Fireside with Voxgig
172 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 days ago -This DevRel focused podcast allows entrepreneur, author and coder Richard Rodger to introduce you to interesting leaders and experienced professionals in the tech community. Richard and his guests chat not just about their current work or latest trend, but also about their experiences, good and bad, throughout their career. DevRel requires so many different skills and you can come to it from so many routes, that this podcast has featured conference creators, entrepreneurs, open source maintainers, developer advocates and community managers. Join us to learn about just how varied DevRel can be and get ideas to expand your work, impact and community.
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Episodes
Episode 72 - Eoin Boylan
November 17, 2022 05:00 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBIn this episode we are in a detailed conversation with Eoin Boylan the CTO of Evervault, a company that does encryption as a service. This is a Developers Relations how-to guide! We discuss the challenges of getting developers to use some pretty complex APIs. Eoin speaks to the effectiveness of private Slack channels per client. As a use of Evervault systems in the service of one of our own clients, I see the value of this approach! We also discuss their really excellent docu...
Episode 71 - Matteo Collina
November 10, 2022 05:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBFor Richard, Matteo Collina was an amazing colleague he had the pleasure of working with, and in this podcast, they get to talk about what they've been up to since. Matteo is well known from his Fastify project (https://www.fastify.io/) one of the fastest webservers written in Node.js. Matteo has just launched a start-up - Platformatic (https://platformatic.dev) and in this podcast he'll discuss how his experiences led him to not only form the company, but to structure it an...
Episode 70 - Asim Aslam
October 27, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBAsim Aslam is a CEO who codes. His company M30.com offers a universal suite of microservices, offering a full business logic layer for building applications; the purpose of microservices! This conversation openly and honestly discusses the challenges and experiences of maintaining open source projects but also of commercialising a start-up.
Episode 69 - Joe Drumgoole
October 07, 2022 04:00 - 34 minutes - 32 MBWelcome to the Voxgig Podcast. We talk to people in the developer community about developer relations, public speaking and community events. For more details, visit voxgig.com/podcast. All right, let's get started. Today my guest is Joe Drumgoole. Joe is a senior dev rel person at MongoDB. I first came across Joe when I saw him pitch a startup at one of the very early Web Summit conferences and I thought to myself, I gotta get to know this guy. He was impressive then and he...
Episode 68 - Caelen King
September 20, 2022 02:00 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MBIn this episode Richard speaks to Caelen King, Angel, advisor to start-ups and founder. They discuss advice for non-technical founders and domain experts seeking to build their MVP. Listen for two important learnings.
Fireside with Voxgig with Ovidiu Matan
June 01, 2022 04:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBRichard chats with Ovidiu Matan a creator of technology events and conferences. Ovidiu sources speakers and content through his successful Today Software Magazine. Based in Romania, Ovidiu explained to Richard in February 2022 about the impacts of the pandemic on his business, the changes he was forced to make and which of these changes proved to be lasting pivots. about the changes he's made to his conference business and the successful move to online events, and indeed his ...
Episode 66 - Willie Nicol
April 01, 2021 05:30 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBWillie Nicol is a life coach with an unusual background – he was a police officer in the Scottish police force for thirty-one years. In a Fireside Chat with Richard that crackled with dynamism, he shared his no-nonsense approach to life coaching. As a member of the National Speakers Association, he helps people overcome public speaking nerves and turn fear into fun. He chats to Richard about turning public speaking fear into fun, and about how watching yourself on video give...
Episode 65 - Mike Acker
December 03, 2020 06:30 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBMike Acker is a man on a mission to teach the world to speak without fear. He's written a bestselling book, Speak With No Fear, and coaches people all around the world to break down the fear barrier around public speaking. He reveals that public speaking isn't just about skill – it's about mental preparation. And it's about knowing who you are as a speaker. He also reveals a brilliant technique for overcoming the fear factor when you're asked to give a talk at short notice –...
