Teach the Geek Podcast - public speaking for technical professionals

A guest didn't show up for the scheduled interview time, so I decided to do a solo video on timing presentations. It got me thinking that I should do more of these types of videos, so I will. I also decided to turn the videos into podcast episodes. This will take some time, so bear with me! One last thing. Check out my children's book. It's about my nephew asking me why his hair is the way it is and I use science to answer the question. Go to askuncleneil.com to learn more. As always, go to teachthegeek.com to learn more about my online public speaking course, Teach the Geek to Speak.

Chemical engineer Michael Benjamin was a presenter at the 2019 Professional Development Conference of the National Society of Black Engineers. His presentation was on being debt free at 23 (can you relate?). He’s also an author. He wrote The Power of Yet. We spoke about becoming an author, becoming a public speaker, and what exactly E.A.T. means? Connect with Michael at https://michaelobenjamin.com/

Steve Buchanan works as a Group Manager at Avanade, is a Microsoft MVP, and maintains a technology blog, Buchatech. We talked about what a Microsoft MVP is (I honestly had no clue), his motivation for getting into tech, and his plans for his blog.  To contact Steve: buchatech.com Twitter: @buchatech

Claude Jones is a man of many talents. His day job is as the site lead at WalMart Labs, but he is also the founder San Diego Tech Hub, the Elevate Foundation, and the Practical Leadership Guy. His talent for tech and public speaking is truly inspiring; I’ve heard him speak on several occasions. We talked about his involvement in tech, his motivation for his extracurricular endeavors, and his passion for public speaking.  To learn more about Claude: claude@sandiegotechhub.com claudejones.me linkedin.com/in/claudejones/

I learned about David Goldberg after watching his TEDx talk. He’s lead quite an interesting life. A PhD in civil engineering who ended up being a professor, there were entrepreneurial stints in between teaching gigs. He resigned his tenure track professorship and founded ThreeJoy Associates. He’s also an author, writing a book on revolutionizing engineering education. I learned about his journey to becoming a coach, his plans for revolutionizing engineering education, and his TEDx talk, of course.   Find out more about David at deg@threejoy.com and threejoy.com

Sol Rosenbaum is an engineer who cares deeply about public speaking for engineers, among other things. According to him, networking, personal development - soft skills in general - are key to getting ahead as an engineer. Technical skills alone just won’t cut. We talked about his motivation to become an engineer, his perspective on public speaking, and his 3 keys for career growth as an engineer. Find out more about Sol by visiting:  https://grs-global.com/author/srosenbaum http://www.theengineeringmentor.com/

Stephanie Slocum is a professional engineer and the founder of Engineers Rising. She’s the author of “She Engineers: Outsmart Bias, Unlock your Potential, and Create the Engineering Career of your Dreams.” She started her career in structural engineering and now she helps female engineers create a path to the career and life they deserve. I learned more about her transition from worker to self-employed, her book, and Engineers Rising.  Find Stephanie at https://www.engineersrising.com/

Luis Martinez is a veteran, a basketball player, an organization leadership expert, and a founder. He’s deeply entrenched in the entrepreneurship community in San Diego, as he heads diversity for San Diego Startup Week, is the head of SD’s Startup Grind chapter, and he recently started We tha Plug, an initiative to build an ecosystem for black and latino founders. I talked to him about his transition to the tech space, his hopes for the organizations he’s involved in, and how public speaking fits into all of it.  IG: @luisitothe_entrepreneur Twitter: @LuisitoBrooklyn Website: https://www.wethaplug.com/

Ayori "Selfpreneur" Selassie was a panelist at the 2018 Blacks in Tech conference. She spoke with such gravitas on the panel that I knew I wanted to interview her. After rebuffing a guidance counselor's advice to study African-American studies instead of computer science, she has embarked on quite a career in the technology space. She has worked in engineering, sales, and marketing, culminating with her current position at Salesforce leading its marketing efforts for Salesforce Einstein.  Ayori is also an entrepreneur, with a book coming out in 2020, and her other initiatives, Selfpreneur and Life Model Canvas.  Tune in to hear about how her mom was instrumental in her start with coding,  what exactly Selfpreneur means (I had no clue), and how she handles nerves before public speaking.  Some takeaways from our conversation: 1. Care about what you're talking about when public speaking 2. Speak regularly to get better 3. Gospel music can go a long way... To learn more about Ayori, you can find her at: https://www.selfpreneur.com/ainewbies http://www.lifemodelcanvas.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/randomgirl/ https://www.instagram.com/iayori/ https://twitter.com/iAyori https://www.facebook.com/iayori/

Much like one of my former guests, Andrew Kelley, Patrick Sweet is an engineer with business savvy. A bachelor’s in electrical engineering and a MBA are proof of that. I came across Patrick via another former guest, Thomas Anderson. Thomas put me on to Patrick’s website, engineeringandleadership.com, whose goals is to help engineers become the leaders they want to be.     Learn more about Pat at engineeringandleadership.com