Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

If you’ve ever felt like your topic or message may be overwhelming to your audience or the issue you want to address is a really big one and you’re not sure how your audience is going to relate to it or know how to take action, you’re going to...

Show Notes

If you’ve ever felt like your topic or message may be overwhelming to your audience or the issue you want to address is a really big one and you’re not sure how your audience is going to relate to it or know how to take action, you’re going to appreciate this conversation.

My guest is Dr. Neha Pathak, a physician and lead medical editor at WebMD, who graduated from our Thought Leader Academy last fall.

Neha and I talk about:

  • Her roles as a primary care physician, lead medical editor at WebMD, and host of WebMD’s podcast
  • How she came to her signature talk topic and thought leadership message
  • The different ways that thought leadership develops
  • The benefits of giving your audience an acronym (framework)
  • The power of storytelling for any topic and any audience and how learning this has influenced Neha’s writing
  • Claiming the identity as a thought leader and what that means
  • Her speaking experiences and insights (especially for those of you who may be procrastinators!)

About My Guest: Neha Pathak, MD, FACP, DipABLM, is lead medical editor at WebMD and is board certified in both internal medicine and lifestyle medicine. She's on the medical team responsible for ensuring the accuracy of health information on WebMD and reports on topics related to lifestyle and environmental impacts on health. Pathak is a graduate of Harvard University and Weill Medical College of Cornell University. She completed her certificate in climate change and health communication from Yale School of Public Health. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and children.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories, voices, and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com

Links: 

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/384/ 

Neha hosts WebMD’s podcast “Health Discovered”: https://www.webmd.com/podcasts/default.htm 

Neha’s article: https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/02/im-a-doctor-heres-what-western-medicine-misunderstands-about-nature/ 

Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/

Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ 

Connect on LinkedIn:

Related Podcast Episodes:


JOIN US: Our in-person Speaking Accelerator Workshop is coming up in Downtown Orlando on October 30, 2025. Create and practice your signature talk in one day using our proven framework, so you can confidently share your message and attract more opportunities. It's a fun, supportive environment where you get personalized feedback, professional photos, and more. Limited to 15 attendees. Get the details and secure your spot at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/orlando/.

What is Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies?

It's time to escape the expert trap and become an in-demand speaker and thought leader through compelling and memorable business presentations, keynotes, workshops, and TEDx talks. If you want to level up your public speaking to get more and better, including paid, speaking engagements, you've come to the right place! Thousands of entrepreneurs and leaders have learned from Speaking Your Brand and now you can too through our episodes that will help you with storytelling, audience engagement, building confidence, handling nerves, pitching to speak, getting paid, and more. Hosted by Carol Cox, entrepreneur, speaker, and TV political analyst. This is your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience.

Carol Cox:
We're diving into how to tackle a big and I

mean big global issue in your thought

leadership and talks with my guest thought

leader Academy grad Dr.

Neha Pathak on this episode of the Speaking

Your Brand podcast.

More and more women are making an impact by

starting businesses, running for office and

speaking up for what matters.

With my background as a TV political

analyst, entrepreneur and speaker, I

interview and coach purpose driven women to

shape their brands, grow their companies,

and become recognized as influencers in

their field. This is speaking your brand,

your place to learn how to persuasively

communicate your message to your audience.

Hi and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand

podcast. I'm your host, Carol Cox.

If you have ever felt that your topic seems

overwhelming to your audience, or that the

issue that you want to talk about, or the

thought leadership message that you want to

share is just it's like a really big issue,

and you're not sure how your audience is

going to relate to it. Or your audience may

think like, what can I do about it?

Well, keep listening, because in my

conversation with one of our thought leader

Academy graduates, Dr.

Neha Pathak, this is exactly what we talk

about. Neha is a primary care physician.

She's also lead medical editor at WebMD and

host of their fantastic podcast called

Health Discovered.

She's a graduate of Harvard University as

well as Weill Medical College of Cornell

University. She currently lives in Atlanta,

Georgia. You may be surprised with this big

global issue is that Neha has decided to

focus on in her writings and in her talks,

and we're going to get into that.

We also talk about the power of

storytelling. No matter what your topic is,

no matter what your industry is, and no

matter who your audience is and the benefits

of it. And then Neha shares some of her

speaking experiences and insights that she

has for you.

If you would like to work with us to develop

your thought leadership message, create your

signature talk and learn the business of

speaking. We do that with you in our online

Thought Leader Academy.

We work with you both one on one and in a

small group of women, so you get plenty of

personalized coaching, feedback, support,

and community.

We're enrolling now for our April 2nd start

date. You can get all the details of

speaking your brand.com/academy again that's

speaking your brand.com/academy.

Now let's get on with the show.

Neha, welcome to the podcast.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Thank you so much for having me, Carol.

Carol Cox:
Well, let's start first with your background.

As I mentioned, you're a physician and your

lead medical editor at WebMD.

So tell us about those two roles that you

have and what you do there.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Yeah. So I am a primary care physician.

I always say the one thing that doesn't give

me imposter syndrome in my life is to say

that I'm a primary care doc.

Um, and so essentially, my job, as I see it,

has always been to try to go upstream of the

health or illness that someone is suffering

from and try to really prevent illness

before, um, we're dealing with managing a

condition. And so what I had done, really

all of my clinical career is to do that one

on one with patients in the office at most,

maybe 1 to 10 with group visits.

And so the possibilities of working with

WebMD really were just mind boggling,

amazing to me. I was very excited for that

opportunity, because now it's sort of being

able to communicate reliable, trusted

messages with larger groups of people.

And so that's really what brought me to my

current work.

Carol Cox:
Talk about this big global issue that you've

decided to tackle in the work that you do

around your thought leadership.

So and it happens to be about climate

change, which, again, I don't think a lot of

people would think, you know, primary care,

doctor WebMD, climate change, they don't

seem to go together. But of course, we know

and I know from working with you that they

do. So can you tell me a little bit about

what got, you know, why this topic?

Why climate change for your thought

leadership?

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Yeah, I think that I it never even really

occurred to me as something where I was

interested in thought leadership.

It just became, um, it was an area where I

just in terms of caring for my patients,

caring for my family, caring for my

community, as I mentioned, sort of really

thinking like, what's upstream, what's

upstream of what's making us potentially

sick, or what allows us to have a stable

environment so that we can have healthy food

and places to go for physical activity and

nature. That has some stability in the world

around us. And every time, sort of the

answer was coming back to, well, there is

this major crisis going on with our climate,

where in the office we often talk about our

diagnoses being based on what's most common

during that particular time.

Right. So we're thinking about flu season.

We're thinking about pollen season.

We're thinking about. So in my office I

really use the time, the place that I'm at

my geography, to help me with thinking

through what are the potential diagnoses.

And it just became and what's going on with

my children if I'm thinking about it in the

home. And it just started to dawn on me as I

was seeing patients, as I was taking care of

my children, that what I had learned in

medical school was really shifting, and that

the climate was playing a role in that.

And so as I dug in and tried to learn more,

I felt like I needed to communicate this

with my patients. And that's really how I

sort of learned more.

And that's why I've leaned into trying to

share this information in a way that people

can understand, in a way that people can

feel like they have a role to play, um, in

the work that I do.

Carol Cox:
Well, and that and that's fascinating that,

like you, you were working with your

patients and again, kind of this contrast

between, you know, years ago being in

medical school and what what were kind of

the main areas of focus and what was

contributing to, you know, disease and

illness versus what you were seeing with

your patients as the years progressed.

And I like to think of thought leadership

emerges from us. Sometimes it's from

experiences that we've had directly say, you

know, when we were younger or at some point

in our life and, but and sometimes our, our

thought leadership emerges because we're

noticing things that maybe other people

aren't picking up on. And that sounds very

much like for you, like you were starting to

notice these things and putting them

together and realizing that there was there

was something else going on.

