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

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

Neil Thompson
Public Speaking
Storytelling
Non-Technical Audiences
Technology
Communication
Leadership
Teach the Geek
Engineering
Non-Technical Audience
Information Technology
Healthcare
Mining Industry
Access To Communication
Executive Communication
Business
Non-Technical Stakeholders
Toastmasters
Curse Of Knowledge
Clarity and Actionability
Career Development

Teach the Geek helps engineers, scientists, and technical professionals speak clearly, confidently, and persuasively. Each episode provides actionable tips for public speaking, technical presentations, and communicating complex ideas to non-technical audiences. Learn how to prepare slides, tell stories with data, handle Q&A sessions, and improve your professional presence. Perfect for STEM profess... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes419Founded7 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
EducationSelf-Improvement

Listen to this Podcast

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

Latest Episodes

Bob Hankins: Speaking Engineering to Business Leaders

Bob Hankins is Director of Engineering with more than 20 years of experience in engineering leadership, product development, and medical technology. Bob has built a career translating complex tec... more

Thomas Mazzaferro: Helping Technical Professionals Influence Decisions

Thomas Mazzaferro is a globally recognized executive who has led AI, data, and digital transformation initiatives at several companies. We discuss how communication gaps between ... more

Venkat Sivaramakrishnan: From Battery Research to Leadership

Venkat Sivaramakrishnan is an accomplished R&D leader who brings together deep technical expertise and strong people skills, currently working at the intersection of research, innovation, ... more

Kishore Ravilla: How CTOs Influence Business Decisions

Kishore Ravilla is a CTO with 25 years of leadership across healthcare, insurance, and financial services. In this episode, we explore how technology leaders can better communicate with business... more

Key Facts

Accepts Guests
Contact Information
Podcast Host
Number of Listeners
Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

Similar Podcasts

People also subscribe to these shows.

Office Ladies
Office LadiesAudacy & Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey

Recent Guests

Thomas Mazzaferro
Globally recognized executive who has led AI, data, and digital transformation initiatives
Episode: EP. 417 - Thomas Mazzaferro: Helping Technical Professionals Influence Decisions
Venkat Sivaramakrishnan
Accomplished R&D leader in battery technology space
Battery technology sector
Episode: EP. 416 - Venkat Sivaramakrishnan: From Battery Research to Leadership
Kishore Ravilla
CTO with over 25 years of leadership experience across healthcare, insurance, and financial services
Episode: EP. 415 - Kishore Ravilla: How CTOs Influence Business Decisions
Justin Windle
Leader with 20+ years in financial institutions
Independent / consultant
Episode: EP. 414 - Justin Windle: Bridging Data and Business Communication
Jill Luber
Long-time technology and data leader with expertise in data engineering, security, and analytics
Elsevier
Episode: EP. 413 - Jill Luber: Translating Tech for Everyone
Renaud Adams
Mining industry leader with 30+ years of global experience
Mining industry leader
Episode: EP. 412 - Renaud Adams: Mining Leadership through Communication
Angelo Mazzocco
President of Mazzocco Consulting LLC
Mazzocco Consulting LLC
Episode: EP. 411 - Angelo Mazzocco: Speaking Beyond the Technical Audience
Naomi Lenane
CIO
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Episode: EP. 410 - Naomi Lenane: Fixing the Tech-Business Disconnect
Raffi Krikorian
CTO and technology leader with experience across politics, philanthropy, social media, and self-driving cars
Episode: EP. 408 - Raffi Krikorian: Translating Tech for Better Business Outcomes

Host

Neil Thompson
Host of Teach the Geek Interviews

Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars from 26 ratings
  • Neil is awesome!

    Neil is a gifted communicator and conversationalist and I really respect his transparency that he shares along the way in these episodes. Very well done show!!!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Alex Sanfilippo | PodMatch.com
    United States3 months ago
  • Excellent

    Technical talent always struggles with effective speaking skills. This podcast highlights how we can all build better public speaking skills. Great podcast for talent development professionals and geeks who need to speak without fear of their audience.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    PortlandJamin
    United Statesa year ago
  • A Must For Introverted Technical Professionals

    Great podcast and a great cadre of guests sharing their stories. If you’re a technical professional, information learned from Neil and his guests will help you break out of your comfort zone. Keep finding interesting guests and sharing their stories, Neil.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    RonH4447
    United States2 years ago
  • Great show, Neil is a super interviewer

    I’m a listener and a former guest of the show, it was a pleasure to come on and chat with Neil, he’s a great interviewer and this is a wonderful show for introverted geeks like me!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    AlastairMcDermott
    Ireland2 years ago
  • Nothing Like It!

