I have been working with a very intelligent fellow (my grad-school classmate, we got hired around the same time). We are both very technical (electrical engineering design) and while I have been entirely focusing on being the lead engineer and getting projects done, he has been picking up some of the managerial tasks.
In any case, while he is familiar with most aspects of the projects I have been working on and he is the one who tends to communicate with our customers, some of his behavior has been very annoying to me and I am looking for a way of dealing with it.
For example, a customer comes for a facility visit and is curious about the actual algorithms I used to implement some motor controller schemes. It's just the customer, my coworker, and me in the room. The customer would actually like to understand both the implementation and concept of the design that I put together but my fellow worker starts readily explaining the theoretical concepts without giving me a chance to open my mouth. I like to voice my opinion and would not classify myself as being on the quiet side. Unfortunately, the fellow has that kind of voice and tone that makes my brain literally freeze. Of course, he does know what he is talking about but I think I should be the one explaining the algorithms since I am most familiar with their actual implementation.
I am a little bit lost - he is a nice, chatty, and smart guy and we make a good technical team but this behavior has been getting on my nerves.
For the record, I am very happy where I am and don't want to be the manager. I suspect my teammate does not know himself how much should be said by him or by me. There was no clear strategy defined for that particular meeting.
What would be the best way to tackle this issue?
Unfortunately, the fellow has that kind of voice and tone that makes my brain literally freeze.
<--- what? I have no idea what this means and unfortunately it seems the key piece to understanding what you are talking about. Also, see this.Hey friend, would you mind letting me tackle technical questions when we're meeting with customers?
If not, that'd probably be a good first step.