Teach the Geek Podcast - public speaking for technical professionals

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 little authority. We spoke about her journey to starting her own company and writing a book. Her dog made a special appearance, too.  To learn more about Dana, visit https://professionalismmatters.com/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegee youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok)

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://www.linkedin.com/in/nur-lee-harel-49903918/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok)

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 TikTok)

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 point. We talked about her work with Smart STEM, her podcast, and difficulty of holding things while pregnant.   To learn more about Dr. Anderson, visit https://www.drtoshia.com/.  TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok)

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 podcast and writing his book, and his work as an engineer.  To learn more about Oscar, visit https://fi.linkedin.com/in/oscarsantolalla. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (Twitter, FB) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok)

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/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, Twitter)

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 her career plans.  To learn more about Adeola, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeolag TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (Twitter, FB) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok)

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 talk about menstruation cycles.   To find out more about Rinat, visit linkedin.com/in/rinatsherzer. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok)

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 teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek.com youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok)