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Is public speaking an elusive talent reserved for a select few, or is it a powerful tool we can all master? In this thought-provoking episode, we challenge the long-held belief that public speaking is only for the “naturally gifted.” I’m...
Is public speaking an elusive talent reserved for a select few, or is it a powerful tool we can all master?
In this thought-provoking episode, we challenge the long-held belief that public speaking is only for the “naturally gifted.”
I’m thrilled to have Dr. Karen Corbin back on the podcast, as we dive deep into the art of communication and explore how anyone, from scientists to young professionals, can harness their voice to make a meaningful impact.
If you’ve ever felt self-conscious or critical about your speaking abilities, this episode is for you.
Karen and I explore how we can all make public speaking less intimidating and more approachable, turning it from an elite skill into an everyday power that elevates your personal and professional life.
Karen and I talk about:
Why storytelling isn’t just for the “gifted” but a skill anyone can cultivate to connect, influence, and inspire
The practical steps she took to shift from self-doubt to speaking with confidence and clarity
The surprising moments that changed her perspective on who should have a voice and how to make it heard
Real-life examples of how communicating effectively can open doors, reshape careers, and empower you to step into your own spotlight
How Karen navigates the corporate world and her personal brand
About My Guest: Karen D. Corbin, PhD, RD is the Owner and Chief Geek of Geeks That Speak® and an Associate Investigator at the AdventHealth Translational Research Institute. She is an expert in human nutrition and metabolism. Her scientific career is devoted to finding new approaches to prevent and treat diseases like diabetes and fatty liver disease. She is also an expert in scientific storytelling.
Links:
Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/411/
Karen’s website: https://www.geeksthatspeak.com/
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:
Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
Dr. Karen Corbin (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-corbin-phd-rd-75229111/
Recommendations:
Science Friday on NPR is a fantastic resource for listening to scientists from all different disciplines = https://www.sciencefriday.com
TED talk = “What you can do to prevent Alzheimer’s” by Lisa Genova = https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_genova_what_you_can_do_to_prevent_alzheimer_s?language=en
For those interested in diabetes, this is a good podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diabetes-discourse/id885083634?i=1000656300786
Related Podcast Episodes:
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:
My guest, Doctor Karen Corbin of Geeks That
Speak, wants to reframe public speaking from
an elite skill to an everyday power, which
you'll hear about 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.
Today we're going to talk about why public
speaking is not just an elite skill or not
something that you have to be born with or
naturally talented for.
But really, public speaking and especially
sharing your story is a skill and a power
that everybody has.
And my guest, Doctor Karen Corbin, is the
epitome of this. She's going to share a
little bit of her story of her, her
transition from middle school to what she
does now. And yes, I always love to ask
people about their childhood.
And so but we're really going to talk about
the importance of storytelling, especially
for scientists, people in the Stem fields,
because that's where Karen is in.
But really, for all of us, no matter what
our industry, no matter what our topic, no
matter where we work or what our business
is, because we so many people believe again,
that public speaking is only for a few, or
that you have to be really gifted, or that
you have to have tons of experience in order
to share your message and your story.
But that is not the case at all, which is
where we're going to talk about Karen Corbin
has not only a PhD, but also an Rd, and
she's an associate investigator at the
AdventHealth Translational Research
Institute here in Orlando, Florida, where we
both live. She's also the owner and chief
geek of Geeks That speak, which I love,
geeks that speak.
And she really works to inspire and empower
scientists to become powerful storytellers,
not only adults, but also she works a lot
with younger girls, which we're going to
talk about towards the end of the
conversation. Karen, welcome back to the
podcast.
Karen Corbin:
Hi, Carol. Great to see you again five years
later.
Carol Cox:
I know we were looking before we clicked
record. You were on pretty much exactly five
years ago, September of 2019.
Episode 138.
Amazingly, talking about scientists need to
tell their stories to.
And so as we chatted before we hit record,
it's I love this because it shows how much
our missions are who we are.
This is clearly our thread throughout our
careers. We're still doing it five years
later. We'll be doing this five years and
more from now. So I'm so glad to have you
back on the podcast.
