A couple of months ago I decided to start a new daily habit of spending at least one hour upskilling myself. Given my interest in strategy and data analysis, I decided to become an Excel superuser. Currently, I would classify myself as an advanced Excel user, with my biggest accomplishment so far being building data … Read more
Over the last few weeks, I have heard from many people and quarters – “the future of Toastmasters is hybrid” or “the post-pandemic new normal will be one of hybrid meetings and events.” Yet just like the assertion that the future of public speaking is online. I believe that the actual mechanics of and what … Read more
Back in 2019, I explored how playing strategy games taught me about strategic leadership. I would even go as far as saying that spending hundreds of hours on them when I was younger, proved instrumental in making it easier for me to design high-level strategic plans during my leadership journey. Recently, I spent some time … Read more
You’ve perhaps been asked to “say a few words” and deliver a short speech at very short notice, and with only a limited amount of time to prepare. This will be especially the case if you are in a position of responsibility or a leadership position. In my leadership journey, this happened so many times … Read more
One year ago, I would have never imagined that nearly all of my speaking would move online to the virtual world. Yet, the pandemic changed the world beyond recognition and forced organisations worldwide to move their activities online or face extinction. By leading the transition from physical to online meetings in my own organisation. I … Read more
I’ve run a lot of workshops over the last few weeks. Typically, an email exchange takes place between myself and my host regarding the equipment I’ll need and whether I’ll be using slides or not. Most of the time I present, everything happens smoothly and I’m capable of handling any small glitches happening on the … Read more
I recently remembered a conversation with a good friend of mine. More specifically, her use of a rather arcane electrical engineering term, ‘black start capability’ to refer to a set of attributes that made some leaders stand out from the rest. In her opinion, very few leaders actually have a ‘black start capability’ and this … Read more
This Monday I delivered a technical speech to secure help to implement a data project for the organisation I lead. Technically, the speech was good, my objective was clear and so was the central idea at its core. However, a couple of things didn’t go as planned and I ended up learning valuable lessons from … Read more
The way a speaker is introduced can help establish the speaker’s credibility and get the audience engaged even before the speaker begins his or her speech. However, introducing a speaker with aplomb is another speaking skill in itself and one that a lot of people get wrong. Let’s learn how you too can introduce a … Read more
Over the past few months, I’ve increasingly started using Zoom for conference calls and online meetings in my senior leadership role for Toastmasters International. Yesterday, I facilitated an online meeting followed by a series of virtual workshops. Online meetings are a powerful tool to add to your leadership and communication arsenal. Here are some of … Read more