Episode 64 - Christina Aldan
October 01, 2020 05:30 - 34 minutes - 32.1 MBChristina Aldan is definitely a woman who follows her own path. She struggled with computers at college, but she's now a digital advertising consultant with Arana Software. And one of her first professional talks was a TEDx talk. In her dynamic, positive podcast chat with Richard, she talks about how she misses her speaker tribe. But she's keen to embrace the opportunities that virtual platforms give – like the chance to chat with your audience for an hour after a talk becau...
Episode 63 - Jock Busuttil
September 24, 2020 05:30 - 30 minutes - 28 MBJock Busuttil is a product manager who believes that if there was more common sense in the world, there would be no need for product managers! This blend of honesty and humour was a feature of his Fireside Chat with Richard. Jock gives an insight into the world of a product manager and shares how he turned his product management experience into a successful speaking career. He also tells Richard how he set up his home studio following the COVID lockdown, with a couple of lig...
Episode 62 - Courtney Stanley
September 10, 2020 05:30 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBCourtney Stanley has a background as an event planner and she specializes in the technology and marketing behind successful events. She’s now also known as a keynote speaker and MC. In her Fireside Chat with Richard, she talks about taking a strategic approach to speaking and event management and about the future shape of digital events. She encourages event organizers to leave the comfort zone of Zoom, and explore platforms that allow them to offer people an authentic live ...
Episode 61 - Dan Ram
August 13, 2020 05:30 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBDan Ram has worn so many hats in his career that he could stock a department store, but he’s best known as a professional speaker and MC. He shows wannabe speakers how to dominate the world of the screen, and his specialty as an MC – secret handshakes with speakers. He believes any speaker can create great content that has a real impact, as long as you work at it. Simplecast helps us bring you brilliant speakers with their brilliant sponsorship – thanks, guys. Have a look ...
Episode 60 - Jay Allen
August 06, 2020 05:30 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBJay Allen, who has a military background and also ran a health and safety business, became a professional public speaker overnight when he was asked to step into the breach at a charity event. In a Fireside Chat that crackled with dynamism and energy, he talks about how great speaking is about more than the words you say and why a good speech is like a business plan. Thanks so much to Simplecast for sponsoring our podcast – we couldn’t do it without you. Have a look at Jay...
Episode 59 - Rachael Robertson
July 16, 2020 05:30 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBIn a Fireside Chat that packed a punch, Rachael Robertson shares her experience of leading a team of ‘crazy people’ in the Antarctic, where she learned that being respected is more important than being liked for leaders – respect trumps harmony. She also speaks about how the COVID situation inspired her to launch a new product, speaking to audiences from the comfort of her own professional home studio. Rachael is also an author and she’s going on a virtual book tour for her...
Episode 58 - Stephan Murtagh
July 09, 2020 05:30 - 34 minutes - 32.2 MBStephan Murtagh is best known as the Exhibition Guy, the guy who shows exhibitors how to make trade exhibitions work for them. In a full-throttle Fireside Chat with Richard, he tells Richard that audiences are more interested in relevant content than in famous speakers. He also stressed the importance of following your leads – if you do, you’ll be in the top 20% of successful exhibitors. Follow The Exhibition Guy on LinkedIn: To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, i...
Episode 57 - Paul Savage
July 02, 2020 05:30 - 34 minutes - 32.2 MBPaul is Chief Operating Officer of Conjura, an innovative start-up that helps other companies harness the power of their data. He’s also a veteran of the speaking circuit and credits elocution lessons for his success as a speaker. In their friendly Fireside Chat, Paul looked to the future of the events industry. He and Richard explored the role virtual reality will play and the best ways to recreate the magic of real-world events in a virtual space. Check out Paul’s innovat...
Episode 56 - David Gonzalez
June 11, 2020 05:30 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBDavid Gonzalez is a dynamo, a DevOps engineer, lecturer and public speaker who’s not afraid to take risks during his talks. His attitude is, if it hurts, do it more, and he encourages wannabe speakers to just go and do it – and if it hurts, do it more. He also talks about the challenges of speaking in your second language, and how he pulls off live coding demos on stage. Thanks to Simplecast for helping us to bring you dynamic speakers like David for your listening pleasur...
