Why I’d never do a TED talk (and it’s not just because they’re named after a man) | Julie Bindel

The rehearsed smugness of the presenters puts me off the content - which is all about making the simple sound profound

Picture this. A darkened auditorium, an attentive, cult-like audience staring ahead expectantly, hardly daring to breathe; a huge screen on which there is an image no one can decipher. And then, the person everyone has been waiting for strides confidently on to the spotlit stage, wearing a headset and carrying a PowerPoint remote, dressed immaculately and sporting a brand-new haircut. You can hear a pin drop as the presenter begins, "You think the world is round, but I am going to tell you to begin to believe it is actually square."

Predictable, false and embarrassing; how I hate TED talks. And it's not even because they're named after a man. What I can't abide is the way presenters pace around the stage, I hate the gravity with which they deliver their message, and being patronised by a smug, overconfident "thought leader" is pretty intolerable.