So let me let me ask you this, Neha.

So climate change we know is a huge issue.

Like there's so many components of it, it

can feel really overwhelming even for even

for those of us who we care.

Like I care about the climate, obviously, I

don't want the climate impact that we've

already are seeing in not only in the United

States, but around the world.

But yet it also feels like, well, I'm just

one person, like, what can I do about it?

How much impact can I make?

And aren't the government supposed to figure

this out? Or like, you know, big, big

companies, can't they do something?

So how do you address that in the work that

you're doing?

Dr. Neha Pathak:
So I think everything you said is exactly

right. And I think that that's what I'm

hoping to accomplish. I think it was in a

conversation with you where I was sort of

thinking about, so who do I want to talk to?

What is it that people want?

And then what is it that they fear in terms

of losing?

And then ultimately, what do they need to

understand so that they feel like they can

take action? So I think whenever I think

about talking on this topic, that's really

sort of those are the three questions I ask

myself or I hope to answer by the end of my

writing. Or if I'm talking to an expert.

Those are the things I'm hoping to get

across. So I think, number one, feeling

overwhelmed 100%.

I think we should honor that feeling,

acknowledge it. It is completely accurate

and appropriate to feel like we're one

person, we're one family.

How can we make any dent into this problem?

So I think that honor, that honor that

feeling. And then in terms of, well, what do

I want as a mother, as a primary care doctor

for my patients?

I want to live in a world that has some

stability, so that the short terme and long

tum health of my family and my patients can

be optimized.

That's really what I want.

And then what do I fear is that I have to

change things in a major, major way to make

those things happen, which is really hard

for any of us to do.

Even if I tell you right now that you have a

particular even if I tell myself I have a

particular health condition, so I'm going to

need to change the way I eat or how much I

move. It's really hard to close that gap

between knowing that and actually changing

behavior. So I think recognizing that is

important and then just understanding that

you're right, it is.

You know, our government, you know, it is

big businesses that have to make these

changes. So that's who we have to demand

these changes from I think is is sort of the

big thing that I'm hoping that people can

get behind. It's we don't we can do little

things in our home.

But that's really where we need to sort of

direct action.

Carol Cox:
Well, and I appreciate that.

Neha and I have for those of you who are

watching the video in the show notes page, I

have her signature talk here on the board

with the post-it notes. And, you know, to

your point about, you know, in whatever for

for those of you listening, whatever your

topic happens to be when you're presenting

it in front of your audience, is that

validating where the audience currently is,

saying the things out loud that, you know,

they're probably thinking like, imagine if

Neha is starting to talk about her topic

related to climate change.

And she's like, all right, we're going to

talk about climate change. And these are the

things you need to do, and completely just

doesn't even acknowledge how people are

feeling about it, that maybe, you know, it

feels too big of an issue like.

So that's really important to do in is to.

Knowledge where people are at that you feel

the same things and then but like, okay, so

but what what can we do about that?

And so we came up with a framework for this,

uh, an acronym.

Do you want to, do you want to talk about

that and kind of the kind of the main pieces

of because I think this is useful not only

for listeners to think about, like the meta

of their own thought leadership and their

framework, but also for climate change, like

what is what are some things that we can do?

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Yeah, I feel like I've gone through a lot of

iterations of it since we've talked as well,

and a lot of it has shifted depending on the

audience. So, you know, it's really, I

think, your framework. And that's what's so

beautiful about the framework that you gave

me is that it was an audience of moms

originally that I was thinking about, and

then it shifted to when I had to when I

ended up having to give a talk, it was in

front of this large health professional

society. So I really sort of shifted it to,

um, we have to own the problem.

So, um, I think that number one is

understanding the overwhelm.

