IOTA Talk Guidelines
IOTA Talks are short, engaging videos in which scholars share an idea they are excited about with lay Christians in an accessible way.
Length: (Critical) Aim for 10 minutes, 15 minutes maximum.
Audience: (Critical) The audience for IOTA Talks is an interested, but not academically sophisticated audience. Vocabulary that is overly-academic or specialized must be avoided or explained.
Theme: (Special to this upcoming Conference in Georgia) It is ideal, but not strictly required, that you connect to some aspect of honoring the theme “Tradition and Traditions”.
Guest Presenters: All IOTA Talks are open to Orthodox scholars. We welcome everyone to apply.
Slides: A few slides with quotes, pictures, or notes are helpful and can be incorporated into the final product during the editing process. We will collect these digitally afterward and incorporate them into the final version.
Notes: Speaking from notes is acceptable—the talk need not be memorized—but reading from a scripted text or formal paper is not acceptable.
Location: The talks will be recorded in a location near other events at the Conference and at a various time periods to work within the overall schedule.
Setting: We will use lights on the speaker. We also hope to have a small live audience of local students or other scholars.
Other Helps: These talks are patterned after the well-known series called “TED Talks.” Here are two helpful resources for this series: How to Write a Ted Talk in 7 Easy Steps and TEDX Speakers Guide
If you would like to offer one of these short talks, please apply by filling out the IOTA Talk Application. The application deadline to offer an IOTA Talk is December 1, 2026. Or, for more information, please contact Fr. Harry Pappas at [email protected]