Episode 55 - Derbhile Graham
May 28, 2020 05:30 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MBOn this week’s Fireside Chat, Richard chats to Derbhile Graham, author, public speaker and content creator for Voxgig. She’s also a celebrant and has the joy of officiating ceremonies for every stage of life. Derbhile shared her experiences as a member of the public speaking organisation Toastmasters and highly recommends it as a stepping stone for wannabe speakers. She also reveals the secret to public speaking success – being visually impaired. It’s a lot easier to handle ...
Episode 54 - Jono Bacon
May 21, 2020 05:30 - 34 minutes - 32.3 MBJono Bacon is a heavy metal guitarist who once played in the place where Iron Maiden played their first gig. He’s also a public speaker, a consultant and the author of books about building communities. His mission is to help companies create successful communities. In this Fireside Chat with Richard, which crackled with dynamism and cool vibes, Jono talked about the value of building a brilliant community around yourself as a speaker – it’s not egotistical at all. He also ou...
Episode 53 - Melanie Parish
May 14, 2020 05:30 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBMelanie Parish is a Canadian coach, a public speaker and the author of The Experimental Leader. In her Fireside Chat with Richard, they had a highly stimulating discussion about how to be an innovative leader during a crisis, which she sees as the Olympics for leaders. She encourages leaders to break down the barriers to innovation in their companies, so they’ll thrive in the long term. Thanks so much to Simplecast for sponsoring this podcast – your help keeps the show on t...
Episode 52 - Freddy Freundlich
March 19, 2020 06:30 - 26 minutes - 24.9 MBFreddy Freundlich is a colourful character. He trained as a nurse and was ordained as a rabbi, but he is first and foremost a salesman. He’s the author of two books, Born on the Right Side of the Tracks and The One-Call Close. And he’s a straight talker, as you’ll hear for yourself when you listen to his Fireside Chat with Richard. His advice to wannabe speakers and salespeople is simple. Great public speaking and sales are all about great conversation. Find one person in y...
Episode 51 - Danielle Krage
March 12, 2020 06:30 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBDanielle Krage is the power behind The Remote Speaker Coach, a company which nurtures new speaking talent. Her warmth and empathy shone through in her Fireside Chat with Richard, as she encouraged wannabe speakers to take the fear out of public speaking by breaking down their talks into bitesize parts. She’s also passionate about diversity and calls on conference organisers to make room for new and exciting voices in their conference lineups. You’ll find out more about Dani...
Episode 50 - Bonnie Williams
March 05, 2020 06:30 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBFor this podcast, we’re delighted to welcome back actor and performance coach Bonnie Williams. This time, she’s talking about how to make killer pitches to investors. In a highly insightful Fireside chat, she reveals that great pitching is not like Dragon’s Den. It’s all about pitching to the right people. Bonnie and Richard also chatted about virtual conferencing and how to make a connection with the audience when they’re not in the room with you. You can check Bonnie out ...
Episode 49 - Roger Edwards
February 06, 2020 06:30 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBRoger Edwards is a high-impact public speaker on all things marketing. He’s also a blogger, a vlogger, a podcaster and a fitness instructor. He’s a man who’s full of energy, and he knows how to fill his audiences with energy too. During his Fireside Chat with Richard, Roger revealed his secret for grabbing and holding an audience’s attention – he gets them to shout, ‘The cat sat on the mat.’ In other words, keep it simple. Big thanks to the brilliant Simplecast, for helping...
Episode 48 - Andrew Davis
January 16, 2020 06:30 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBIn this Fireside with Voxgig podcast, Richard talks to Andrew Davis, owner of a fantastic bow-tie, who has gone from working with the Muppets to building and selling his own marketing agency fuelled by the power of speaking. Being a keynote speaker is now his main job, and in this podcast, he shares his secret weapon when selling products – giving speeches. You’ll find out more about Andrew Davis at AKA Drew Davis. We want to give a big shout-out and thank you to Simplecas...
