A Complete Guide on How to Cite a TED Talk

Learning how to cite a TED talk boosts your potential to score high grades because of the organization's numerous investment in academic literature. We'll address each of these citation styles according to this list.

1. How do you cite ted talks in APA style 7th edition?
2. How do you cite a talk in MLA style?
3. How do you cite a ted talk in Chicago style?
4. How do you cite a ted talk in Harvard style?

1. How Do You Cite TED Talks in APA Style 7th Edition?

You need to familiarize yourself with different sources of Ted Talks and how to cite them accurately. Here are the items we'll address in this section as citing them differs significantly.

1. Ted talk from the ted website
2. YouTube ted talk

a. Ted Talk From the Ted Website

APA format: Speaker last name, Initials. (Year, Month). Talk title [Video]. TED Conferences. URL

For example:

Naam, R. (2023). TED Conference. In A faster way to get to a clean energy future [Video]. TED Conference. Retrieved April 4, 2023. https://www.ted.com/talks/ramez_naam_a_faster_way_to_get_to_a_clean_energy_future/c

Parenthetical citation: (Naam, 2023)

Narrative citation: Naam (2023)

If you get a Ted Talk from the Ted website, use the speaker's name as the author. Narrow down the date as much as possible. Use the description "[Video] in square brackets. Remember to give credit to Ted Conferences as your Ted Talk's publisher and offer the URL to readers.

b. YouTube Ted Talk

APA format: Channel name. (Year, Month Day). Talk title [Video]. YouTube. URL

For instance:

TED. (2023, April 3). How to Get Inside the "Brain" of Ai | Alona Fyshe [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIcQOfN1qak.

Parenthetical citation: (TED, 2023)

Narrative citation: TED (2023)

You must indicate the owner of a YouTube account. You should also provide the date; as specific as you can get. Use the description "[Video]" after mentioning your title of the Ted talk and square brackets, citing YouTube as the video's publisher. Finally, provide a URL to your audience.

Sometimes, the speaker is not listed as the author. In this case, feel free to integrate the speaker's name into the paper as you wish. For instance:

Alona explains that artificial intelligence are simply "models following a complex set of instructions" (TED, 2023, 3:30)

2. How Do You Cite a Talk in MLA?

The general structure for citing a Ted talk in MLA involves listing the speaker's name, the talk title, the TED site, the month and year, and finally, the URL.

We're now going to differentiate between how you cite a ted talk from a transcript and one derived from YouTube.

1. How to cite a ted talk from YouTube
2. How to cite a ted talk from a transcript

a. How to Cite a Ted Talk from YouTube

List your speaker as the author while also mentioning "TED." You must give the upload date as it's available online.

MLA format: Speaker last name, First name. “Video Title.” YouTube, uploaded by TED or TEDx Talks, Day Month Year, URL.

Use this example as your guide.

Fyshe, Alona. (2023, April 3). "How to Get Inside the "Brain" of Ai | Alona Fyshe." YouTube, uploaded by TED, 3 April 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIcQOfN1qak

In-text citation: (Fyshe 3:30)

b. How To Cite a Ted Talk From a Transcript

Citing the transcript of a TED talk from the ted website requires a varying approach. Link to the transcript rather than the video and include the word "Transcript" in your Works Cited entry.

MLA format: Speaker last name, First name. “Talk Title.” TED, Month Year, URL.

Example:

Fyshe, Alona. "How to Get Inside the Brain of Ai." TED, April 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIcQOfN1qak

In-text citation: (Fyshe 3:30)

3. How Do You Cite a TED Talk in Chicago Style?

As with the others, citing a TED talk from the ted site or any other source differs when it comes to Chicago.

Notes & Bibliography

Format: First Name Last Name, "Title of Ted Talk," filmed Date in Place of Filming. TED video, length of recording, URL

Example:

Ramez Naam, "A Faster Way to Get to a Clean Energy Future," filmed April 2023, TED video, 15:22, https://www.ted.com/talks/ramez_naam_a_faster_way_to_get_to_a_clean_energy_future/c

Bibliography Entry:

Naam, Ramez. "A Faster Way to Get to a Clean Energy Future," Filmed April 2023, TED video, 15:22. https://www.ted.com/talks/ramez_naam_a_faster_way_to_get_to_a_clean_energy_future/c

Author-Date

Reference format:

Last Name, First Name. Year. "Title of Ted Talk." Filmed Date in Place of Filming. TED video, length of recording, URL. 

For example:

Naam, Ramez. 2023. "A Faster Way to Get to a Clean Energy Future," Filmed April 2023. TED video, 15:22. https://www.ted.com/talks/ramez_naam_a_faster_way_to_get_to_a_clean_energy_future/c

In-Text citation:

(Ramez 2023)

4. How Do You Cite a TED Talk in Harvard Style

Citing ted conferences or a ted talk video from the ted YouTube account in Harvard requires various elements:

• Speaker's name
• Year the video was posted (in round brackets)
• The talk's title (in italics)
• Date uploaded (if provided)
• Where it's located (Available at: URL)
• (Accessed: date)

Example:

Naam, R. (2023) A faster way to get to a clean energy future. April. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/ramez_naam_a_faster_way_to_get_to_a_clean_energy_future/comments (Accessed: 6 April 2023).