Karen Corbin:
Thank you.
Carol Cox:
Well, let's let's start off with what
prompted this conversation you shared with
me in an email not too long ago that you had
a recent moment where you were listening to
your colleagues share their stories and it
made you stop in your tracks.
You told me, and it made you realize
something. Can you tell me what happened?
Like set us. Set the scene.
Tell us what was going on.
And what was it about that experience that
struck you so deeply?
Karen Corbin:
Yeah. So we had a group of educators from one
of our local counties here to hear from a
spectrum of our team members about how they
chose their career, what they do every
single day.
So I did my spiel, interestingly, with my
slides not working because that happens
sometimes. So I had to just ad lib it, and I
finished mine, and I and I left the stage
and I just stayed and listened.
And one by one, my friends, my colleagues
told what I thought were really important
stories about who they are, how they landed
their job, what they do every day.
And I'd say 95% of them essentially ran out
of the room and put their hands in their
face and said, I need to go somewhere dark
and cold and just close the door.
I never want to do that again.
And I thought to myself, that's a tragedy.
They had important insight that nobody else
can have. Your story is your own, and the
fact that people feel like they're not good
at sharing their story and therefore they
should stay silent, really concerned me.
Carol Cox:
And what do you feel like prompted that
immediate reaction that basically they
wanted to go hide?
Did they feel like their stories were too
vulnerable, that people heard too much about
them? Was it the the fact of just standing
in front of a group of people, what was
going on for them?
Karen Corbin:
I think it's the the typical and normal fear
of public speaking.
You don't want to be judged.
You you worry you didn't do it right, or you
may say the wrong thing.
And that's such a normal feeling.
And I think it hinders people from wanting
to to ever do that unless they absolutely
have to.
Carol Cox:
And would you say that most of them would
call themselves introverts?
Do you think that had something to do with
it as well?
Karen Corbin:
Yeah, I think the extroverts in the group
were a little bit more comfortable.
So I think that's true.
But I think you can still be extroverted to
have a really talented neuroscientist friend
who is just she's actually great when she
speaks in front of people.
And I consider her very extroverted, but I
don't think she loves it.
I think she does it because she has to, but
I don't think she loves it even though she's
phenomenal.
Carol Cox:
And so Karen, so thinking about these
scientists, like you said, they have really
powerful, important, inspiring stories to
share. And even though it's you.
Well, let me let me ask it this way.
I sometimes feel that people get nervous
about public speaking because they feel like
they don't know what to say.
So they want to have a whole script written
out word for word that they can basically
read from, or they want to have slides that
are chock full of a lot of text and bullet
points. So they can basically read the
slides to the audience, which we know is a
big no no. Not a fun experience for your
audience. So I feel like it's, you know,
there's so much fear and hesitancy around
public speaking because people want to make
sure that they know what they're talking
about, that they have all the expert
information, the details.
They don't say the wrong fact, but it sounds
like that wasn't quite what was going on in
this particular situation.
They were sharing personal stories, which of
course I always say, you know your story,
you lived it. So what?
Why do you think they felt that they were so
bad about sharing it?
Karen Corbin:
I think we're just very self-critical and
hate the idea of being in front of people so
much that we just work ourselves up.
And I agree, we we want to have these
perfect scripts and not say the wrong word
and not stutter a little bit.
But in reality, when you have a
conversation, you do that all the time.
It's normal and actually makes you more
endearing to the audience because they don't
want to be up there. They're proud of you
for being up there and having those little
human moments. Actually, I think is a better
way than having this, like perfectly
choreographed speech that you give word for
word.
Carol Cox:
Well, we're going to go into some things that
we think will will help the colleagues like
yours. But anyone listening to this podcast.
But first I want to go back to middle
school. Karen, when you were at a in person
workshop that we facilitated a few weeks ago
for the Athena Next Gen alumni, which I'm a
class of 2016.
I know, Karen, you went through that program
as well, and you shared a story with that
group of when you were growing up and
decidedly not wanting to be a public speaker
at all. So can you tell us about young Karen
and then what caused this shift to who you
are now, where you are at the forefront of
science communication and even started a
company called Geekspeak.