    Neil provides a wonderful snapshot of “geeks” who have made positive impact on society.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Warren Media
    United States3 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Listeners praise the host for strong interviewing and actionable takeaways.
The show is especially valued by introverted engineers seeking public-speaking guidance.
Guests are varied and bring practical STEM communication insights.
Audience notes that episodes are concise with tangible tips.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

EP. 395 - Robert Blumofe: a CTO on Technical Influence
Q: Wonderful. So first question for you. When did you first realize that technical excellence alone was not enough to influence outcomes?
Robert explains that the realization came early in his career through the enterprise's need to combine diverse viewpoints and communicate across teams with different backgrounds, which highlighted the importance of audience-centered communication.
EP. 392: Ohad Parush - When Technical Communication Becomes Leadership
Q: What organizational steps can help technical staff become more effective communicators?
He suggests acknowledging the issue, providing mentoring and practical training, and establishing feedback loops after sessions to continually improve—plus using tools like pre-reads and performance-focused meeting designs to guide outcomes.
EP. 392: Ohad Parush - When Technical Communication Becomes Leadership
Q: First question, what was the hardest thing for you when you started communicating with people who didn't share your technical background?
Ohad explains the challenge of avoiding overly deep jargon while not talking down to the audience, and emphasizes tailoring depth to the listener—ranging from deeper technical dives for leaders who want assurance to simpler explanations for non-technical stakeholders.
EP. 390: Turning Technical Complexity into Clarity with Yanik Berube
Q: Who are the most important non-technical audiences you communicate with as part of your job?
He highlights customer support, design and product management, sales, and business development as key audiences, emphasizing the need to speak from their perspective and address what they care about, like timelines for fixes, nature of problems, and practical workarounds.
EP. 391: Speaking from a President's View with Cash Mahesh
Q: What process do you use to put together your presentations, especially for high-stakes audiences like boards?
I focus on understanding the content deeply, then outline a few bullets per slide to anchor the story, ensuring I can answer questions without memorizing every word.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About This Podcast

What is This Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

The show focuses on helping engineers, scientists, and other technical professionals communicate more effectively. Episodes consistently center on public speaking, storytelling with data, translating technical concepts for non-technical audiences, and aligning tech work with business outcomes. Guests range from CIOs and engineering leaders to data experts, offering practical tactics for presentations, boardroom pitches, and audience-specific messaging. A standout aspect is the practical, action-oriented approach—listeners can walk away with concrete techniques, frameworks, and examples to apply in real-world scenarios. The host's emphasis on clarity over fuss, and on making technical content accessible and decision-ready, helps both individ... more

Where can I find podcast stats for this podcast?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to this podcast and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does this podcast get?

Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for this podcast, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.

What are the audience demographics for this podcast?

Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for this podcast, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.

How many subscribers and views does this podcast have?

To see how many followers or subscribers this podcast has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to this podcast?

These podcasts share a similar audience with this podcast:

1. Office Ladies
2. Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

How many episodes of this podcast are there?

this podcast launched 7 years ago and published 419 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact this podcast?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for this podcast?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for this podcast from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

How do I access podcast episode transcripts for this podcast?

Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of this podcast. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on this podcast?

Recent guests on this podcast include:

1. Thomas Mazzaferro
2. Venkat Sivaramakrishnan
3. Kishore Ravilla
4. Justin Windle
5. Jill Luber
6. Renaud Adams
7. Angelo Mazzocco
8. Naomi Lenane

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

Find and pitch the right podcasts

We help savvy brands, marketers and PR professionals to find the right podcasts for any topic or niche. Get the data and contacts you need to pitch podcasts at scale and turn listeners into customers.
Try it free for 7 days