Episode 47 - Sandy Dunlop
December 19, 2019 06:30 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBSandy Dunlop is a global branding expert who draws on the world of myth to tell compelling stories about the brands he represents. In an intellectually stimulating Fireside Chat with Richard, Sandy inspires listeners to trust in storytelling as a tool for getting your message across. He encourages aspiring speakers to distinguish between what he calls the ‘blue rhetoric’ of facts and the ‘red rhetoric’ of storytelling. Sandy’s ultimate message is that it is feelings that win...
Episode 46 Lesley Tully
December 12, 2019 06:30 - 26 minutes - 24.8 MBWe’re always interested here at Voxgig in how people get into public speaking in their careers. Lesley Tully started off studying Film. She tells us how this training gave her an understanding of visuals, which turned out to be a great asset in her subsequent career and in the role she is now in: an expert on Design Thinking. Orla and Lesley get into the subject of evangelizing for your own job; in other words, how to convince sometimes sceptical colleagues - who may be in ...
Episode 45 Allan Kelly
December 05, 2019 06:30 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MBAllan Kelly is a conference organiser, speaker, author and a coder who’s on a mission to help other coders get in touch with the world around them. His Fireside Chat with Richard had a wonderfully warming feel, just like his Agile on the Beach conference in Cornwall. He began by revealing that he actually apologised for giving a new talk at a conference, He believes strongly that repurposing conference talks helps you reach new audiences and reach existing audiences in new w...
Episode 44 - Onyi Anyado
November 21, 2019 06:30 - 24 minutes - 23.1 MBOnyi Anyado is a global leadership speaker from Hackney in East London, and he’s on a mission to achieve distinction, for himself and for wannabe public speakers. He’s written two books and delivered a powerful TEDx Talk called From Detention to Distinction. His Fireside Chat with Richard crackled with dynamism and passion. He revealed that he feels divinely inspired to help people find their own distinctive voice as speakers. He talks about how he developed his own distinct...
Episode 43 - John Collins
November 14, 2019 06:30 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBJohn Collins is Director of Content with Intercom, the customer messaging platform. He’s a man who knows how to spread a message effectively, having worked as a tech journalist for more than 20 years. He’s now responsible for producing the award-winning content at Intercom, including the blog, the podcasts, the books and the social media communications. In our Fireside Chat, John talks about how Intercom has introduced a silent podcast disco to keep conferences fresh for au...
Episode 42 - Mairin Murray
November 07, 2019 06:30 - 34 minutes - 32 MBShould innovators kick over the table or just rearrange the things on it? Does it even make sense to regard the question in black and white? TEDx speaker Máirín Murray joined Orla on this episode to share her passion for technical products that produce a positive social impact. Máirín is a tech innovator and ethics evangelist. Previously, she was Senior Digital Content Producer at the BBC. She is a co-founder of Tech for Good. This Ireland-based community of more than 1,750...
Episode 41 - Alex Staniforth
October 31, 2019 06:30 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBAlex is a record-breaking adventurer, keynote speaker, published author, brand ambassador and charity fundraiser from Cheshire, England. He is dedicated to inspiring others to achieve their own ‘Everest’ in life. Alex is not your typical Everest speaker. After single-handedly raising over £35,000 in corporate sponsorship whilst still at school, his first attempt to climb to the summit of Mount Everest in 2014 was abandoned following a tragic avalanche that took sixteen live...
Episode 40 - Richard Rodger
October 24, 2019 05:30 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBRichard is an international conference speaker, serial entrepreneur, published author and CEO of Voxgig. He also writes a weekly column, ‘Startup Diary’, for the Irish Independent newspaper. He tells Orla how he never envisaged himself as a public speaker in the earlier part of his career. He found, though, that he “always ended up on stage, one way or another”! As he found himself being asked more and more to give talks, he developed his love for “the story” - the narrati...
