of mansions in a green park, Lelik says, by flying a drone camera over Bishkek. Another story focused on the unfinished construction of a hydroelectric plant and the bids for construction that went into its planning.

In 2016, the president of Kyrgyzstan mentioned Kloop for the first time in a public speech. It was a critique, but Lelik says she thinks that’s the best compliment they could get — and a sign that the country takes Kloop seriously.

To learn more about Kloop, watch Lelik’s TEDx talk. To learn more about journalism, watch this TED-Ed Lesson. 

Photo credit: Bektour Iskender. Author bio: Hailey Reissman writes for TEDx Innovations Blog.

To learn something new every week, sign up for the TED-Ed Newsletter here >>

Think TED-Ed Clubs only operate during school hours? Think again. TED-Ed Clubs come in all shapes and sizes. From the classroom, to the internet, and everything in between, here are 6 unique ways to use the TED-Ed Clubs model:

1. Host your Club at a local library
Clubs don’t necessarily have to meet at a school. Seek out community organizations like your local library to host your Club. Aimee Vann of the Ouray Public Library in Colorado adopted TED-Ed Clubs in her library’s public programming, and it’s thrived ever since. “The library setting is great because all of the library resources are at a student’s fingertips,” says Vann. “Students are not only learning about their TED topic, they are learning important library literacy skills they will be able to use in the future.”

2. Turn your passion for theater into a Club
If your school has a theater program, why not use the Clubs curriculum to supplement it? That’s what theater teacher Isabel Moraes did with her students in Casablanca, Morocco. Isabel’s theater students were very interested in learning about public speaking and body awareness. Isabel also wanted to find a way to show her students that they can make an impact in the world — so when she found TED-Ed Clubs, it was a perfect fit for her class. As a Club Leader, she tailored the Clubs program to complement her students’ passion for theater: “We focus a lot on stage presence, purposeful gestures on stage, and audience involvement,” says Isabel. Now that students are structuring their talks, “we are also discussing the similarities to play scripts and how we can use elements of drama to make a talk even more effective,” she adds.

3. Lead a virtual Club for homeschooled students
Believe it or not, not every Club meets face-to-face. You can run a TED-Ed Club right from your computer. For example, School of the Minds TED-Ed Club allows homeschooled students from all over the country to come together and discuss their ideas. Led by Carissa Leventis-Cox, School of the Minds is one of several virtual TED-Ed Clubs. Currently there are a number of active Club Members in School of the Minds, including kids from California, Illinois, New Jersey, Nebraska and South Carolina. How do they communicate? “Facebook with the students, via posts, comments, and videos,” Carissa explains. She adds: “I like the video component because students start to feel comfortable being in front of a camera.”

4. Try a student mentoring structure in your Club
Try implementing a mentoring structure with your Club that allows students to learn from each other. In this model, older students are able to develop key leadership skills, while younger students go through the TED-ED Clubs curriculum with the support of more experienced students. “The older students in the club serve as group leaders when the students split up into smaller groups to discuss the talks,” says Club Leader Erin Tarr of Champaign, Illinois, who combined her TED-Ed Club with Be the Benchmark, a teen mentoring club. “These smaller groups then form a stronger bond, and are also encouraged to share their high/lows of the week and keep the mentors informed about the details of their life.”

5. Start a Club to improve your English skills
Is English your second language? Start a TED-Ed Club to practice English while developing and sharing your ideas. Many English language schools have integrated the Clubs program into their studies to sharpen their language skills. For example, Bojana Golubovic of Nis, Serbia leads The American Corner Nis TED-Ed Club. “Students have their explorations in English, as well as preparing and giving speeches. English is a language they learn at school, two days a week,” says Bojana. “With TED-Ed Clubs workshops, they are developing speaking and writing skills in non-native language. They are also learning about American culture and how to appreciate cultural perspectives through language.”

6. Organize a community TEDx event with your Club
Suzan Brandt, a technology specialist at Mountain Brook Junior High in Birmingham, Alabama, took her Club to the next level by starting a TEDx event in the community. She’s taken the TED-Ed Clubs program and turned it into a pipeline for students preparing to present talks at their local TEDx event. “Our goal of the MBJH TED-Ed Club is for everyone to submit a TED-Ed talk and be ready to present at TEDxYouth@MBJH. In addition to TED-Ed Club members serving as speakers, we have invited other youth from neighboring schools to speak as well. We include adult speakers who are from our community or who have an idea to share that will benefit the audience, which includes youth, families, and community members.”

Ready to start your own TED-Ed Club? Apply here today!

Author bio: Victoria Tripsas is an intern at TED-Ed. Art credit: iStock.

To get brand new TED-Ed Lessons delivered to your inbox each week, sign up for the free TED-Ed Newsletter here >>