How to use TED talks in youth group

Written By Jen kidwell

When I get in a TED talk groove, I might not return to the world around me for hours. Whether it’s just that I find 98% of TED speakers to be fascinating or the youtube algorithm just knows exactly what I want to learn about and when, I can’t exactly tell. I watch most of them at 2x speed and the intensity of the focus required to do so is like medicine to my brain. My poor husband has no way of getting my attention without startling me and causing a flood of herbal tea when I’m in this zone. We can file this under the list of things he didn’t know before he said “I do.”

I wrote a curriculum for using 6 popular TED talks with my youth that I'm planning to use between New Year's and Lent in 2021, and I'm so excited about it. I'm thrilled to have the first 6 weeks of youth group 2021 planned already. I can't wait to introduce my youth to some amazing speakers and ideas. And I'm most looking forward to modeling how to put these talks in conversation with scripture in creative ways! I'd created a TED curriculum for adults featuring audio devotions - which I love and can be used with youth, but this written resource was created specifically with youth in mind.

Once I cleared my plan with my youth, I had an actual reason to watch hours and hours (and hours) of TED talks. To create a reproducible curriculum, I wrote preparation/meditation materials in addition to scripture engagement and discussion questions so that my volunteer leaders will be well equipped for each session. One of the challenges of using TED talks with groups is that conversation sometimes veers out of bounds in ways that are hard to predict, but I've given group leaders many possible directions for conversation so that they can respond well to what is most interesting for their youth.

​You can find a sample lesson here, to see what I mean.

The exercise of connecting "secular" ideas to faith and scripture is one that I find personally gratifying, and I love to see the connections that my youth make when led into this space. Each lesson contains:

  • Link to the TED talk (youtube)

  • A summary for group leaders

  • A meditation/devotional prep for group leaders, which can be incorporated into the discussion as desired

  • A few warm up questions to use before you watch the talk as a group

  • Reflection questions and scripture engagement for your discussion

It was difficult to narrow down the speakers to just 6 for this go around, though it was made slightly easier because I've already used some really popular talks with my youth, including Bryan Stevenson's "We need to talk about an injustice" and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The danger of a single story.” I'm saving Brene Brown's talks about shame and vulnerability for the Lenten series on vulnerability, shame, and confession that I'm putting together this year. That's next on my to-do list :)

Ultimately, the speakers and talks I selected, and the scriptures I've paired with them are:

Check out the Introduction and a sample lesson here to see whether this might be a good resource to use with your group sometime in 2021.

Have you ever tried using TED talks with youth? How did it go?! Comment below or send me an email to make a request for a specific lesson plan for a future edition of TED and Theology for youth.


Jen kidwell
Previous

Shame, Vulnerability, and Resilience
Next

Advent asynchronous scavenger hunt!