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

I read about my guest, Rinat Sherzer, in an article listing the top 40 women keynote speakers of 2020. I watched her TEDx talk, too. In addition to being a speaker, she is a social entrepreneur, adjunct professor, engineer, and ethical design strategist. We chatted about her company, Of Course Global, what ethical design is, and if it was absolutely necessary to wear a red dress during her TEDx ta...

My guest today is Jennifer Braganza. Process improvement. Product design. Project management. Jennifer has done it all. I was really interested to learn more about her speaking exploits, though, as she has taught in universities and does training and coaching outside of that.  To learn more about Jennifer, find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenibrag. TEACH THE GEEK teachthege...

My guest today is Marissa Ellis. She is founder of Diversily, a consultancy that offers courses and workshops on diversity, inclusion, and incorporating both into leadership. We talked about the origins of Diversily, her previous life in tech, and the benefits that public speaking have given her.   Learn more about Diversily at https://diversily.com/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm...

My guest today is Caitlin Kalinowski. She is the Director of Hardware for Facebook’s AR/VR division. She is also a guest lecturer at Stanford University. Being in such a technical role, I was interested to find out how public speaking has benefitted her career. Plus, I was also keen on finding out what she likes to talk about, any tips she has for becoming more effective at public speaking, and ho...

My guest today is Shola Kaye. She was an IT consultant. She was a singer. She’s now a speaker, author, and coach – working primarily in the STEM industries. We spoke about her former lives in IT and as a singer,  the services her company provides, and her go-to public speaking topics. Find out more about Shola at sholakaye.com. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.te...

My guest today is JJ DiGeronimo. She is a bunch of things. Speaker, author, advisor - all under the umbrella of her company, Tech Savvy Women. We spoke about her former life working in tech, her company, and her public speaking exploits. Learn more about JJ at https://techsavvywomen.net/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_...

My guest today is David Giltner. Engineering, marketing, sales: he has done quite a bit in industry. His current venture is TurningScience, helping scientists and engineers build careers in industry. We spoke about TurningScience, his transition to self-employment, and public speaking, of course.  Learn more about David at https://turningscience.com/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm...

My guest today is Jill Meyers. Jill started out in the Air Force, moved into private industry while staying in aviation, and eventually started her own consultancy. We talked about her journey to self- employment, her public speaking exploits, and future plans.  Learn more about Jill at https://www.meyersaero.biz/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.co...

My guest today, Erin Gallimore, was a middle school science teacher. She then went back to school to earn a MS in Civil Engineering. She was then an engineering manager. She’s now a coach, trainer, and speaker. We spoke about the teacher to engineer transition and the way she pivoted her business due to the pandemic.  Find out more about Erin at https://eringallimore.com/ TEACH THE GEEK teach...

My guest today is Andrea Bowens-Jones. She is a consultant, coach, trainer, and speaker. She’s also a champion for diversity and inclusion.  We chatted about her thoughts on D&I, her life as a manager, and public speaking, of course. Learn more about Dr. Bowens-Jones at https://www.idgvision.com/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegee...

My guest today is Celia Du. She is serious about science communication. So much so that she got a Master’s degree in it. We talked about her path to science communication, the challenges, and her future plans. Find out more about Celia on LinkedIn, Twitter (@celia_du_), and Instagram (@celia.du) TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twit...

My guest today is Priyanka Komala. She has a number of degrees and a number of interests, too. The main one I was curious to learn about was her podcast, the Curryup Startup podcast, in which she spotlights the careers of Asian leaders.  Learn more about Priyanka at https://www.priyankakomala.com TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB...

My guest today is Dr. Krishana Sankar. Earning a PhD in Physiology, she is now a science communicator. We spoke about about how she came to science communication, her plans on developing her career, and her interest in public speaking, of course. Connect with Dr. Sankar on Twitter @krishanasankar TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twi...

My guest today is Laurie Wallmark. She was a computer science professor and software engineer. The next logical step? Children’s book author, of course. We talked about about what led her from computers to children’s books. You don’t hear that every day! Learn more about Laurie at https://www.lauriewallmark.com/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teac...

My guest today is Paolo Gaudiano. He is all things Diversity and Inclusion. He has a startup, Aleria, a non-profit, Aleria Research Corporation, and the Quantitative Studies of Diversity and Inclusion initiative. We talked about all three endeavors, and of course how public speaking figures into them.  Check out Aleria at aleria.tech TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek yout...

My guest today is Tiffany Dawson, a career coach for women in STEM. After working in the construction industry, she changed careers and is now devoted to helping women build the careers they want. She’s also the host of the How to be a STEMinist podcast.  We talked about her transition from engineering to career coach, her podcast, and the definition of STEMinist.  Learn more about Tiffa...

My guest today is Ade McCormack. He has lived a few lives already. Starting out as a software engineer, he moved into coaching, writing books and articles for publications, as well as being a professional speaker. I was interested to learn about his career path, his current work, and the way in which public speaking integrates into it all. Learn more about Ade at https://www.ademccormack.com/ . TE...

My guest today is Heather Wilde, who is a CTO and coach for technology leaders. She has worked in many industries, including travel, healthcare, and hospitality.  Heather is also an author, having written for Forbes and Inc. I was interested to learn more about her work, her speaking, and the work she does in promoting STEM education in schools.  Heather is @heathriel on all social media...

My guest today is Shinjini Das. She is the CEO and founder of The Das Media Group, encouraging her supporters, called go getters, to pursue their goals. Since graduating with a degree in Industrial Engineering, she has taken a pretty interesting path. I was curious to find out more about her career choices, the motivation to start her media company, and her interest in public speaking. Find out mo...

My guest today is Chris DeWitt. He worked in Engineering for several years before transitioning into business development. His business, One2One Leaders, offers training and mentoring to engineers. We spoke about his transition to business development, the motivation for starting One2One Leaders, and his public speaking exploits.  Check out One2One Leaders at https://one2oneleaders.com/ TEACH...

My guest today is Jasmine Sadler. After earning a degree in Aerospace Engineering and her MBA, she now heads the STEAM Collaborative, an initiative whose goal is to increase equity in education. I was interested to learn about her transition the STEAM Collaborative full time, the ways in which the STEAM Collaborative executes its mission and the ways in which public speaking fits into everything....

My guest today is Elizabeth Parry, a STEAM education advocate. She has authored several papers on the matter and even earned the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Mathematics mentoring in 2015. We talked about her transition from engineer to engineering educator, her involvement with various committees on engineering education, and public speaking, of course.   TEA...

My guest today is systems engineer Malika Grayson. She’s a speaker, soon to be author, and blogger. We chatted about her job (I had no idea what systems engineering meant), her book, and speaking endeavors (her mom was instrumental in helping her get comfortable with public speaking).  Learn more about Malika at https://www.malikagrayson.com/. TEACH THE GEEK: teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teacht...

My guest today is software engineer April Edwards. I learned about April from listening to another podcast, Lisa on the Edge. Her story sounded so interesting, I wanted to speak with her myself, especially about how she ended up in the UK. We also talked about Ironman for some reason...  TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter...

Last week, I talked about feedback. This week, I talk about feedback and eye contact.  TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegee_ (IG)