Rising voices: A contestant presents her speech at XSpeaker Contest on July 11. Winners of the contest will become speakers at the 2015 TEDx events, to be held next month. — Photo courtesy of TEDx Community of Hanoi

HA NOI (VNS) — A series of TEDx events will be officially held on August 8 in Ha Noi, offering opportunities for young Vietnamese to share and promote their creative ideas which are expected to leave a positive influence on the society.

With the theme, "Stop and Start", the event will focus on six fields, namely, education, environment, science, business, arts and life stories.

In preparation for the event, XSpeaker contests – a stage for Vietnamese to share their ideas or personal stories with the public – were held on July 11 and 12. After two rounds, two contestants displaying the best skills in presenting unique and creative ideas will become official speakers at the following events, together with many others who are renowned and influential Vietnamese, like actor Xuan Bac, actress Le Khanh and journalist Ngo Ba Luc.

Besides XSpeaker contest, TEDx events will include many other activities, including an art exhibition, talks and a workshop, are expected to attract over 5,000 young Hanoians. These will help fulfill the mission to convey to the young Vietnamese generation the importance of ideas.

Founded in 1984, TED (Technology – Entertainment – Design) is a global set of conferences run by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation under the slogan "Ideas Worth Spreading".

Since its establishment, TED has attracted annually 60 excellent speakers as participants and over 1,000 attendees. Among the famous figures who have stood on the TED stage have been Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.

TEDx (x independently organised TED event) is one or a series of TED events organised independently with due permission from global TED. The programme presents opportunities for local communities, organisations and individuals to experience global TED but at a local level.

TEDx events 2015 is organised by TEDx Community of Ha Noi, a group of TED lovers and people who want to participate in TED.

"By participating in the events, the young Vietnamese communities will experience a useful and interesting programme which is similar to original TED and more importantly, their enthusiasm and passion will be nurtured," said Dang Minh Ngoc, head of the board of organisers.

"TEDx in Ha Noi 2015 is expected to encourage young Vietnamese to dare to think, dream and overcome challenges to realise their own dreams."

The events will end with a gala dinner on August 16. — VNS