My goal is to be as pragmatic and original as possible. I aim for measurable change for every attendee. I’ll happily do the follow up research to see I made an impact or not. It’s not worth anyone’s time if nothing is left behind but good memories.

I’ve spoken to thousands of people across four countries and 20+ cities, including three times at TEDx events. I’ve given talks, emceed, moderated, facilitated workshops, conducted corporate trainings, and ran simulations, games, and competitions.

Sample Topics

As an aspiring polymath, I cover a variety of topics. My favorite are:

• Existential safety / existential risks from AI, synthetic biology, nuclear weapons, and future weapons
• Existential hope, including utopian design and post-humans or transhumans
• How to design an “adaptive life plan”
• How to design a “life operating system”
• How to “optimize your life” or “life optimization 101”
• Going beyond Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs -> 21st century perspectives on optimal living or human flourishing
• Upgrade Program Protocol for optimal living
• 42 areas of life
• Biohacking, lifehacking, and “upgrading” ourselves
• Measuring a life well-lived
• “Metagrowth” / recursive self-development
• Highest ROI self-development tools
• Common and uncommon (and sometimes humorous) behavior change failures
• Evolution of the evidence-based self-development field
• Rise and decline of effective altruism
• Rise and decline of LessWrong-style rationality

Sample Talks

Here are samples of the kinds of talks and interviews I usually give.

• Existential risk, existential hope, and the secrets to winning at life | James Norris / Futurati Podcast
• Self-Improvement and Behavior Change (with James Norris) / Clearer Thinking Podcast
• Polymathy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence with James Norris / Polymath’s Place
• Doing Good Better / SOCAPTV
• Life Hacking and Behavior Change / The Movement Podcast
• Lifehacking: Your Unfair Advantage / TEDxStPeterPort
• Upgrading Personal Effectiveness through Technology / Effective Altruism Summit
• Life of Firsts / Quantified Self DC
• Introduction to Design Thinking / US Department of Veterans Affairs
• How to Hack Your Life, Productivity & Sleep / PaleoHacks Podcast
• Design for Change / SEEED Summit
• Self Spark Demo Day Pitch / Fledge Demo Day
• Lifehacking 101 / Spark Summit Singapore
• Best Place in the World for Social Entrepreneurs: Singapore as a Social Silicon Valley? / Cross-Border Innovation & Entrepreneurship Global Symposium
• Life by the Numbers: Self-Quantification / Quantified Self Singapore Inaugural Show & Tell
• Releasing Personal Growth / TEDxNTU

Reviews

Here are a few comments I’ve gotten:

• “That was as good as a Harry Potter book.” (from a 12-year old)
• “I really liked your talk. It had substance, unlike the others I went to. 9 out of 10.”
• “Thank you for inspiring me (and everyone else in the room) with your talk. I really enjoyed it!”
• “Might sound weird but that talk opened a new world to me. Helped me deal with a bad relationship I was in at the time. And now I’m having a generally awesome social life again.”
• “Wow, that’s really thinking outside the box.”

Connect

Please contact me if you’d like me to speak at your event.