339: Creating Compelling TED-Style Talks Based on Academic Research with Tanya Golash-Boza, PhD

I talk a lot about the power of public speaking for building brand awareness, generating leads, and becoming known in your industry.

The other power of public speaking is to influence social change.

Throughout history, public speakers have inspired us about what's possible, from JFK's moon speech to MLK's I have a dream.

TED speakers have done this for us for the past 15+ years: getting us to think differently about important issues.

When one of our former clients and Thought Leader Academy grads, Tanya Golash-Boza, emailed me a few months ago about collaborating with her on a project, I jumped at the chance.

Tanya decided to put on an event called Change the World Through Research through the University of California Washington Program (UCDC), where Tanya is the Executive Director.

We worked closely with the selected faculty members to create their 10-minute TED-style talks to showcase their research.

I know it was a challenge for them to condense all that they know into 10 minutes - which is where we came in as their coaches!

We helped them identify their throughline, integrate their personal stories (so important!), and create a talk that took the audience along their journey of discovery.

I invited Tanya on the podcast to talk about:

• Why she decided to put on this event for faculty to share their research
• Why she wanted them to do 10-minute TED-style talks instead of traditional presentations
• Why she wanted to collaborate with us at Speaking Your Brand to provide coaching and training for the speakers
• The importance of integrating personal stories, even in research/policy-based talks
• Lessons for event organizers
• How the event went and what’s next

Check out my LinkedIn post with photos of the speakers at https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7077625577079218176/.

About My Guest: Tanya Golash-Boza is the Executive Director of the University of California Washington Center and a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Merced. She is the author of six books that engage with issues such as racism, immigration policy, human rights, and race in Latin America. Her latest book, to be published with the University of California Press, is: Before Gentrification: The Creation of DC's Racial Wealth Gap. Tanya’s work deepens our understanding of systems of oppression and exploitation. She has spent her scholarly career working to understand how racism intersects with capitalism and how our legal system creates and upholds inequities. She uses this knowledge to tell stories of people and of systems to help colleagues, students, readers, and listeners understand how racism and capitalism structure our lives and what we need to do to change this country and the world.

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/339/

​​Tanya’s TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/eakUZX-pRCQ

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

• Tanya Golash-Boza = https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyagolashboza/

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 211: Turning an Academic Topic into a Powerful TEDx Talk with Tanya Golash-Boza

• Episode 194: How to Structure a Movement-Making Speech Using Your Story with Joy Spencer

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