The TEC Talk Podcast: Presented by Natural Encounters, Inc.

Chris and Ari share a microphone to discuss how they provide show feedback! They discuss the general format for how and when they present it, share some specific notes from shows they've watched in the past (because neither of them ever delete Notes from their phones), contemplate how starting a feedback session with a positive note is not the same thing as the infamous "poop sandwich", and share...

Despite being separated by 4,700 miles and the Pacific Ocean, Ari and Chris sit down to celebrate the third anniversary of the TEC Talk Podcast! We share our highlights from the last three years and hopes for the future of the show - thank you to everyone who's come along for the ride with us and supported the show by listening! Have a questions or a topic you'd like us to discuss on one of our fu...

With the third anniversary of the show looming, Ari and Chris reflect on some emails and show reviews we've recently received, tease an upcoming episode with some exciting guests, take a look at our listenership's current geographic breakdown, and count down our current Top 10 "most experienced" episodes! Have a topic you'd like us to discuss, or wanna come join us on the show? Let us know at podc...

Chris is in Arkansas doing his best to dodge tornados, so this week Ari has the opportuntiy to sit down with the one and only Steve Martin (President/CEO of Natural Encounters, Inc.) to talk about one of his favorite training topics: control! They discuss what it is, how to utilize it as a reinforcer in training sessions, and how to give control away. Don't miss this deep dive into this important...

The TEC Talk Book Club returns to cover chapters 4-6 of Crucial Conversations with NEI's Bella Sorensson! Having just completed the book with the other awesome folks of the original NEI Book Club, Bella joins us to talk about the chapters "Learn to Look", "Make it Safe", and "Master Your Stories". We compare the book's terminology with the words we use for the same concepts in animal training ("ho...

Chris returns from his second bout with COVID-19 to join Ari in welcoming three cool people to the podcast, BirdTricks' Dave and Jamie Womach, and Master Falconer Daryl Peterson! We chat about the unusual path that took the Womachs from a traveling family on the road with Dave's work as a "thrillusionist" (see, we're not the only ones with crazy jobs!) to the founders of a company dedicated to "sa...

Chris is out sick and Ari is up at the crack of dawn to bring you this Morning Coffee SoloCast! Join her as she shares some thoughts on professional relationships with animals. As Ari ponders her decision to take her dog in for surgery she explores our relationships with the animals we care for and how we can set healthy boundaries that help us make the best decisions for the animals in our care w...

Greetings from the 2023 ABMA-IMATA Joint Conference in Atlanta! Chris sits down with fellow ABMA Board Members and all-around awesome people Christina Lavallee from Zoo Atlanta, Justin Garner from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Shane Gorbett from Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, and Scott Trauger from Natural Encounters, Inc., to chat about how the conference has gone so far, and about what we're excited abou...

The show returns to its influenza roots to celebrate 150 episodes with Ari home sick (just the regular flu, thank you very much) and Chris at work, talking into separate microphones, to discuss the first three chapters of the much-referenced and highly recommended book Crucial Conversations ! This is the first episode in a series of episodes that will cover the entirety of the book in monthly chun...

Ari and Chris sit down for a chat with Bearizona's very own Shelby Jecius! Shelby shares the path through the animal field that lead to her current role as a Supervisor at the wildlife park, and (after getting "voluntold" to be a guest on the show by fellow Bearizona Supervisor, Kyle Alexander) to share how the book "Crucial Conversations" has helped her become a better leader, communicator, and a...

Ari sits down after the 2023 IAATE Conference Icebreaker with some of the amazing attendees and board members to talk about what they're looking forward to at this year's conference. They chat about fish behavior, turtle collanders, magical alligator trainers, carrot gavels, and PTSD (Peacock Trauma Swamp Disorder). Big thank you to Marco Zeno, Kristin Dean, Erin Katzner, Josh Kuszmaul, Jose Bello...

Chris is joined by NEI's Erik Montgomery, Clarie Santiago, Bella Sorensson, Kassidy King, Hunter Peck, and Cori Dawson to chat about the newly-launched NEI Book Club! We talk about the where the idea came from, how Crucial Conversations became the first title they're tackling, and how the process of getting vulnerable with each other over Zoom is going so far. These folks are the best and I'm so h...

