Pop quiz.
Raise your hand if you know what any of this means:
- Tensile strength
- Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)
- Centroid
- Fourier Analysis
- M/M/2/4 Queue
- Markov Chain
- Coefficient of Friction
The quiz is over.
If you know what any of those mean then you are a fellow engineer/dork/nerd/geek. Don’t sweat it though. This isn’t going to be a nerd bashing session. You know what I mean. You’ve been to a hundred places where the word engineer makes people recoil. Does this sound familiar?
“Oh my! You’re an engineer. You’re such a nerd!”
“So you’re an engineer? You guys are such geeks.”
“Engineers are the dorks in the back of the room with no social skills.”
I’m sure it does. I won’t sit here and act like engineers are not a special bunch of people with certain social challenges. That’s not true and I’m not a liar. It takes an EXTREMELY special person to buckle down and gain an engineering degree. Having said that you should know that engineers are extremely talented people who have all the right skills to be tremendous public speakers.
Structured
Engineers are efficiency machines. As an engineer you are trained to find the best solution in the shortest amount of time. In order to do this you must follow a structured plan of attack. Attacking a situation on the fly without planning or structure never renders the best solution.
So what does this have to do with public speaking you ask? Everything. The best speakers give time and attention to the structure of their speech. Every speech follows this general outline:
- Introduction
- Main Point #1
- Main Point #2
- Main Point #3
- Conclusion
That is a structured formula for success. Engineers deal with formulas all day. They know how to find a structure, refine it, and make it better.
Engineers build spaceships. Spaceships are harder to build than speeches.
Analytical
It goes without saying that engineers are the most analytical group of people on the planet. Being an engineer requires incredible focus and attention to detail.
Public speaking requires the exact same skill set. When the time comes to deliver a speech or presentation you must be focused. Each speech is different and speakers have to be aware of the minor changes in each scenario.
Creative
Engineers are forced to be creative in the work world. We often get the dirty assignments that no one else wants to touch. It is usually the engineer on the team who is told “Here is a pile of steaming trash. You’re a smart guy. Heck, you’re an engineer. I need you to turn this 5 ton pile of steaming trash into a 20 ounce bowl of clam chowder…by tomorrow”.
Your typical engineer will walk away from the meeting and have a baby once he gets to a secluded area. After he calms down the creative juices will flow. He’ll soon figure out what elements in that pile of steaming trash are edible. Out of nowhere he’ll find clams, potatoes, onions, bay leaves, garlic, cream, and paprika in all that garbage. Before you know it a bowl of New England Clam Chowder will be resting on your desk.
That mixture of grit,brain power, and creativity is essential for great speaking. It takes someone with extreme creativity to craft a message that breaks the mold of boring speeches. Engineers are professionals at turning water into wine.
Conclusion
Engineers are looked at as socially inept members of society. People think that engineers have the brains to do grunt work while simultaneously lacking the ability to interact with other humans. I wholeheartedly disagree. Engineers have all the tools to be tremendous public speakers. Engineers are structured, analytical, and creative all in one package. The best speakers on the planet have the same qualities.
Engineers are charged with building cars, spaceships, Kevlar vests, energy efficient nuclear power plants, product flow through plans, facility space outlines, and master databases. If we can do that we can captivate an audience. It’s just that simple.
You can bet your M/M/2/4 queue on that.
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