SIG Technology: Teach the Geek to Speak: Developing Speaker Training Programs for Technical Staff

SIG Technology: Teach the Geek to Speak: Developing Speaker Training Programs for Technical Staff

AI, Green technology, Augmented reality are all popular topics. Companies are either using them directly or developing products that incorporate them. Organizations need technical staff who have the aptitude to learn complex topics quickly. For a variety of reasons, though, technical professionals can struggle with effectively communicating these topics, especially to non-technical audiences. Talent Development leaders can help overcome this challenge by developing speaker training programs for their technical staff.

In this session, we will discuss why developing a speaker program makes sense, what developing a speaker program entails, and how to track the usefulness of the program. This session is for TD leaders who recognize the issue of their technical staff struggling to convey technical information that others in the organization can understand and appreciate and are open to the idea of establishing speaker training programs to address the issues.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Learn how to identify and address specific challenges technical staff face in public speaking.
2. Discover effective methods for providing opportunities to practice speaking and get constructive feedback.
3. Understand the importance of tracking progress and measuring the impact of speaker training programs.
4. Receive reasons to implement speaker training programs for the technical staff. 

ATD Capability Model – Building Personal Capability

To learn more about this model see: https://tdcapability.org/#/

Speaker: 

Neil Thompson is an engineer-turned-communication coach who helps STEM professionals improve their public speaking skills. After struggling to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences, he founded Teach the Geek, a platform that empowers technical experts to become more effective communicators.

Through Teach the Geek, Neil partners with organizations to create customized speaker training programs for technical staff. He also hosts the Teach the Geek podcast, interviews STEM professionals about their speaking journeys, and authored Teach the Geek to Speak: A No-Fluff Public Speaking Guide for STEM Professionals. His insights have appeared in outlets like Inc. Magazine.