Karen Corbin:
Yeah. So I moved here from San Juan, Puerto
Rico when I was nine years old, and I had an
accent, believe it or not.
I don't have one now.
People don't peg me immediately as being
from a Latin background, and I remember a
specific day and listen.
I forget a lot of stuff.
I forget almost everything.
But I remember this day in the library,
reading something out loud to the class, and
I remember exactly which word made me stay
silent forever.
And that was the word pyramid, because I
said a pyramid.
And the kids laughed at me and it was so
awful. And I said, you know what?
I think I'm better off backstage.
I'll just stay silent.
Silence is safe.
And so I spent most of my years in school
and even into my first professional job,
avoiding public speaking as much as
possible. Now that became something that I
just couldn't do anymore because I chose a
career in healthcare and science.
And when I started in healthcare, I think on
day two of being a registered dietitian, I
was asked to audition my public speaking
skills. And I was thinking, I didn't see
that in the job description anywhere.
Well, it turned out they ran this
educational program out of this cardiology
office that had just been hired to work in,
where they trained other cardiology offices
on how to establish prevention programs for
heart disease. And it included a team of
dietitians and nurses and physicians.
And it was an expectation that I would join
that traveling road show.
And I thought, oh, boy, I'm either going to
sink or swim. And so I wasn't going to sink
and I auditioned.
I was probably pretty bad, but they trained
me. They worked with me. I learned through
observation. And then when it was my turn to
do it, clearly I was terrified.
This was back in the day when the projectors
were, like, the size of a suitcase, and you
checked them in the airplane as luggage.
And if you hit the button sequence the wrong
way, the light bulb would blow and that
would be the end of the show.
So it was kind of interesting times
historically in how we deliver talks.
And so the more I did it, the more I said,
oh, I kind of like this, and I think I'm
getting better at it.
And I made the connection that being on
stage speaking gave me the same kind of
feeling as when I was on stage dancing,
because a little known fact is that I wanted
to be either a scientist or a dancer.
Those are my two career paths.
Dancing is a passion of mine.
I still love it.
And if I could, I would be dancing every
single day. So, um.
So then I said, okay, this is actually
something that I'm liking.
I need to get better at it.
I practiced.
And when I got into science, to make a long
story short, I noticed that there was a lot
of gaps in scientific communication and that
it was something that we have to do as
science, as scientists.
It's part of our job description to go to
conferences to talk about our data.
And I and I saw a need to say, hey, guys,
this doesn't have to be boring.
It doesn't have to be a data dump.
There are ways to do this.
So A you enjoy it more, but importantly your
audience gets more out of it.
So. So that's how I went from never doing it
to looking for every chance to speak in
front of people.
And when I say this, people that don't
believe me, they're like, but, but you're so
good at it. You're a natural.
You're so engaging.
I said, practice it.
Just it just taking the time to decide this
is important to you and working at this
craft.
Carol Cox:
Yes, I was going to say it sounded like the
repetition of just doing it.
You have to do it more than one time.
If anything in life, if you only do
something in life 1 or 2 times, and you do
it only once every few years, yes, it's
going to be very nerve wracking.
You're probably not going to be as good at
it as you want to be, and so you're not
going to want to continue doing it.
And so you have to just you have to put the
reps in, just like with strength training or
training for a half marathon.
You can't just go out there and expect to be
at your best the very first time you do it.
Karen Corbin:
Yeah, I mean, there may be a few people like
you said that are born with it that since
childhood could just do that.
But for the 99% of the rest of us, it's
something that takes time and practice and
dedication.
Carol Cox:
And so and I think that what you mentioned
about this early experience when you were
young in school and getting laughed at by
other kids, I feel like there's so many
adults out there who have had those types of
experiences in school, either teachers
calling on them or teachers saying something
that they probably shouldn't have said in a
negative way or the kids laughing.
And I feel like that holds back so many
adults because they don't want to try it
ever again. They they feel that, you know,
in your in their bodies, they can feel that
sense of embarrassment or humiliation or
just those bad feelings.
And so but to your point, Karen, for so many
people in their careers, and especially if
you own your own business, public speaking
is an essential skill and storytelling is an
essential skill to have.
