Like most people, you dread the Q&A segment. What if you don't know the answers? How do you deal with hostile questioners? How can you win over your audience? Learn three ways to power your Q&A so that no one forgets you in a hurry ..read more

You already know that first impressions matter. But how can you ensure you hook your audience and win them over throughout your speech or presentation? Learn two simple, critical tips you need to adopt ..read more

Two missed calls and one curt WhatsApp message, “Call me now!” from my elder sister, based in London, changed my life. On Thursday, 6 June 2024, my younger brother passed away unexpectedly. Adrian was the fourth of seven children and the sibling after me. Although a four-year gap separated us, Adrian and I got on very well. He was brilliant, clinching a first-class degree in computing networking and communications technology from the University of Coventry. He was also the only member in our family (excluding our late father) to have clinched a first-class honours classification. He then ea ..read more

I was halfway through the two-day workshop on effective presentations when the ‘aha’ moment came. I was facilitating the programme for staff at one of the top 40 business schools ranked by the Financial Times (London). It should have been evident by that point. After all, I’ve been obsessed with effective business communication for over two decades — not to mention my nine years of lecturing, facilitating, and delivering communication training programmes for executives at that globally ranked business school. However, after participants shared their experiences of ineffective communication ..read more

My default reaction to the invitation was to decline speaking at the DisruptHR Lagos 2.0 event earlier this month. When one of the organisers, Ms N, a friend based in the US, sent me a WhatsApp message, I immediately told myself why I shouldn’t. “It’s an HR theme…and that’s not my niche”, I began in the chat, weakly explaining why I wouldn’t be a good fit. But Ms N wasn’t about to concede defeat. “It’s not ‘HR’ in the sense that it’s limited to folks in the HR space”, came her swift explanation. “It’s ‘HR’ because it’s about tech, trends, performance, practices, and policies that affect peo ..read more

In this month back in 2012, I impulsively wrote my first article on my BlackBerry device and then published it on this blog. I’ve told this blog’s origin story many times in the last 12 years—not only for those who hadn’t heard it. I routinely share the story for my benefit, to remind me of how far I’ve come and to motivate me to stay the course. As I take stock of the achievements of this blog, I reflect on how blogging every month for 12 years has sharpened my skills. Therefore, to encourage you in your writing journey, below are the three biggest lessons I’ve learned: #1:  Sharpene ..read more

“Hello, Lucille”, began Ms P, a colleague from the MBA department of the globally ranked business school where I worked part-time.  From experience, I knew a request was imminent, so I braced myself for another task to be completed under tight constraints. “We’d like you to take a look at the personal statements of some MBA students who applied for scholarships and let us know what you think”, Ms P explained, paused, and then continued, “We have our opinions, but we’d like your objective thoughts since you’re the communications expert”. I sighed and asked clarifying questions. Seven st ..read more

Speaking in public— without coercion—doesn’t come naturally to me. As a classic introvert, I prefer to be left alone to formulate and process my thoughts. Shying away from speaking doesn’t mean that I don’t have great ideas to share. It means I’d rather blog about those great ideas, write them on social media or even post them in my siblings’ WhatsApp group. In my book Influence and Thrive, I narrated my journey into business communications and explained that I stumbled upon this fascinating field by accident. After over 20 years in the field, I’m a business communications blogger, author ..read more

In 2023, I was again reminded that some evergreen practices for refining your communication skills remain…evergreen. I was fortunate to have done it all during the year: lectured at a double-accredited, globally ranked business school facilitated communication sessions for executive MBA participants delivered seminars for public and private sector clients participated in a fireside chat with the CEO of a global nonprofit sat as a judge in an MBA mini-keynote competition conducted a three-month one-on-one coaching programme for an ambitious female executive in the oil indust ..read more

It happened again this quarter. Two key speaking activities excite me every year: the MBA mini-keynote competition and the industry report presentations. I spend considerable time coaching the MBA students of a globally ranked African business school for both programmes. And this year is no different. For the mini-keynote competition, I was scheduled to coach participants from the business school where I worked part-time alongside MBA students from other reputable business schools in Africa. The shortlisted nine contestants were required to deliver their presentations, while I offered feedb ..read more