So recognizing that we do have, um, feelings

of just being completely overwhelmed and

that this doesn't necessarily fit into our

clinical practice, it doesn't fit into our

homes because we have so much to do already.

The next thing is, I think that we have to

recognize that we can win in this situation

so that there are things that we're already

doing in our lives that are wins for climate

change. So for the health perspective, I am

part of a group of lifestyle medicine

providers. So the win for us is the work

we're already doing in our clinics, um, to

help people recognize the health benefits of

a plant rich diet, to help people understand

the health benefits of physical activity in

the world around them. All of those are

carbon. They're much less carbon intensive

than some of the other types of health

behaviors that people, um, currently are

really sort of focused on or sticking to.

So we're trying to help people shift to

those health behaviors that are already wins

for us. We're already doing that for health

and helping people, if that.

They're so inclined to recognize that that's

a win for climate as well.

And then the N is for now.

So the time really is now for us to do this.

And as lifestyle medicine providers, we are

doing it now. So it's just sharing that

message with other health professionals.

Carol Cox:
I love that you came up with a framework just

for them, for the for the physicians,

because that makes a lot of sense, because I

know for the framework we had come up with

for directing this at Moms was E's, so

acronym E a s e like how to do this with

ease, right? And not putting more stress and

more burden on them, but instead like, how

can they involve their children and their

families and kind of and make it so that

it's a, it's a positive thing that they're

doing within their household?

Not one more chore to do.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Yes, exactly.

Yes. No, absolutely.

And I think that that's what was really

freeing for me is like actually kind of

constraining yourself to, um, an acronym or

to a framework really helps you think about,

well, what does this audience need or what

is it's going to what is going to really

resonate with this other audience?

So yeah, I think that that was really

helpful. And it's similar messages, maybe

different stories.

Um, but I think just being able to tweak it

in different ways for a different audience.

Carol Cox:
Well, let's talk about stories now, because I

know that when you went through the Thought

Leader Academy and we worked together like

many very highly educated, highly

accomplished women, and you certainly are

like we we tend to stay focus on not not

even like just the facts, but like, what is

the information? And especially for, for

those in, you know, in medicine and health

and science, like what is the science say?

Like, you know, what is the research say

what has been backed up as far as things

that are beneficial for us to do.

So? I know that personal stories usually

don't come into that.

You know, think about conferences that you

probably have gone to over the years and are

probably not a lot of personal stories.

So but I will I encourage you to have to put

personal stories into the talk that we were

working on. You have a great one about

taking your daughters to see Taylor Swift in

concert, right? That makes it so relatable.

So how what was that?

What was that process like for you and and

how how do you see storytelling now?

Dr. Neha Pathak:
I think that that is absolutely one of the

things that I just did.

Not particularly because mostly what I had

done prior to working with you had been

giving talks in a health professional

society space or amongst health

professionals where there's sort of a very

standard accepted structure, um, that you

don't necessarily want to deviate from the

writing that I had done, and we've talked

about this a little bit, had really been

very much reported writing this is what the

experts are saying. And here's what I can

share with you. Here's how I might

synthesize that information, but in general,

not really less of me and more of what is

the information.

And I will say that even in the talk that I

gave for the health professional society, I

did throw in a few stories.

And that's where I got probably my biggest

round of applause or interest.

Or you could see that the audience was sort

of engaged with the story, where I was just

sort of thinking about, well, how is it that

as health professionals that are really

interested in lifestyle interventions, how

is it that climate change is a threat to

those interventions?

And then at the same time, on the opposite

side, how can we own this?

By continuing to do the work that we're

doing. And one of the examples I gave was,

for example, if we're talking about helping

our patients understand physical activity in

the world around them, if we think about it

with a climate and health lens, then we can

just help them understand well, if there is

a chore or an errand that you have to do

that is within the span of one mile, try to

do try to walk that or bike that.

And I sort of threw in my personal story of

having a community of moms now who it

happens that my daughter's daycare is

exactly a mile away.

