Lecture and speech citation generator
Cite a lecture, speech or TED Talk, whether you watched it online or heard it in person.
or fill in the details below
How to cite a lecture or speech
A lecture citation takes three steps. The first question, how you saw it, changes the whole citation.
Step 1
Choose how you saw it
An online recording, in person, or in class. Each gets the right fields.
Step 2
Paste the link to a recording
TED Talks and YouTube videos fill in the speaker, title and date. For a talk you heard in person, fill in the event, date and place.
Step 3
Copy your citation
Add the reference entry to your list. For a talk APA cites as a personal communication, copy the in-text wording instead.
A talk or poster at a conference? Use the conference presentation citation generator.
How to cite a lecture in APA
APA cites a recorded lecture or speech like any recording. A lecture you heard in person that wasn’t recorded is a personal communication: an in-text citation only, with no reference entry.
A recorded lecture
Pausch, R. (2007, December 20). Randy Pausch’s last lecture: Achieving your childhood dreams [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
A speech recording on an archive site
King, M. L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I have a dream [Speech audio recording]. American Rhetoric. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Heard in person, not recorded
(M. Atwood, personal communication, December 29, 1993)
Give the speaker’s initials and surname and the exact date. Leave it out of your reference list.
For a class lecture, check whether your instructor shared slides or a recording. Cite those instead with the PowerPoint citation generator, since your reader can find them.
How to cite a TED Talk in APA and MLA
Paste the TED link and we fill in the speaker, title and month. APA names TED Conferences as the publisher.
APA
Brown, B. (2010, June). The power of vulnerability [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability
APA in-text citation, with a timestamp
Parenthetical: (Brown, 2010, 3:12)
Narrative: Brown (2010, 3:12)
MLA
Brown, Brené. “The Power of Vulnerability.” TED, June 2010, www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability.
Chicago
Brown, Brené. “The Power of Vulnerability.” Filmed June 2010 at TEDxHouston. TED video. https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability.
How to cite a speech in MLA
MLA cites a talk you heard with the speaker, the title in quotation marks, the event, the date and the place, then a word for the kind of talk, like Lecture or Address.
Format
Speaker. “Title.” Event, Day Month Year, Location. Lecture.
Heard in person
Atwood, Margaret. “Silencing the Scream.” Boundaries of the Imagination Forum, MLA Convention, 29 Dec. 1993, Royal York Hotel, Toronto. Address.
Chicago
Atwood, Margaret. “Silencing the Scream.” Address, Boundaries of the Imagination Forum, MLA Convention, Royal York Hotel, Toronto, December 29, 1993.
How to cite a famous speech
You didn’t hear it in person, so cite the recording or transcript you used.
A recording on an archive site
Cite the recording on the site where you found it, like American Rhetoric or a presidential library. APA calls it a speech audio recording or a video.
A transcript
APA describes it as [Speech transcript]. Use the date the speech was given.
On YouTube
Paste the link. The speaker is the author when you can name them; the channel that posted it is where it was published. Or use the YouTube citation generator to cite the video itself.
Frequently asked questions
How do I cite a lecture in APA?
Cite a recorded lecture with the speaker, the date, the title in italics, [Video] and where it’s posted. A lecture you heard in person that wasn’t recorded is a personal communication: cite it in your text only.
How do I cite a TED Talk in APA?
Give the speaker, the year and month, the title in italics, [Video], TED Conferences and the URL.
How do I cite a class lecture?
In APA, as a personal communication in your text: the speaker’s initials and surname, personal communication, and the full date. In MLA, give the speaker, the title, the course, the date, the school and Lecture.
How do I cite a speech in MLA?
Give the speaker, the title in quotation marks, the event, the date and the location, then the kind of talk, like Address or Keynote speech.
What if the lecture has no title?
Describe it briefly instead, like Lecture on photosynthesis.
Is this lecture citation generator free?
Yes. It’s free with no signup, and your citations go into the same list as the main Citation Generator.