So for those of you listening, if public
speaking is something that you feel
trepidation about, feel so much nervousness
that it really prevents you from doing it.
Find those small kind of safe spaces to
start with. Warm audiences, places where you
feel comfortable. Maybe it is delivering a
presentation at work.
Do it more and more often and I will say, I
promise you, I promise you it will get
easier. Karen, what else have you seen works
well for people that you work with.
Karen Corbin:
So I try to help them really step back and
think about who's your audience, what do
they know? What do they need to know, and
how would they maximally benefit from
everything? You know?
Because as scientists, we know a lot of
things about a lot of things.
And when we get up there, we want to tell
you everything.
But in fact, you only have so much time and
you can't tell people everything.
So it's about tailoring the content to meet
the needs of the audience.
And once you do that, you will sense that
engagement from your audience.
When you get up there, you see that they're
following you, they're smiling, they're
laughing, they're listening, and that gives
you confidence.
So I really as as a technical person, as a
scientist, we immediately think of the data
first. And in fact, I tell people, start
with the audience and then figure out what
are the most critical pieces of data to
maximally inform, engage and inspire your
audience.
Carol Cox:
Mm. That's really helpful.
And, you know, and to your point, thinking
about you were one of the speakers for the
brave Bold Beyond Live virtual Summit, the
first one we hosted in October 2020.
Of course, this was in the midst of the
Covid 19 pandemic.
This was the fall of 2020.
So it was. We brought in ten women speakers,
including you, to deliver a ten minute Ted
style talks, and you did it on the
importance of public health communication
and the importance of science and reasoning
and facts, because here we were in the midst
of the pandemic, where that was definitely
going awry.
So, Karen, can you tell us about your
realization of how important communication
is for public communication is for science,
but also how storytelling can fit in versus
just giving people the facts?
Because, as we've seen, just giving people
the facts is not persuade them.
Karen Corbin:
Absolutely. And, you know, I started my
career in nutrition in 1998, when most
people didn't have a computer in their hand.
So there was a a logical flow of information
from the professional who had most of the
access to the person on the other side who
needed the information.
Now we're in a totally different world where
we're not under-informed in every way.
We're over informed, but most of the time
we're misinformed, and it's really
challenging to tease apart what's the
reliable information.
And I feel very strongly that one thing we
need to do as a scientific community is get
more of us out there speaking about
important health topics or other scientific
topics, but in a way that's interesting and
understandable. I think there's a statistic
somewhere that people do trust scientists.
The problem is they don't understand us, so
they're going to go elsewhere to look for
the information. So if we elevate an army of
scientists out there that are flipping the
narrative and and really taking charge of
the narrative. I mean, there's nothing worse
than being an expert in a discipline and and
having people who've got no training or
understanding put something out there that
could literally cost someone their life.
I mean, it makes me want to scream silently
almost every day to see that.
And so I think it's just critical to think
about not just giving people the facts,
because those can be blurred, but explaining
things in a way that makes sense, and making
sure we back that up with the sources of
where this comes from so people can check
us. Right.
I tell people all the time, you don't
believe me, read this.
Here's where, here's where this science came
from. So that's just so important for public
health and for really for solving problems,
because that's what science is.
Science is seeking truth to solve problems.
And if we could focus on that and help
people understand the process of science,
the discipline of science and and what it is
that we're trying to accomplish together,
then I think people would be much more
likely to say, wait a minute, this person
said this. Let me think about that and let
me look for for some other sources to see if
this makes sense, rather than just ingesting
it, believing it, and moving on.
Carol Cox:
Yes. And and what a great point about the
change in our media environment from 1998 to
today. And you're right, like back then it
was people watched the TV news for 30
minutes, read the newspaper and got their
information. And then and that was it.
And, you know, obviously there's pros and
cons to that compared to where we are today.
But you think about the influencers on
Instagram or TikTok, the ones who are really
popular, you know, it's because, well,
they're good at communicating.
You know, they're good at headlines like
clickbait type of stuff, absolutes, which we
know with a lot of science.
