Lunch and Learn Speaker Series: Scientific Storytelling and how NOT to lose your Audience
I have been a member of Toastmasters International since 2007 and have obtained Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) status, the highest level of educational achievement and something less than 1% of Toastmasters worldwide achieve.
I have stood in front of hundreds of audiences — as a PhD Chemist and a Distinguished Toastmaster. I’ve watched brilliant researchers lose a room full of people who genuinely wanted to listen — I am guilty of having done this myself.
How do you avoid this? Before you explain what you found, tell your audience why they should care.
That single resequencing — relevance first, evidence second — is what separates presenters who inform from presenters who move people to action.
It’s not a communications trick. It’s respect for your audience’s attention.
To do it well, you need to do one thing first: understand exactly who is in the room and what keeps them up at night. What decisions are they trying to make? What would change for them if your work succeeded?
The term I use to describe myself is “Scientific Storyteller” and you can be one too.
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About John Skabardonis
John was responsible for Technical Marketing to the Electronics & Electrical industry in the Americas, before retiring from Covestro in Aug. 2025. He worked at Bayer, GE Plastics and Covestro in the US for 35+ years, in roles ranging from R&D, to Marketing, Marketing Communications and Technical Marketing.
John enjoys public speaking & refers to himself as a scientific storyteller. Fascinated by the rapid evolution of technology, he is focused on materials and processes which empower this evolution. He is also intensely interested in circularity, in order to maximize resource utilization.
John is a board member of the SPE Pittsburgh Section. He is also a member of the National Speakers Association, a Distinguished Toastmaster, and a member of the Industrial Designers Society of America.
Optimist Consulting, LLC
john@optimistconsulting.biz
www.linkedin.com/in/JohnSkabardonis
412.277.7434