As someone who has always considered myself more technical than expressive, I’ve wrestled with anxiety any time I’m asked to present in front of a group. My heart races, my palms sweat, and my mind fixates on getting every detail right. So when I sat down with Neil Thompson, founder of Teach the Geek, his story struck a familiar chord.
Neil began his career as a research associate, thriving in lab work and technical writing. “Anything I generated, I passed along to my boss,” he told me. “He was the one in charge of disseminating that information to others. And I didn’t mind that arrangement at all.” It wasn’t until he took on a role as a project lead at a medical device company that his job required him to present in front of senior leadership: the CEO, CTO, CMO, and more.
That’s when things got rough.
“Those first few presentations I gave were absolutely horrendous,” Neil admitted. “I did not know it was possible to sweat that profusely from one’s body, and yet, there I was.” Nerves were part of it, but the real challenge was getting his message across. He knew his material, but the message just wasn’t landing. His presentations often left non-technical audiences confused and full of follow-up questions. “If you didn’t know what [certain] terms meant, you didn’t understand the entire presentation,” he reflected.
That frustration, and a canceled project he suspects could have been saved with better communication, became a turning point. He joined Toastmasters. He practiced. He got better. Eventually, he built a business around helping other STEM professionals do the same. That’s when Teach the Geek started to take shape.
Why Technical Skills Aren’t Enough
Neil’s journey illustrates a hard truth: being technically excellent isn’t enough if you can’t clearly communicate what you know, especially to non-technical audiences. “I basically slapped slides together, read them, and tried to get out of there as quickly as possible,” he said. “But I never did. I had to answer a whole bunch of questions I thought I had already addressed.”
That realization pushed Neil to reframe how he approached presentations. He began reaching out to administrative assistants of executives to ask what their boss really wanted to know. “A lot of times, they were able to give some great insights,” he said. “I stopped preparing based on what I thought was important and started preparing based on what they needed.”
His experience isn’t unique. As he explained, most STEM professionals aren’t trained in communication. They’re taught formulas and code, not how to tailor a message to a boardroom. And that gap can have real consequences, not only for project clarity but for career advancement as well.
“The people who tend to move up within organizations are the ones who are adept at communicating,” Neil told me. “Not necessarily the most technically proficient.”
The Power of Practice and Feedback
One of the first things Neil teaches his clients is to visualize success. “If you close your eyes and visualize yourself doing well at the presentation, you’re way more likely to do so than if you tell yourself you suck.” He also emphasizes timing, clarity, and knowing your audience.
In one example, a client sent Neil a recording of a 40-minute presentation. Neil watched it back and tracked filler words — over 100 uses of “uh” in one session. “He didn’t even realize he was doing it,” Neil said. “But once he had a baseline, we set a goal: try to cut down by 10% the next time. He did.”
These incremental improvements matter. And with today’s tools, from AI transcription to simple video recordings, there are more ways than ever to analyze and refine public speaking skills. But, as Neil points out, tools are only useful if you’re willing to put in the reps.
“You can watch all the YouTube videos, listen to all the podcasts, and read all the books. But you don’t get better at speaking unless you actually speak.”
Why Organizations Should Pay Attention
From a business standpoint, this matters. Whether it’s engineers presenting product updates or developers walking through new systems, the ability to communicate clearly can drive better decisions, reduce misunderstandings, and improve alignment across departments.
Neil recounted a situation at a technical conference where a business development professional gave a presentation but couldn’t answer audience questions. Two engineers from the same company were in the room and chimed in from their seats. “Why weren’t they the ones giving the presentation?” Neil asked. “If they’d had more confidence, the company would’ve looked stronger, and they would’ve grown from the experience.”
Technical professionals are often reluctant to speak up out of the fear that they’ll falter. That’s where development programs come in. Neil works with organizations to help identify presentation gaps and coach teams on storytelling, slide design, audience engagement, and delivery.
And the results can be profound. “Once I got better at presenting, I was tapped to speak at a conference in Italy,” Neil said. “I got to eat pizza in its original home. That never would have happened if I hadn’t leaned into improving this skill.”
Creating a Program that Works
Neil’s approach starts with mindset. He helps clients see themselves as capable communicators, not just technical experts. Then, he teaches them to work backwards: “Figure out the call to action first. What do you want your audience to do after your presentation? Once you know that, you can shape your content to lead there.”
He covers everything from language choice and jargon reduction to timing, visuals, and audience interaction. He also recommends gathering feedback after every presentation using simple but targeted questions:
- Was the presentation understandable?
- Was it relevant?
- What do you think it was about?
“If their answer doesn’t match your intent,” he said, “then it’s back to the drawing board.”
A Call to Learning and Development Leaders
For HR and L&D professionals, this is a major opportunity. Neil encourages leaders to poll technical staff and ask where they’d like to improve. “One of the top challenges I see is balancing technical depth with clarity,” he explained. “If you know that’s a concern, you can build a program around it.”
Technical people may not ask for presentation training, but they will benefit from it. And so will your organization. Clear communication enables cross-functional collaboration, accelerates innovation, and elevates the people closest to the problems you’re trying to solve.
“This isn’t just about slides and filler words,” Neil said. “It’s about career growth, self-advocacy, and influence. You can’t expect to sit quietly at your desk and get noticed. You have to be willing to communicate.”
I couldn’t agree more.
To learn more about Neil Thompson and Teach the Geek, visit teachthegeek.com.
Brandon Laws is a workplace culture and leadership enthusiast, host of the Transform Your Workplace podcast, and VP of Marketing and Product at Xenium HR.