It's not about absolutes, but people like
absolutes and certainties because it makes
them feel better. So are there are there
people you would recommend that we follow?
And if you can't think of names off the top
of your head, that's fine. We can put them
in the show notes, some links, but maybe
some good scientist or, you know, people in
in similar fields who would be good types of
people that we can follow instead of just
finding the random influencer.
Karen Corbin:
So awesome question.
I definitely need to think about that and
I'll get back to you.
Carol Cox:
Okay, great. Because I know that they are out
there. I don't think they are as plentiful
as the regular influencers, but I do feel
like there are some out there, probably some
that I have come across. But I think there's
also a little bit of a tension because think
about you, Karen, like you have a full time
job. You also have geeks that speak like
you're busy. We're going to talk about some
of the visibility that you've been doing.
You're out there speaking.
And do you have time to be an influencer on
social media or the desire to do it?
Probably not. And I feel like a lot of
scientists are in similar shoes as you.
Karen Corbin:
Yeah. The time is is definitely hard to find.
Science is pretty much 24 over seven, right?
You're learning something new every day and
failing every day and recharting your
course. But I definitely have a desire to be
a go to person and maybe connecting people
like exactly what you just asked me.
Who's the person you would want to talk to
about this topic and and bringing those
people forward in some sort of podcast or
forum so that people had a place to go to
get these answers. And also, I think it's
important for people to understand some of
our frustrations.
You know, I can only imagine the
immunologist during Covid and what they must
have been going through. I mean, we saw a
lot of it publicly, but there are dozens,
thousands more that are just going, oh.
This is crazy.
Yeah. So if I could find a way to bring that
all out into the public, it would allow me
to to increase not just me as an influencer,
but maybe science as an influencer via a
whole bunch of people that could come and
share their knowledge.
Carol Cox:
And I feel like the younger generation, the
Gen Z generation, is probably going to be
better at this naturally because they have
grown up with this. So even they go into
science or they go into medicine or a field
like that, and I think they're going to be
maybe more than will be more inclined to be
more quote unquote, social online than they
are. Generation X has been.
Oh for.
Karen Corbin:
Sure, for.
Carol Cox:
Sure. Okay, so there's hope for the future.
The children are our future.
Karen Corbin:
Yeah, that's why I love working.
With young people.
Carol Cox:
Yes. All right.
So let's talk about some of the visibility
that you have been doing.
You were featured in the Washington Post not
too long ago for the work that you've been
doing. So can you tell us about that.
And then, you know, adjacent to this, the
speaking and visibility media that you've
been doing, how do you navigate your
personal brand while having a full time job?
You know, in the corporate world.
Karen Corbin:
So as far as the visibility is concerned, we
first of all, science is a team sport.
So we had a large team of people working on
a project about the gut microbiome, which
are the bacteria that live in in our GI
system that have all kinds of impacts on
health. And we worked on that project for 7
or 8 years and finally published it.
And the day that it came out online, I said,
I'm going to do a tutorial.
I don't know, what do we call them now?
Editorial, I don't know, I still am going to
say tutorial.
And and I just broke it down.
I put some of the main points with the
figures and the data so people could see it,
and I just explained it in a way that I
thought would gain some interest.
And I can tell you I've tweeted about papers
lots of times and gotten zero attention, but
this one hit a nerve because in a good way.
Not a bad way. Because it's a timely topic.
And I think that's such an important concept
of getting attention from the media.
It has to be something that's important
today. Right now, even if the work you do is
extremely valuable, if it's not something
that is just at the forefront of public
interest, it might not get the coverage.
So I put this tweet together and literally
two days later, a reporter from The
Washington Post DM'd me on Twitter and
wanted to to talk about the work.
So that just started steamrolling a whole
bunch of other opportunities to speak on the
radio and on podcasts about this work and
what I think was sort of a culmination of me
as a healthcare professional, me as a
scientist, and me wanting to do work that
people could take directly to their life and
to their homes. Is that the work that we did
could literally go from the lab bench to
somebody's dinner table.
And so having that relevance in my message
really helped it to gain a ton of attention.
