STEM Communication Coaching
Communicate, Collaborate, and Resolve Conflict in Science, Tech, and Healtchare
Team workshops and 1-to-1 coaching designed to boost communication skills for leaders and contributors in science, tech, and healthcare.
STEM Communication
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Improve interactions with teammates, managers, direct reports, and inter-departmental partners
Handle collaborators, managers, and direct reports who are stubborn, territorial, inconsistent, or otherwise difficult
Navigate life on highly-political teams and solve collaboration-breakdowns with project partners
Overcome negativity: respond to the chorus of “No” and the pain of failure
Sell out-of-the-box ideas to scared or apathetic stakeholders
Develop public speaking and presenting skills for leaders or individual contributors. (See Spotlight Leadership)
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Coaching for writers, speakers, and presenters who are looking to simplify and/or clarify STEM topics for diverse audiences and the general public.
(For coaching on public speaking and presenting, see Spotlight Leadership)
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Pitches. Speeches. Demos. Conferences.
Work with Aaron to overcome fears, grow performance skills, and/or shape your unique voice and style. Spotlight Leadership coaching is tailored to your specific wants, needs, and context, and can be shaped for keynotes, pitches, demos, or conference presentations. It can also be used to tackle problems of structure or content.
Learn more about Spotlight Leadership.
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Get off Zoom, get away from the desk, and get on your feet. It’s out in the world and out of our heads that the greatest discoveries are made.
Learn more about the Trespass Leadership Project.
Develop a reputation for bridge-building.
Build unity across departments. Win over difficult personalities. Share your insights outside of the STEM bubble.
Aaron earned his master’s degree in creative collaboration from The University of the Arts, where he partnered with the Wharton School of Business to adapt research-based communication and collaboration techniques for high-conflict teams.
Previously, he led Thought Leadership at Forbes, working with CEOs, founders, and senior leaders across STEM fields to make insights accessible and comprehensible for all. That work included topics in software, hardware, infrastructure, public health, mathematics, economics, finance, and the environment.
The research.
“More and more STEM companies seek candidates who have not only ‘hard’ skills (discipline-related knowledge) but also ‘soft’ skills (Del Vitto, 2008; Karimi and Pina, 2021). The examples of soft skills include creativity, listening, collaboration, interpersonal communication, and conflict adjustment (Karimi and Pina, 2021).”
— School of Engineering Technology, Purdue Polytechnic Institute
“The competency and professional growth of the workforce in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is significantly impacted by the individuals' ability to master oral communication skills as well as articulate opinions amid large audiences. However, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates spend approximately 4 years learning technical skills, with little to no time devoted to enhancing oral communication skills.”
— Journal of Civil Engineering Education
In a study of 80 million jobs across 22 sectors, “7 of the 10 most-requested skills were Durable Skills [aka ‘soft skills’],” and “The top 5 durable Skills were requested 4.7x more than the top 5 hard skills.” As among those most sought-after skills, “Leadership & Communication competencies are in highest demand.”
“The Most In-Demand Skills for 2024” (LinkedIn)
As organizations come to grasp the full extent of what AI can do, they’re also coming to terms with all that it can’t do — those tasks that require the uniquely human skills...
That’s the resounding takeaway from LinkedIn’s latest global inventory of the most in-demand skills for professionals.
“People skills are going to come more to the center of individual career growth,” predicts LinkedIn VP Aneesh Raman, “and people-to-people collaboration is going to come into the center more for company growth. For leaders, you’ve got to start with communicating clearly, compassionately, and empathetically with your teams.”
Talent development professionals and executives can help employees stay agile in this new world of work by continuing to help employees build mission-critical soft skills. A recent LinkedIn survey found that 9 out of 10 global executives agree that soft skills (aka “human” or “durable” skills) are more important than ever. So, it’s not surprising that communication ranks No. 1 on the 2024 list of overall most in-demand skills.