Teach the Geek: Public Speaking and Communication Skills for Technical Professionals

Callie Carpenter is a design engineer in the medical device industry. We spoke about her current position, the way in public speaking has benefited her, and any tips she can provide.  TEACH THE GEEK - public speaking for engineers and scientists teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok) DOWNLOAD THE EXCUSE ASSESSMENT TOOL - prioritize sol...

Jossie Haines started out in chemistry but transitioned to product engineering in the tech industry. That’s quite the shift, so we chatted about the motivation for making that switch. We also got into her public speaking exploits and how public speaking has benefitted her.  Download the Excuse Assessment tool - prioritize solutions based on severity of excuses - DOWNLOAD.TEACHTHEGEEK.COM TEAC...

Lisette Sutherland is a Netherlands-based facilitator, author, podcaster, and speaker. She is an advocate for remote working, which is quite popular right now for obvious reasons. She is such a fan of remote working that she formed a company around it, Collaboration Superpowers.  We spoke about  her degree in a field I’d never heard of before, Watershed Science, her transition to self-em...

Kin Tue-Fee conducts seminars on management and leadership. He’s also the author of a three books. He didn't start off there, though. He worked for years as a naval architect before moving into management and leadership for the Canadian government.  We spoke about his work as a naval architect, his interest in management and leadership, and his public speaking exploits.   TEACH THE GEEK...

Gerald Moore Sr. is a speaker and author of the book "Motivate Black Boys: How to Prepare for Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math." He's an advocate for Black boys and their involvement in the innovation economy. Gerald is also founder of the non-profit Mission Fulfilled 2030, which works with companies to create opportunities for those who want them and prepare them for the jobs...

Pallavi Tyagi worked as an engineer in the automotive industry before transitioning to marketing. Doubling down on her new career, she’s also host of the Your Digital Marketing Journey podcast.  I’m curious to find out more about her time as an engineer, the motivation to become a marketer, and her podcast.   TEACH THE GEEK - public speaking for engineers and scientists teachthegeek.com...

What does an engineer know about career branding anyway? This isn't a question you'd ask Stephen Lu. He’s an engineer, a project manager, a career coach, and a public speaker. Active on LinkedIn, he posts career advice videos weekly. He’s also big on helping people build their personal brands so they can be successful in their careers. We talked about his journey in public speaking and his journey...

Joana Melo is a postdoctoral researcher in engineering education. She is keen on finding out how languages and cultures influence engineering students’ learning. She also helps engineering students overcome their fear of public speaking. We talked about how she got into engineering education research, and where her interest in public speaking for engineers came from. TEACH THE GEEK - public speaki...

Heather Eason is a president and CEO in the power industry. A proponent of women in STEM, she is also a blogger and speaker. We spoke about how she got into power, her interest in public speaking, and her intent on helping women in STEM.   TEACH THE GEEK - public speaking for scientists and engineers teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, Tikt...

Trina Martin is a Navy veteran and IT expert. She’s also host of the Trina Talk podcast and author of the book, “From a Mess to Amazing: 7 Steps to Create the Life You Deserve.” We talked about her time in the military, her consultant work, and her book and podcast.   TEACH THE GEEK Public speaking for scientists and engineers teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter...

LaShanya Aikerson is an expert in change management and owner of her own consultancy. I’ve heard the term change management before, but I don’t think it’s a common term, so I was interested in LaShanya explaining what it means. We also talked about her transition away from engineering to consultant, quite an eventful story. TEACH THE GEEK Public speaking for scientists and engineers teachthegeek.c...

Fawad Khan is an expert in digital transformation. He’s also an adjunct professor and author of the e-book, “Enterprise Digital Transformation: A concise guide to understanding and successfully transforming your organization.”  We chatted about his work as an adjunct, his book, and his work in digital transformation. I actually got to learn what digital transformation means!  To get in t...

Barclay Brown is a systems engineer. I actually attended a meeting of the International Council on Systems Engineering in San Diego once, but am still a bit unsure as to what systems engineering is. I certainly asked Barclay that question, in addition to how he even got into systems engineering. Barclay is also a professional speaker, so I got to ask to him about public speaking, too.   To le...

An engineer turned data analytics expert, Shailvi Wakhlu and I talked about her transition to data analytics, the definition of data analytics (I admit I had no clue) and the preparation she puts into her talks (it's rather astounding).  To learn more about Shailvi, visit shailvi.com. She's also on Twitter at @shailviw. TEACH THE GEEK Public speaking for scientists and engineers teachthegeek....

Gina Covarrubias is the founder of Deliberate Doing LLC, coaching unfulfilled technical professionals to figure out what they want their lives to look like. She started Deliberate Doing after years of working as an engineer in the aerospace industry. We talked about her journey to starting her own company and her choice to become a coach. To learn more about Gina, visit https://deliberatedoing.com...

Dr. Kelly Korreck is a woman of many talents. She’s an astrophysicist, speaker, project manager, and science advisor.  Her work involves building and operating instruments to study the Sun. l took time to talk about her work, and her journey in public speaking, especially her favorite speaking topics.  To learn more about Kelly, visit http://kellykorreck.com/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek...

Dr. Sarah Bearchell is a freelance science writer and presenter. As a writer, she writes for children’s magazines. As a presenter, she speaks mostly to teachers and other science communication professionals, and also runs children’s workshops. We chatted about her motivation to get into science communication and presenting, her previous working life, and her tips for public speaking.  Learn m...

Dana Brownlee is the president of Professionalism Matters and the author of "The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up: Project Management Techniques from the Trenches." Professionalism Matters provides workshops on project management, team building, and communications. Her book is about building better relationships with senior leaders as a project manager, who typically has a lot of responsibility and...

Nur Lee Harel is the CEO of EventHandler. She has put on dozens of large scale tech conferences. She has also spoken on how to become a tech speaker and personal branding. We spoke about how she got into her line of work, how virtual conferences have affected her business, and what tips she can share to become a more effective public speaker, specifically in tech. Learn more about Nur at https://w...

John Rouda is an IT leader, author, professor, and speaker. He’s also the host of the A Geek Leader podcast. We spoke about his various interests, especially the podcast, and his journey with public speaking.  To learn more about John, visit http://johnrouda.com/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG Ti...

Dr. Natoshia Anderson is a STEM educator, consultant, trainer, podcast host, and professional speaker. She founded Smart STEM, LLC, a STEM education consulting business that specializes in curriculum and program development for K-12, post-secondary, for-profit and non-profit businesses. Her podcast, Stemming in Stilettos, highlights minority women in STEM. She was even a Dean at a college at one p...

Oscar Santolalla is a podcaster, author, and engineer. On his podcast, Time to Shine, he has interviewed over 150 people on public speaking. He is the author of the book, Create and Deliver a Killer Product Demo. He also works as a sales engineer, where I’m sure public speaking comes in handy. We chatted about how he ended in Finland after growing up in Peru, his motivation for starting his podcas...

Karen Catlin is a former VP in tech, leadership coach, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion in the workplace. She also mentors students on their career goals. We talked about her interests in women entering and staying in tech, her public speaking book “Present! a techie’s guide to public speaking”, and her favorite speaking topics.  Learn more about Karen at https://karencatlin.com/....

I read about my guest, Adeola Gbakinro, since she was a speaker at the recent WonderWomenTech conference. She studied Biomedical Science. She’s a digital freelancer and web developer. She also founded Uplift the Next Generation, an organization whose goal is to help young people gain access to career opportunities. We spoke about the origins of her organization, her favorite speaking topics, and h...