What better way to demonstrate the challenges of multitasking than to record a podcast at 70mph? While pursuing different alternate routes to a meeting at the Ranch, Chris and Ari keep their eyes on the road while chatting about multitasking: digging into why it's a bad idea, why it's not even really tackling multiple tasks at once, findings that suggest that it could lead to long term cognitive a...

After a discussion of the current global makeup of our listenership (based on some very dubious analytics), Ari and Chris (and Ari's dog, Archer) dig into the following training-related statement: "sometimes when we try to help the animal, we hurt the behavior." This chat goes all sorts of places, including... The problems with prompts The relationship between persistance and resiliency The roles...

Ari and Chris sit down with NEI Senior Trainer Adam Triska to chat about his first day of shows as our newest stage presenter at The Theme Park Which Must Not Be Named (#SG@AW)! Adam talks about the pre-NEI experiences that lead up to this new achievement, his process of going from learning the script to doing the show in front of an audience, how he felt before, during, and after his first show,...

Recorded LIVE at NEI's January 2023 Professional Contemporary Animal Training and Management Workshop, it's the TEC Talk Podcast! Chris sits down with some of the staff and attendees of the workshop to chat about how the week's gone so far: training highs, personal revelations, cool connections via "The Kingdom of Animals" and Moorpark's EATM program, and new ideas about how to close out our episo...

After a bit of reminiscing over their "holiday drywalls," Ari and Chris share some of the fun new ideas they'll be trying out for the show in 2023. Stay tuned - and glued to our Facebook page - to find out more, and we hope you'll all come along for the ride! Have a question, a topic you'd like us to discuss, or a book you'd like like us to tackle for our new book club? Let us know at podcast@natu...

For the last episode of 2022 we're featuring...everyone! The staff of NEI share some of their highlights of the year as we stare down the barrel of 2023. Thanks for listening, and here's to another great year! Have a question or a topic you'd like us to discuss on a future episode? Let us know at podcast@naturalencounters.com !

Ari and Chris get a second sit-down with Bearizona Wildlife Park's "Grand Poo-Pah" Dave O'Connell! Dave "returves" to the show to talk about what he and the other staff at BZ do to create high functioning teams: encouraging people to be themselves when they're being interviewed, training humans like they're animals, making time for fun, leaning on the strengths of others, being happy in "crusty si...

After a quick review of the 2022 NEI Holiday Party, Chris and Ari chat about the importance of specificity when praising and recognizing others, the line between social niceities and behavor strengthening, and the problems with the statement "just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."  To learn more about the upcoming IAATE talk on Raptor Center Culture, please visit http://www.iaate....

Ari and Chris go face to face via "Internet tubes" to talk about keto ketchup, Frank Lloyd Wright, birds that aren't Harris hawks, the 2022 ZAA Annual Conference, and NEI's Professional Contemporary Bird of Prey Training and Management Workshop.  Helpful Links: NEI Training Workshops: https://naturalencounters.com/workshops/ ZAA: https://zaa.org/ GRAZE Monthly Virtual Support Group: https://zoomen...

Welcome to Workshop Week, Bird of Prey Style! Chris sits down for a quick chat with fellow workshop instructors Adam Triska, Dan Blair, and Amy Fennell to talk about the history of NEI's Professional Contemporary Bird of Prey Training and Management Workshop, to reflect on Amy and Dan's experience of being a part of every BOP workshop to date, to talk to Adam about being a first-time workshop team...

Happy Turkey Day in the USA! Ari sits down for some mom-talk with Danielle Poirier Larson, Curator of Birds & Training at Southwick's Zoo! Ari and Danielle chat about the challenges of being a mom and a manager in the animal field, the ever-popular concept of work/life balance, and the importance of setting (flexible) boundaries! Do you have a question or a topic you'd like us to discuss on a...

It's Contemporary Animal Training and Management Workshop Week at the Ranch, so Chris sits down to chat with one of our attendees, livestock guardian dog (LGD) trainer Cindy Benson! Cindy talks about how her work raising miniature donkeys led her to becoming a KPA certified trainer, the similarities between her work raising and training LGDs and the practices of other animals trainers across the i...

Ari hosts solo while Chris is...somewhere, but she's not alone! Natalie Sunray is our guest this week, currently interning at Metro Richmond Zoo, and feeling really excited about her future in the field! Ari chats with Natalie about how she plans to stay motivated as she follows her current career path by keeping a positive attitude and celebrating her colleagues' successes as she faces the many c...