Episode 39 - April Dunford
October 17, 2019 05:00 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MBApril Dunford is a positioning consultant. In plain English, that means she tells companies where their brand belongs in the market and what customers they should target. Her knowledge comes from 25 years of experience running tech startups and working for global tech giants. She is the author of a brilliant book on positioning called Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Positioning So Your Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It. In her podcast chat with Richard, April tells Richard h...
Episode 38 - Mick Colliss
October 03, 2019 05:30 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBMick tells Orla how he fell into public speaking as a career. He has made a virtue out of the underdog story; according to him, he has failed at everything he ever tried, and the keynote speech he now travels the world delivering is the culmination of that. Having finally achieved his dream of representing his country, he and his team came last in the World Sudoku Championships. But he has made quite a success of his failure: a documentary was made about his team’s trip to ...
Episode 37 - Petra Kindler
September 26, 2019 05:30 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBPetra Kindler is a spoken word artist, a comedian, a literary translator, playwright, and freelance creative director. She’s a German who has been living in Ireland for over thirty years and she specialises in pointing out the ridiculous in everyday life. Petra tells Orla how she went from being a high-level creative director at German advertising agencies to the pretty unique position of being a German-Irish comedian (among her many other activities). She also speaks about...
Episode 36 - Peter Hopwood
September 19, 2019 05:30 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBWe usually feature top public speakers on Fireside with Voxgig, but in this episode, we decided to speak with a top public speaking coach. Peter Hopwood describes himself as a pitch and presentations coach, and he supports public speaking professionals at every stage in their speaking career. During our thought-provoking Fireside Chat, he revealed that speakers can always learn something new, no matter how experienced they are. It’s tempting for speakers who have some exper...
Episode 35 - Bonnie Williams
September 12, 2019 05:30 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBOrla chats to Bonnie Williams, a dialogue and performance coach for actors, public speakers and other professionals. Bonnie describes herself as a “Amsterdam-based American European”. She’s also an actor and a TEDx speaker coach, and was featured in Marie Claire magazine. Bonnie has worked for many years helping business people apply the skills of acting to the corporate world. She tells us how engaging with intercultural differences is so important for people doing busines...
Episode 34 - Russ Miles
September 05, 2019 05:30 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBRuss Miles is a tech and microservices whizz who can define chaos engineering in ninety seconds. He is an international keynote speaker at tech conferences and he is CEO of ChaosIQ, which builds commercial and open source software for companies that are engaged in chaos engineering. In a lively Fireside Chat with Richard, Russ revealed how he taps into the power of story to captivate his audience. He believes that we learn with our brains, and our brains love stories. When ...
Episode 33 - Deepa Mann-Kler
August 29, 2019 05:30 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBDeepa Mann-Kler is an artist, entrepreneur and public speaker. She’s also the creator of the very cool Neon Dogs installation that has lit up the night sky in London, Amsterdam, Derry/Londonderry, and various other parts of the world. In her Fireside Chat, Deepa shared a reassuring message with aspiring speakers. Don’t worry about making a fancy presentation. Just strip back to the real story you want to tell, and you will captivate your audience. Deepa herself learned the ...
Episode 32 - Wojciech Kolodziejczak
August 22, 2019 05:30 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MBIn this episode, host Orla Shanaghy talks to Wojciech Kolodziejczak. Wojciech specializes in cross-cultural communication, networking, and negotiation skills for British, Polish, and other international businesses. He also lectures on cross-cultural networking skills for the Federation of Small Businesses, London Metropolitan University and other organizations. Wojciech opens up to Orla about the challenges of not only transplanting oneself to a different culture, but succe...
Episode 31 - Lauren Currie
August 15, 2019 05:30 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBLauren Currie is an award-winning European designer who is a champion for diversity. She has received an OBE for her initiatives to achieve diversity through design. As a regular public speaker on the subject of design, she’s also passionate about bringing diversity to the speaker line-up at conferences. In our podcast, she reveals how a bright red sofa has helped reduce the nerves of more than 500 wannabe speakers. It’s a simple concept – people who are nervous about publi...
