384: How to Tackle a Big Global Issue in Your Thought Leadership and Talks with Neha Pathak, MD

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:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Dr. Neha Pathak (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/neha-pathak-md/

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 329: From Compelled to Take Action to TEDx Speaker with Dr. Nicole Rochester
• Episode 338: Escaping the Expert Trap: From Academic Presenter to Sought-After Speaker with Dr. Teri DeLucca

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable