An independently organized TED event, built around the idea that the truest talks are the ones nobody rehearsed into safety.
TED started a program of local, self-organized events called TEDx. In the spirit of TED's mission to spread worthwhile ideas, TEDx brings the same format to communities around the world — independently, but under license from TED.
TEDxFOT is one such event: a small, self-organized gathering where live speakers share ideas worth building a conversation around. TED provides general guidelines for the program; everything about how our stage runs, and who stands on it, is shaped by our own team.
Each of them is bringing something they've carried quietly for a while — a story, a doubt, an idea they've never said out loud on a stage before. This is where that changes.
Every idea worth repeating starts at the point someone stopped protecting themselves long enough to say the true thing. Unguarded is a stage built for exactly that moment — held on purpose, in front of people who came to actually listen.
We didn't want a theme you could sum up in a hashtag. Unguarded is deliberately open-ended — it's the founder's real number, the scientist's real doubt, the quiet decision nobody put in the highlight reel. If saying it out loud costs you something, it probably belongs here.
Every field has a version of this. The version presented in interviews, decks, and press releases is armor — accurate, but load-bearing only because it leaves things out. We're less interested in that version. We want the one underneath: the assumption that turned out wrong, the year the plan didn't survive contact with reality, the question a whole field is still quietly avoiding. Not confession for its own sake — exposure in service of an idea worth having.
Ideas we're listening for
The moment the polished version stops working — where most talks end and this one actually begins.
What it took to hold the idea together long enough to bring it to a room full of strangers.
What the rest of us get to see because someone chose not to hide the crack.
Unguarded isn't a mood board. It's a filter — for the ideas that only exist on the other side of a little exposure.
We're keeping this one deliberately intimate — a curated audience, not a crowd, and a stage where a talk actually lands instead of disappearing into a few hundred faces. Attendance is by application, and details go out directly to the people who make the list.
If that's you, the earliest and clearest way in is by putting your own idea forward below.
A curated room that leans in for the parts most talks leave out.
Real speaker coaching, so the idea lands exactly as sharp as you meant it.
A green room full of people who stood exactly where you're standing, minutes before.
A recorded talk built to travel — and outlast — the eighteen minutes it takes to give it.
Anyone with an idea that fits the theme — you don't need prior speaking experience, a public profile, or a finished script. We're curating for the idea first.
Sales pitches, product launches, or promotional content for a company, cause, or personal brand. Everything else — if it's honest and it's yours — is fair game.
Our curation team reviews every submission and responds within two weeks. If it's a fit, we'll follow up with next steps, coaching, and event details.
The date is 3 September 2026. Venue and full details are shared directly with confirmed speakers and applicants closer to the date.
Nominate yourself or someone whose idea deserves the stage. Our curation team reads every submission — you don't need a polished deck, just a real idea and a reason it matters to you.
Thank you for trusting us with it. Our curation team reviews every submission and will reach out within two weeks if it's a fit for the TEDxFOT stage.
TEDxFOT is run by a small team of volunteer organizers under license from TED. No agency, no production house — just people who cared enough to put this stage together.