Episode 30 - Martin Brooks
August 09, 2019 06:00 - 32 minutes - 30 MBMartin Brooks describes himself as an impacttologist, and he has spent decades studying the theory and implications of impact. He runs a training company that helps managers, media personalities and politicians discover the impact of great communication. In a thought-provoking Fireside Chat, Martin and Richard explored whether great public speakers are born or made. Martin believes that your experiences of public speaking will shape how successful you are as a speaker. Mar...
Episode 29 - Emily Ross
July 29, 2019 04:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBEmily Ross is an entrepreneur, public speaker, and founder of Inkvine Consulting, which helps tech and commercial companies to scale and grow. Emily has never been afraid to play with fire – she was a fire dancer and was regularly seen at event venues throughout Ireland, juggling balls of fire. As if that wasn’t enough, she’s also an advisory board member for South by Southwest this year. Emily is also co-founder of a non-profit called Sportstech Ireland, which brings real ...
Episode 28 - Andrew Vorster
July 10, 2019 08:57 - 37 minutes - 35 MBIn this podcast, Richard enjoyed a highly stimulating, thought provoking and honest chat with Andrew Vorster. Andrew is a thought leader and innovation catalyst, and a full-time professional public speaker. Andrew grew up on a farm in South Africa and immersed in African storytelling traditions from an early age. As a young child, he was gifted with the honorary title of storyteller by his local Zulu community. Andrew tells aspiring speakers to have fun and ditch the script...
Episode 27 - Gina London
June 25, 2019 06:00 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MBGina London has made communication the cornerstone of her career. She spent 20 years as a top TV correspondent with CNN and regularly reported live from the White House. Now she runs The Language of Leadership, a company which trains Fortune 500 CEOs and other business leaders to become brilliant communicators. Gina told Richard how she borrows from the world of magic to grab the attention of her audience. She thinks of her audience at every stage of her talk preparations a...
Episode 26 - Anna Jordan
June 12, 2019 11:00 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBIn this episode, host Orla Shanaghy chats to Anna Jordan, founder of ModwordsFest, Ireland’s first open mic festival for spoken word artists. Anna is also a freelance festival programmer, playwright, creative writing facilitator and publican. Anna tells Orla how growing up as a budding writer in a small city prompted her to set up her own creative writing groups and direct her own plays. She describes how, over the course of her career so far, she has become a public speake...
Episode 25 - Andrew Macadam
May 15, 2019 16:00 - 25 minutes - 23.4 MBIn this episode, Richard speaks with Andrew Macadam. Andrew is currently the Managing Director for startups in Western Europe at Microsoft. He has also held a myriad of other roles, including being an Evangelist, which at Microsoft means you go out and get people excited about new technologies. Throughout Andrews diverse roles he has experienced a lot of public speaking. He discusses with Richard that terrible moment most public speakers encounter when their minds go compl...
Episode 24 - Neil O'Brien
May 08, 2019 16:00 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBIn this episode Richard speaks with Neil O’Brien. Neil is the founder of the company Time to Fly and is currently one of Ireland’s most sought after professional conference speakers and life coaches. He focuses on the topics of mental fitness, mental health and wellbeing. He has many corporate clients and has coached elite and professional sports people in the past. Neil tells Richard about how golf actually led him to his public speaking career and that his first public s...
Episode 23 - Kwame Nyanning
May 01, 2019 16:00 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBIn this episode, Richard speaks with Kwame Nyanning. Kwame is the founder and CEO of Dangerous, a venture studio focused on developing financial products and services for millennials and generation Z. Kwame tells Richard about his interesting start in public speaking, which involved him on stage doing hip hop! They discuss how incredible it feels when you actually succeed at a talk—and how, unfortunately, you can always bomb, even when you are well established in your spea...