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Podcast Episode 245: Teach The Geek- with Neil Thompson

3 days ago

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3 min read

This Episode: `Teach The Geek`– with Neil Thompson

Lucinda is joined by Neil Thompson, founder of Teach the Geek, to explore how technical experts can enhance their presentation skills.

Drawing from his own experiences as a former engineer in the medical device industry. Neil shares insights on the common pitfalls technical professionals face when communicating with non-technical audiences, such as the overuse of jargon and a lack of empathy for the audience’s understanding

Key Takeaways

Use plain language and avoid technical jargon or acronyms that non-technical audiences may not understand. Opting for simpler terms and analogies to convey complex ideas instead.
Remember that not everyone has the same technical background. Consider the perspective of your audience and tailor your message to their level of understanding.
Incorporate storytelling into presentations to make technical information more relatable and engaging. This helps the audience connect with the material and understand its relevance.
Clearly define what you want your audience to do after your presentation. Start with the desired outcome in mind and structure your content to lead to that conclusion.

Best Moments

“Technical jargon is a big issue. We assume non-technical people know these words, but a lot of times they don’t. We should use more analogies and simpler words to communicate effectively.”

“If you’re the technical person, you may not see it as part of your job to do that translation. It’s not until you want that promotion that you realise the importance of communication.”

“Storytelling is really important. If you want people to follow what you’re saying, couching technical data in the form of a story can help non-technical people understand.”

Valuable Resources

Find out more about Actus solutions:

Actus solutions

The HR Uprising Podcast | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher

www.hruprising.com
The HR Uprising LinkedIn Group
HR Uprising Mastermind – https://hruprising.com/mastermind/
New Info-book: Rethinking Performance Appraisals

Additional free HR Resources

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About The Guest, Neil Thompson

Neil Thompson, an engineer with a background in the medical device industry. He once struggled with public speaking, this challenge led him to create Teach the Geek. This is where he now helps other technical professionals enhance their presentation skills. Neil also hosts the Teach the Geek podcast and is the author of Teach the Geek to Speak: A No-Fluff Public Speaking Guide for STEM Professionals.

Connect with Neil…

His Website: https://teachthegeek.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilithompson/

About The Host

Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles. Lucinda, for over 10 years as CEO of Actus Software has worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. Certainly, it was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.

“If you look up, you rise up”

How To Be A Change Superhero – by Lucinda Carney