You have one, two, or more degrees in your chosen technical area of study. You want to practice what your chosen field of study taught you.

That’s understandable and makes perfect sense. However, it is not enough to sustain your advancing career path.

You will retard your career path if you are not an excellent public speaker.

Here are the three most important reasons why STEM professionals should strive to be excellent speakers:

Transform Complex Ideas into Impactful Presentations

Technical brilliance is only half the battle—without clarity, your innovations stay locked behind jargon.

Good public speaking helps bridge that gap, making your ideas accessible and meaningful to non-experts, whether they’re public stakeholders, decision makers, or funding bodies.

This empowers real-world impact beyond lab reports and code.

STEM professionals who communicate well can clearly explain complex systems, guiding stakeholders to make informed decisions.

Most of the time, these stakeholders are not as familiar with the complex systems as you are. You need to present the information in their language so they can make informed decisions.

STEM professionals with strong communication skills help break research out of academic silos, ensuring discoveries reach and benefit the broader society.

As a STEM professional, you must translate the jargon in your particular field for consumption by those stakeholders who do not speak this language.

Since the public can’t act on findings they don’t understand (most people struggle with scientific papers), effective communication is vital—not optional.

Some STEM professionals, frankly, hide behind jargon. However, if they understand it is not having the effect they want on the stakeholders, they will put in the extra effort.

Bottom line: If you want your work to matter, you’ve got to make it matter to others, not just to your algorithms or equations.

One key reason STEM professionals should strive to be excellent speakers is to transform complex ideas into impactful presentations.

Another is building trust, influence, and career momentum.

Building Trust, Influence, and Career Momentum

Engaging communication isn’t just polite—it’s powerful. It builds credibility, fosters collaboration, and fast-tracks leadership opportunities. Speak well, and doors—both literal and metaphorical—tend to fling open.

Robert Ronstadt, a professor at Babson College, created the Corridor Principle metaphor concerning how taking advantage of speaking opportunities is like entering a corridor with doors of opportunities open to you on both sides.

If you do not take advantage of speaking opportunities, you will not enter the corridor and, therefore, not be able to take advantage of the other opportunities behind the doors.

STEM professionals skilled in presentation gain higher visibility and are often elevated to leadership roles and high-stakes forums.

These high-stakes forums have risk, but there is no advancement without risk.

STEM professionals who communicate effectively build trust with the public, counter misinformation, and help shape evidence-based policy.

The public is constantly yearning for the person with “the answer.” You could be the person who delivers it to them.

However, “if you don’t get up to bat,” “you can’t hit a home run.“ You may “ground out” sometimes, but the law of numbers says your “chances at bat” will prove fruitful sometimes. And all you need is one “chance at batting” to be fruitful to accelerate your career.

Strong communication enhances the success of STEM professionals in networking, collaborating, grant writing, and public engagement.

Takeaway: Speaking well isn’t fluff—it’s fuel for your influence, credibility, and career trajectory.

So, two reasons STEM professionals should strive to be excellent speakers are to transform complex ideas into impactful presentations and to build trust, influence, and career momentum.

A third is boosting your own confidence and clarity.

Boosting Your Own Confidence and Clarity

Here’s the “secret sauce:” teaching—or publicly presenting—your own ideas deepens your understanding and sharpens your confidence.

Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist and philosopher who revolutionized physics with his theory of relativity and the equation E=mc², said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

Publicly presenting is a practical skill, not an inborn talent; any engineer, scientist, or IT professional can level up with practice.

Everything is hard until you practice it enough to get better. Publicly presenting is no different. Be persistent in speaking publicly, and your ability to speak in public will improve. Guaranteed.

Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States, said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Public speaking is a learnable skill, like typing or riding a bike. With intention and practice, anyone can improve—and quickly.

Teaching, outreach, or explaining your work to non-experts gives you deeper insight into your own thinking—a win-win for clarity and skill development.

Communication training boosts confidence, making STEM professionals more willing and able to engage with non-expert audiences.

So, three reasons STEM professionals should strive to be excellent speakers are (1) to transform complex ideas into impactful presentations, (2) to build trust, influence, and career momentum, and (3) to boost their own confidence and clarity.

The fastest way for STEM professionals to advance in their careers is two-fold: to become an excellent public speaker and seek opportunities to speak within and outside their company.

In short: Every time you speak—even if it’s awkward at first—you’re playing a high-yield training exercise for both your mind and your career.

As the Nike commercial says, “Just do it.”

It’s that simple!

Call to Action

• Study your audience. If they don’t understand the jargon of your field, translate the jargon into everyday language.

• Engage your audience. Engagement is powerful. It builds credibility, fosters collaboration, and fast-tracks your leadership opportunities.

• Publicly present to deepen your understanding of your topic and sharpen your confidence.

References

• Why Communication is a Critical Skill for Engineers, Electrical Engineering Podcast | American Public University

• Why Science Communication Is The Most Important Skill for Researchers, Impact Media Lab

Why Engineers Should Embrace Public Speaking, Medium.com

• Why excellent communication skills are vital to a successful science career, University of Pennsylvania Online

• 4 Ways Engineers Can Vastly Improve Their Public Speaking Skills, Engineering Management Institute,/p>

A better communicator is always a better scientist, or the reason why every PhD student should engage in science outreach, Catherine De Clercq, Jérôme De Schauwers, Gwenhaël de Wasseige, Jef van Laer, paper submitted to the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017, Busan, South Korea),/p>

Being a confident, engaging, and effective STEM speaker is a vital personal and professional asset. With more than 40 years of engineering experience and more than 30 years of award-winning public speaking experience, I can help you reduce your presentation preparatory time by 50%, overcome your fear of public speaking and be completely at ease, deliver your presentations effectively, develop your personal presence with your audience; and apply an innovative way to handle audience questions deftly.

Working closely with you, I provide a customized protocol employing the critical skills and tools you need to create, practice, and deliver excellent STEM speeches and presentations. Let’s connect and explore how I can help you become the exceptional speaker you were meant to be. Please reach out to me at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com or 703-509-4424 for a complimentary consultation. Schedule a meeting with me at calendly.com/frankdibartolomeospeaks