On the Red Circle: What it's really like to give a TED talk

erictnguyen.substack.com · 9,778 words · saved by 1 readers

By Eric Nguyen

That was crazy. Photo credit: Gilberto Tadday. TL;DR Watch the talk here: “How AI could generate new life-forms” In April 2025, I gave the biggest talk of my career — on the TED main stage. It was twelve minutes long, but took four months of preparation, panic, rewrites, and personal reflection. I wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look — not just at what it’s like to give the TED Talk, but share the full roller coaster of a journey that it was. It was the best experience of my life. Thanks for indulging me I’ve always thought it was weird why people would say they’re “so humbled”…

On the Red Circle: What it's really like to give a TED talk

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