So we walk her down, we walk back, we get to

talk about our husbands.

So it's social connection, it's mental

health, um, and it's physical activity.

And I think that that story, it was really

interesting to see how the audience

connected with just tweaking our

prescriptions so that it it multi solves.

Carol Cox:
And I'm sure that's very they're going to

remember that story.

And then next time they're going to think

about well not only can I walk somewhere but

maybe one of these little these these

behavior changes that I can make.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Yeah. And I think yeah, the ease piece of it,

it's important for all of us.

Right. We want to make sure that whatever

we're doing solves for not just one problem,

but many problems.

And it's easy and fun and social.

Carol Cox:
And Neha, I just very recently you published

an article on the website Yale Climate

Connections, and I'll include a link to this

article in the show notes, because it's it's

definitely well worth reading.

It's a really beautifully written article.

And when I saw it on your LinkedIn, I

clicked over it on it.

And so I'll just say the title of it is I'm

a Doctor. Here's what Western medicine

misunderstands about nature.

So I was like, okay, you know, that sounds

that sounds like Neha, right?

Like I know you like you're combining these

things. And I really expected especially,

you know, Yale like Yale climate

connections, like very prestigious.

I really expected the article to start with.

Well, you know, being in nature, science has

shown that it releases dopamine or, you

know, whatever it happens to be.

But no, no, no, that's not how the article

starts. The article starts with I still

flushed with embarrassment when I relived

the moment it was 20 years ago.

I was a shy medical student and so on, and I

was like, yay!

I was clapping when I was reading it because

that like, it brings as the reader, it

brings me in.

And I was so engaged in reading the article

and I felt like I just, I felt like that

kind of like that professional distance had

collapsed, even just on the screen by

reading that story about you.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Well, I really appreciate that feedback.

I thank you so much for sharing that with me

and just how you felt as you were reading

it. And I will share with you that that is

probably the first narrative, personal essay

that I've ever written, and a lot of it is

thanks to you and just sort of, again, not

just the framework, but helping sort of pull

in like, what is the you of this?

Why are you the one that's sharing this

information and pulling back, going through

your archive and your memory and thinking

about how are our experiences, these

personal experiences, really connected to

the way that we're thinking about the world

around us or the work that we're doing in

the world around us? And so this is the

first time I've sort of put me in a story

like that. And, uh, yeah, I mean, I think it

was really to say that there was a time when

I tried to share sort of my own sort of, I

would say, cultural inheritance as part of

the practice of medicine.

So for me, it was really just yoga, not as

the way we kind of practice it, um, in the

world today, but just moving, breathing,

feeling connected to everything around us.

Um, and just it's just sort of this journey

to recognizing that that's what we kind of

maybe need to expand our understanding of

what yoga is, to include the world around us

as well, and protect that world because it

has health benefits for us and, and

spiritual health benefits for us as well.

Carol Cox:
I love that.

And and this sentence also in the article

really stuck out to me because I remember

you had shared this in the Thought Leader

Academy. In the article you write, I teach

my children to ask for Mother Earth's

blessings every morning before they place

their feet on her to do their daily tasks.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
I thank and again, this is not something else

I necessarily would have shared in, you

know, an article like this or at all.

Um, but it really is sort of how, how am I

thinking about it really in my own life?

And how can that connect with the way that

other people are thinking about it?

And there are so many traditions.

There's so many ways that we see the world

and we think, oh, these are so different.

But so many of us think about how we honor

the world around us, how we care for the

world around us.

And I think sharing that specificity helps

us think about, well, what is it that you

know? Well, I have my own way of kind of

doing that, and I hope that that sort of

translates.

Carol Cox:
Absolutely. Well, Neha, let's talk about some

of your speaking experiences.

I also want to chat a little bit about how

your how you are approaching your podcast

interviews that you do.

So I remembered that you had a speaking

engagement. So you graduated from the

Thought Leader Academy in October, and I

think the speaking engagement was around

that same time. So maybe right, kind of

right after we graduated.

