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

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

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

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

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 more about Dr. Bearchell at https://www.childrens-science.co.uk/. TEACH THE GEEK teachthegeek.com anchor.fm/teachthegeek youtube.teachthegeek.com @teachthegeek (FB, Twitter) @_teachthegeek_ (IG, TikTok)

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)