The work was labeled one of the top 25
clinical pieces of work in the journal that
we published in for that year, and we're
also in the top 1% of attention from media
and of all publications that have ever been
tracked and in the top 2% of publications as
far as media attention in this high ranking
journal. I couldn't have predicted any of
it. It just became a whirlwind.
And I thought to myself, wow, everything
I've done combining the science and the
communication, every skill, every coach I
worked with, including you and Diane,
everything I've done has prepared me for
this moment, and that just comes to show how
important it is to hone the skill, to
continue to work on it, because you don't
know when that opportunity is going to be
there and you want to be ready.
And I was ready and also had the support of
people higher up in my organization who
allowed me to be the front person for a lot
of this media attention, which I appreciate
very much because I love every minute of it.
Carol Cox:
And I'm so glad to hear that. So they're very
supportive of the visibility that you've
been giving, getting so far.
So it sounds like you have your personal
brand, you have your LinkedIn profile, you
have you, Karen, you have geeks that speak,
but obviously you're very much a
representative for the organization you work
with. Adventhealth. So how how does that
feel for you?
Karen Corbin:
It's fantastic.
I mean, I'm so fortunate that the whole name
geeks that speak was born here at
AdventHealth through a conversation with a
friend and colleague of mine, and that my
company recognizes the value of strong
scientific communication, particularly in
the health field. And they've been so
supportive and, you know, allowing me to to
drive both cars and, and do both of it
because it is it is such an important skill.
And I also have the opportunity to train
people here. So the company has seen benefit
from our scientists upping their
communication game because I'm here.
So I might as well help them.
Carol Cox:
All right. Let's talk about Geekspeak.
So some more.
So tell us primarily, you know, when do
people come to you.
What exactly do you do with them?
And then I also want to talk about the work
that you're doing with young girls, because
I love seeing the photos of them that you
share on LinkedIn.
Karen Corbin:
Thank you.
So people come to me by word of mouth.
The people who work here with me at
AdventHealth, they're going to they know me.
So they just say, hey, I just got invited to
give a talk at a big national meeting, and
I'm terrified. Will you help me?
So, people who come to me one on one, I'll
do one on one coaching for them.
We'll figure out what's their main story.
How do they really elevate this from a data
dump to something that's engaging?
We'll work on, you know, how to create the
best slides.
But a lot of times people come to me, either
from universities or different biotech
companies that have a workforce that needs
the help. And then I'll do a group workshop
where I walk them through basically the ABCs
of how do you go from boring and uninspiring
to engaging, even a little entertaining,
because why can't we laugh at scientific
meetings? There's nothing wrong with that.
But also, you know, I think it's so
important and you've taught this to me, and
I know you teach it to the people you work
with. There needs to be an action on the
other side. So what do you want people to do
after they heard you speak?
Do you want them to collaborate with you?
Do you want them just to think about the
topic a little bit differently because we've
been driving the train this way, but the
data are suggesting that there's a different
way to think about it. So you want to give
them those nuggets throughout so they know
what they should be walking away with.
And hopefully it'll lead to advancing of the
field.
Carol Cox:
Mhm. Okay. So tell us about the young girls.
Karen Corbin:
So as I mentioned I'm from Puerto Rico and I
didn't know any scientists when I was young.
I dreamed about being a scientist since I
was a kid. And and I don't know how or why.
The only direct connection I can make is a
visual of a scientist.
Was some of the episodes of Wonder Woman
from the original Lynda Carter series, where
sometimes she was wearing a lab coat?
Carol Cox:
Yes, I loved that show.
Karen Corbin:
I know she did math.
She did some science.
I mean, she was amazing, right?
She is amazing.
So, um, I realized how important it is to
have somebody rooting for you.
Somebody that shows you the way.
And a lot of times, especially for girls,
there's still, sadly, this misconception
that science isn't for girls.
And that's just not true.
So if you catch them early enough so that
they don't let those narratives beat them
down and change their trajectory to one that
says, this isn't for me.
I think it's so important.
So whether it's I go to schools and talk to
kids or they come here or I do some one on
one mentoring, or I just grab some kids from
a school that a friend owns, and I put them
in lab coats, and we I meet them and I give
them little microscopes.