And I remember back in August when we

started, you said something like, I usually,

I usually like don't look forward to

speaking engagements and.

Right. And can you tell us why.

So what like what was that about that and

how are you feeling now?

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Yeah, I.

So that's the reason that I connected with

you was really because I had this speaking

engagement. It was probably the biggest

opportunity that I'd ever had, the largest

audience. And, um, I have and I think I

shared with you then my biggest, biggest,

biggest weakness is procrastination.

And just the the fear of having to do that

sort of ends up making me just constantly

say to myself, I'll do it later, okay, I can

do it later, or I'm thinking about it.

That means I'm doing it and not actually

physically putting anything on paper.

So I really connected with you as sort of

this accountability coach to just help me

put it on paper, like, if I could talk to

somebody and not in the world of medicine,

where I kind of understand the frame that I

need to be talking from, but someone who has

a completely different perspective, a

different a completely different way of

understanding persuasive kind of language.

Um, so this was like a very different type

of process than I've ever done before.

And so I did just what we sort of talked

about. I for months beforehand made these

slides, really thought about what is the

persuasive message here, what are the

interesting graphics, what are the great

stories from my archive and from other

patients, other health professionals that I

can kind of throw in here?

And it was an audience of, I think around

2000 health professionals.

It went well.

And you know me, I never say anything

positive about anything I've done.

So it was I'm working on that piece as well,

which is to, you know, just appreciate and

have gratitude for the journey.

Uh, so I think that that really has shifted

my relationship with being able to say yes

to other talks, to feel comfortable and then

sometimes often to just say no, um, to some

of these opportunities as well, because I

feel like it has to really speak to me.

Um, and I really feel like I have to be able

to pull all of these pieces together in

order to, to do this well.

So I just really appreciated the process of

going going through that and forcing myself

to put something on paper and sharing it

with somebody who could then give me some

feedback.

Carol Cox:
Well, I remember I had, you know, emailed you

good luck beforehand and then you wrote me

back afterwards and you're like, it went

great. And so you had some exclamation marks

in there. So I think, yes, I think you did a

great job.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
I had a bar of just thank you.

My, my bar was don't collapse on stage.

So that was met and then I was like and then

this is you know and it was it really did it

went well.

Carol Cox:
Do you have any advice or tips for speakers,

maybe speakers who also feel like you when

they when they're thinking about their

upcoming speaking engagements?

Dr. Neha Pathak:
So I think one a the earlier you know about

it, don't tell yourself, oh, I have three

months before I have to start working on it.

It really is sort of when you find out about

it, if it is really something, that

opportunity that is so meaningful to you,

um, put that passion down on paper as soon

as you can.

And then I think finding someone who is an

accountability person or group is just

crucial, because I think that, you know, I,

I put and generally this is another thing I

just kind of have thrown together slides in

the past and been like, okay, I can I, I got

the idea, I can speak through this, but it's

when you iterate and you show it to somebody

who maybe is not necessarily in your field.

If they can connect with that message, then,

you know, you're kind of on to something.

So I think those are the keys.

And then having a framework, I don't think I

necessarily even thought through the fact

that you need a story arc, even for these

types of health professional presentations,

where it's not just here are my objectives,

here's the information.

I hope you hope I met those objectives.

It's sort of here's my what I've started to

add to in some of my slides now or in some

of my presentations are here are my

objectives. But here's my hope for what we

come out. With.

At the end of this time together, I hope we

co-create something new.

Information. I hope you help me understand

what resonates, what doesn't.

And then I'll sort of go into the the

presentation.

Carol Cox:
I like that, Neha.

I like I think of it as like you're you're

extending an invitation to the audience

instead of, you know, saying, okay, here,

I'm just going to lecture to the audience.

You know, one way, here's all the

information, here's the information dump.

