Born and raised in India, Dr. Kapoor has spent 20+ years in corporate, freelance, academic and entrepreneurial circles in Mumbai, Detroit, NYC and LA. She is the Founder and CEO of SpeakerPost, a social good online marketplace for academic and industry professionals, as well as an educator who has taught at California State University, Pepperdine University, and University of California, Los Angeles. She is also an avid blogger and writes about life in Los Angeles on her blog, Green Sea Shells. Dr. Kapoor currently resides in Manhattan Beach, CA with her husband, her darling daughter and her pretty labradoodle, Haiku.
FWM: Share your background and what led you to launch SpeakerPost.
In 2007, I completed an interdisciplinary doctoral degree in Communication, Marketing and Anthropology. Unlike many of my fellow graduate students, I chose to pursue a non-academic career in media, marketing and market research. To keep in touch with academia however, I often lectured in college classrooms.
There came a point in my life where I felt the need to give back. While teaching applied communication courses at a few Los Angeles colleges, I realized the importance and the effectiveness of the guest speaker method of instruction. My class loved meeting industry professionals a few times every semester, and my first-generation students were just so grateful for that mentorship experience.
During conversations with career academics, I understood that there needed to be a better bridge between educators and corporate professionals. The college teaching faculty did not know many people in business and cold-messaging on LinkedIn was an awkward, uncomfortable and time-consuming process. Similarly, folks in the corporate world were looking to interact with students and to give back to academia but didn’t know where to start.
It was this insight that led to the launch of the SpeakerPost.com: A community platform that better connected like-minded academic and industry professionals for volunteer guest speaking in college classrooms.
FWM: What makes a great presentation?
A good presentation is an audience-centered one.
If I talk to you about me, you will be polite and pay attention. BUT – If I talk to you about YOU, you will most definitely listen.
If you are presenting to students, make it relevant to them. If you are talking with professionals, tell them why they should care. Along with this, keep your message short, engaging and visually appealing. And, always leave time for Q&A at the end.
FWM: SpeakerPost brings together academia and industry for meaningful partnerships. Share your resources.
SpeakerPost is an open online marketplace with one mission: Touching student lives!
Anyone with reasonable level of expertise and an inclination to mentor and to interact with students can join and network with others for free. There is no charge to post speaking requests or to apply to them. There is no selling on the site and no payment functionality.
SpeakerPost is not just a platform – It is a caring community that seeks to give back via volunteer college guest lectures and student mentorship. Our community members also collaborate on panels, conferences and papers. They share guest speaker recommendations and celebrate their wins on a live member-only feed.
Our diverse member community spans across all industries and disciplines. It is also global, with members from United States, Canada, India, United Kingdom, UAE, Austria, Greece, etc. From career counselors and conference planners to college professors, high school faculty, business owners and corporate professionals, each member brings unique skill sets and expertise to our volunteer network.
Requests for guest speakers in college courses in communication / business schools that have class projects, workshops, case studies or other hands-on activities are popular in our network. Once in a while, we see career-focused mentorship requests from organizations that cater to transitional-age youth.
FWM: You offer opportunities for speakers and also to request a speaker. Tell us more.
Think of SpeakerPost.com as a ‘social good’ bridge that connects educators with industry professionals. Those who join SpeakerPost are either looking to find a volunteer guest speaker for their class / event or to sign up to be one.
In terms of process, interested individuals request an invitation code to the site. Once they are able to access the site, each member creates an account. Subsequently, those looking for guest speakers complete and publish a form detailing their requirements for a guest speaker. Individuals wanting to give back, “apply” to help the poster. Once the system connects two interested parties, the conversation between them continues via SpeakerPost’s internal messaging system until both members are comfortable enough to take it offline.
When the ask is bigger with many moving parts (for e.g. speaker series, conference calls, mentorship programs or international projects), I get involved personally to ensure things go smoothly.
SpeakerPost also offer a few services. Our free ‘Volunteer Career Panels’ service is great for youth organizations, high schools and community colleges. Our ‘Career Path Informational’ program is perfect for students to find a SpeakerPost mentor for a free 30-minute chat. Finally, our for-profit arm, 1000 Spotlights Speaker Bureau is another avenue to secure a speaker for college and corporate keynotes.
FWM: Share your lessons as an entrepreneur.
Celebrate failure. Don’t be afraid to fall. The more you fall, the more you learn and the stronger you get. Failure creates the path to success.
It takes a village. Entrepreneurship can be a hard and lonely journey so find your tribe. Curate a supportive network and surround yourself with positive, energetic and passionate people.
Magic happens when you put yourself out there. Be visible on social media, share your message and build your personal brand along with your company’s reputation.
FWM: What impact has SpeakerPost had on entrepreneurs?
There are many examples that come to mind, but I will cite a few.
On several occasions, SpeakerPost has connected educators with entrepreneurs. As part of a college class project, entrepreneurs were invited to meet with students and talk about an issue they were facing in their business. Over the course of the semester, students were asked to research the ‘problem’ at hand, and work in teams to come up with solutions. The projects were then judged by the entrepreneurs and feedback was provided to each team. This was a win-win situation where students experienced working on a real issue and the entrepreneurs took back fresh, creative solutions to their business problems.
We have also seen fruitful interactions between our academic members and industry experts when they are both from the same field. For example, our finance professors with model structuring expertise interacting with independent investors on Wall Street.
SpeakerPost has also partnered with a few colleges on their innovation, entrepreneurship and social justice programs to help find successful entrepreneurial panelists for their workshops that support entrepreneur wellbeing as well as for student mentorship.
What are members saying about the platform?
Click on this link below and scroll down to section 2: ‘Our Members Say’.
https://www.1000spotlights.com/speakerpost
FWM: What is your vision for SpeakerPost in 2023?
To bring more guest speaking opportunities to the SpeakerPost volunteer community, I will be focusing on building partnerships with youth organizations, universities and corporations this year.
Last month, I launched a new e-magazine called 1000 Spotlights: Why We Give to explore the motivations behind why we give our time and money to good causes. This is an inspiring journey for me as it is for the readers, and gives me an unique opportunity to interview amazing people! Finally, to keep the lights on at SpeakerPost.com, I will most certainly be investing more time to grow our for-profit arm, 1000 Spotlights Speakers Bureau. Sometimes, you have to make money to do good – This will be a dynamic challenge which I am most excited about!