You just don't know what that little nudge
can really do to spark that curiosity.
But clearly I'm only one person, so I'm
hoping to also get the message out there to
other scientists.
Hey, you have a community too.
You don't have to travel the world to impact
a child's life a couple times a year.
You could engage with lots of different
groups of kids in your community to help
them, uh, advance that curiosity, not lose
that dream that can often be lost with that
kind of negative talk about who can and
should be a scientist.
Carol Cox:
Yes. And also just for them, having not only
women to look up to you, but also that
support community because, you know, as with
it being a male dominated degree and
industry, you know, there's lots of great
men out there who are allies to women.
I know I've had that throughout my schooling
and my career, but we also know that just
numbers wise, it can feel very isolating and
very lonely to be the only woman or the only
1 or 2 who are studying in something or in a
in a job.
Karen Corbin:
Yeah, absolutely.
And and women lead differently.
We've learned this from being graduates of
the Athena NextGen program.
And some of those ways of leading are
sometimes not the expected way in a typical
academic tower.
So we have to break those barriers too, and
show them that there are different ways to
achieve a common goal.
So yeah, I mean, it's just so critical to
make sure that for the kids that aren't as
fortunate as I was, that had parents that
said, you can do anything that you dream of,
they they never put barriers or I never
really knew that girls weren't supposed to
be scientists. I never really knew that
there was anything I couldn't do because my
parents did that for me.
I had teachers that were very supportive as
well, but not everybody has that
opportunity. So if you can be that for just
even one person, that could be the person
that cures cancer, that could be the person
that solves global warming and climate
change. So know that a small amount of
effort. Could. Really change the world and
you may not see it.
You may not know about it, but I promise
it's worth your time and investing in young
kids and encouraging them to to help us
through science.
Carol Cox:
Well, Karen, I think that brings us full
circle to the beginning of our conversation,
which is this is why scientists, when all of
us, no matter what our industry, is, but
scientists, need to share their stories,
their career journeys, and maybe they can
start in schools.
Maybe that would feel less pressure, like
lower stakes for them.
Karen Corbin:
Yeah, that's true. Although I'm a little
scared by teenagers.
Carol Cox:
Okay. Maybe like like elementary school, I
think they still feel pretty, like, excited,
right?
Karen Corbin:
Yeah. For sure.
And, you know, that's what I was thinking to
your stage. Doesn't have to be television or
a big national meeting.
It can be in a conference room.
It can be a couple people sitting around a
the table, but knowing that your story
matters, the good things and the challenges
you've had in your life could be exactly
what somebody needs to hear.
And if you don't speak, nobody's going to
hear it. So it's just important for all of
us to not just rely on some text message or
some quick little response on social media.
But those personal connections, I think, are
so valuable, and I think all of us could
make a difference in someone's life, even if
we never realize it.
Carol Cox:
Yes. Because as I like to say, you are the
messenger your audience is waiting for.
Karen Corbin:
That's right. Exactly.
Carol Cox:
Well, Karen, thank you so much for this
inspiring conversation.
For those of you listening, make sure to
connect with Karen on LinkedIn.
I've included the link to her profile in the
show notes. Also, check out Geekspeak comm
if you want to learn more about Karen and
Geekspeak. And it's been such a pleasure.
Karen, we have known each other for.
I don't know if it was like 2017 or 2018
when we did a VIP day together initially.
And like I said on the podcast part of our
summit at the workshop we did a couple of
weeks ago and we see each other around town,
which is always fun.
Karen Corbin:
It's awesome. I love that we both live in
Orlando and can connect in a lot of
different ways.
Carol Cox:
Great. Well, thank you again.
Karen Corbin:
You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
Carol Cox:
If you want to learn how to become a better
storyteller, discover your speaker
archetype, because then you'll get
recommendations for how to lean into your
natural communication style and what to do
to amplify it.
You can take our free ten question multiple
choice quiz at Speaking Your brand.com/quiz.
Again, that's speaking your brand.com/quiz.
It just takes a few minutes.
It's completely free and you'll get your
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Until next time.
Thanks for listening.