Instead of even if the audience is not

literally saying anything back to you, I

always like to think of it as a dialogue and

like you're extending the invitation for

them to join you on this journey of

discovering, in this case, it happens to be

like, you know, this climate change is a big

issue. What can we do about it as

physicians?

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Yeah, and I think I think the whole this is

and I've told you this in the past as well,

like I'm not great with the terms, you know,

thought leader or I am really so interested

in learning and I'm really interested in

understanding how other people are seeing

this problem so that we can sort of work

together and figure out, because it really

is a all hands on deck.

And so how can we all with our individual

skills or our different interests?

Come together to do something, and I

definitely come at it from a place of I'm

still in the process of learning.

I am definitely not an expert in climate

science. That's going to tell you.

I'm telling you from a health perspective

what I'm seeing, what the concerns are for

people's health.

So how can we all sort of think about this

problem, and what can each of us do to

tackle it in our own ways?

Carol Cox:
Well, to me that is thought leadership.

I always say that it's not about having all

the answers. It's being willing to ask the

big questions and being willing to not to

know that you don't have the answers, but

that these are conversations that need to be

had and that you want to contribute to those

conversations that are going on.

So yes, I always say you don't have to put

thought leader on your LinkedIn profile,

like you don't have to do that.

But I really think, like I still feel like

embracing that identity for yourself helps

you to realize the important role that

you're playing. And then hopefully kind of

role modeling that for others.

Subconsciously, you know that and then that

they can see that and take it for themselves

as well.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
I care. I think that that's such a key

message. And that is beyond also just

understanding the sort of the framework and

the operationalizing, putting a talk

together or even sort of outlining.

What I want to write is these internal

feelings of imposter syndrome.

And I'm not there yet.

I'm still working on it. But I think that

that's another thing that I learned from

working with you and the other women, that

this was a very women focused program, I

think really was important for me, because I

think a lot of us come into whatever space

we're in, just having imposter syndrome or

not thinking that what we know is enough or

what we have to share is enough.

And so it's really been about sort of

eliminating that self-talk.

Each day. I maybe get a little bit better at

that. And then not being afraid to share

these ideas, I think was another thing that

came out of working with you is, and I've

talked to you about this as well, I am not

great at social media.

I'm not great at just like putting things

out there that I've done.

Um, and I think it's sort of like, no, it's

okay to own your work and what you're doing

and what you're passionate about and share

that with other people.

Um, so I think that was another major thing

that I have to thank you for.

Carol Cox:
Oh, well, I am so glad to hear that.

And yes, there is so much power in a

community of women working together because

you we do recognize that we are facing

similar things because of the societal

messaging that we've grown up with.

And so learning how to be more, you know,

confident in putting ourselves out there is

something that we all are, you know, are are

working on all of the time.

All right. Neha, so for listeners, you can

connect with Neha on LinkedIn.

The link is in the show notes also that the

link to that article that I quoted from

earlier that Neha wrote is also a link in

the show notes. So be sure to read that as

well. And yeah, thank you so much for coming

on speaking your brand podcast for going

through our Thought Leader Academy, being

such a valued member of our community, and

for the very important work that you are

doing because you are the messenger your

audience is waiting for.

Dr. Neha Pathak:
Thank you so much, Carol.

Carol Cox:
Thanks so much to Neha for coming on the

podcast and our next episode, we're going to

talk even more about storytelling, how to

integrate your personal story into your

talk, and there's lots of different ways

that you can do that. There's not just one

way. In some cases, your story may be the

central message of your talk, and other

cases it may be used to support one of the

points that you're making.

Also, with stories, you can start at the

beginning, of course, but you can also start

at the middle of your story or the end of

your story, and then come back to the

beginning later on.

So that's what you're going to hear on our

next episode. Don't forget that if you'd

like to join us in our Thought Leader

Academy enrollment is open, now you can go

to speaking your brand.com/academy again.

That's speaking your brand.com/academy to

get all of the details.

Until next time.

Thanks for listening.