Presented by:

Monica Rivera

YOU WANNA DO WHAT?!

Monica M. Rivera is a Leadership and Communication Strategist with over 20 years of experience working inside global, matrixed organizations where complex ideas must be communicated clearly to drive decisions and execution. She has partnered with leaders and senior professionals across engineering, product, operations, and executive teams to help them translate deep expertise into influence, alignment, and action.

Before launching her advisory practice, Monica built her career in corporate environments where cross-functional collaboration, executive communication, and stakeholder alignment were essential—not optional. Her work today focuses on helping experienced individual contributors and technical leaders communicate with confidence in high-stakes conversations, navigate visibility without self-promotion, and scale their impact as scope and responsibility increase.

Monica is a frequent corporate speaker and advisor, known for practical, grounded frameworks that improve how professionals show up in design discussions, decision-making forums, and executive-facing conversations—without compromising their technical integrity.

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Engineers are trusted for their technical expertise, but many still find their ideas overlooked, misunderstood, or slow to gain traction, even when the work itself is strong.

This session explores why technical credibility alone isn’t enough as engineers take on greater responsibility. As scope and visibility increase, impact depends not only on what you know, but on how effectively you communicate complex ideas, influence decisions, and collaborate across teams.

Drawing from common high-stakes moments engineers recognize,such as design reviews, roadmap conversations, and executive-facing discussions,this talk highlights the communication gaps that most often limit impact and career growth. Attendees will learn practical ways to:

  • Translate complex technical thinking into clarity and alignment

  • Communicate with confidence in high-pressure, cross-functional conversations

  • Increase influence without becoming louder, performative, or political

This session is ideal for senior engineers, technical leads, and engineers preparing for senior-level scope who want their expertise to drive decisions, not just discussions.

Date:
2026 April 23 09:00 PDT
Duration:
50 min
Room:
San Pedro (Level C)
Conference:
Postgres Conference: 2026
Language:
Track:
Professional Development & Wellness
Difficulty:
Medium