“Explaining EA: What I learned from giving a TEDx talk” by Yuval Shapira

How to explain Effective Altruism to someone who's never heard of it—and make them interested? A few months ago, I was given the opportunity to give a TEDx talk about Effective Altruism. As a former community manager of EA Israel, I’ve spent years explaining EA to newcomers, refining how I communicate its principles, and observing the common misconceptions that make it harder for people to engage with EA ideas. Preparing for the talk forced me to organize my thoughts on what works—and what doesn’t—when I try to convey EA to a broader audience. I would love to discuss with you some of the choices I made when I wrote this talk, and hear your thoughts about them. Note: I don’t read the forum often, so the writing might not be in the usual style of the forum. I use many anecdotes, personal stories, and my views. However, hopefully, these [...] ---Outline:(01:07) 1. Generic Examples → Shared personal stories(04:31) 2. Expected Value → Venture Capitalist Investing(05:49) 3. ITN → Blue Ocean Strategy(06:42) 4. Niche EA examples →Broad Familiar Examples(08:26) 5. Should I mention EA?(09:31) Closing thoughts--- First published: February 13th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/JWf2dQQvfvxAstCsp/explaining-ea-what-i-learned-from-giving-a-tedx-talk --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.