Adeola Babatunde is a public speaking and presentation coach, trainer and consultant. She helps women in career improve in their public speaking.
Meet Adeola Babatunde.
1: What influenced your work as a public speaking coach for career women?
About 4 years ago, a colleague came to me scared. She had a presentation at work and she wanted me to help her. She had seen me present to an audience of about 200 people most Tuesdays in the office and sought for help.
Together we prepared her presentation. I listened to her and gave her feedback on her areas of strength as well as areas for improvement. She came back thanking me, she received a rousing applause.
I went on to help many women like her in my workplace prepare and practice their presentation and then I noticed a trend.
The women who did not make any attempt at speaking up at work seemed to have plateaued or not have much influence in the work place. I saw firsthand how women fear to project themselves and how this affected our rise to the top.
Secondly, while I worked my 9 to 5, I saw how public speaking helped to project me and give me exposure at work. It eventually led to me getting bigger opportunities within and outside work.
This ultimately inspired me to create the Online Public Speaking Academy for women www.presentrite.com
2: What do you think as regards to extreme forms of modesty by women in the work place?
It is a very deep concept that needs to be addressed one woman at a time. Modesty in in its extreme form has led to many women hiding themselves in plain sight. Saying no to opportunities that could promote them because they felt it was too ‘much’ for them.
This leads me to another immensely powerful concept that extreme modesty has impacted – self promotion. A lot of women fear to promote themselves because they may come across as proud, loud and arrogant but this has led to a lot of frustration within the corporate world.
One day, I spoke to a gentleman whose boss just resigned and I asked him “So will you be taking up your boss’ position?”. He said “I am the most suitable and qualified for the position considering my experience and proximity with the work and my boss, however there is someone who is ahead of me in hierarchy so lets see”.
When I asked a lady who had the same boss if she would be stepping into her boss’ position, she responded “My pay grade is way less than that of my boss”.
Do you see how the man immediately, validated himself for the role, promoted himself in that one sentence and how the woman completely made no attempt to do so?
Dear woman, it is not bragging, it is not pride if the work you have done and your achievements are based on facts. If you believe you are the best person for the job, say so.
3: As a successful Public speaker, how do you ensure key information is understood and remembered by the audience?
There are quite a number of techniques, but I would highlight one major technique here.
a). Storytelling
Using stories help improve audience comprehension. Stories convey emotions and help paint a picture in the mind of the audience. Stories are easy to remember and that is why we remember a good movie or advert with a great storyline for years. We may forget figures and statistics, but we remember how a good story made us feel for months or years to come.
The statistics below are evidence that storytelling works.
90% of people believe that a strong narrative in a presentation is critical for engagement.1
55% of people say a great story is primarily what holds their focus during a presentation. 1
35% of millennials say they will only engage with content they feel has a great story or theme. 1
4: Why do you feel impelled to speak?
Because I can help others by the words I speak. You see speaking is my gift but I have learned that a man’s gift is not for him but for others! My gift is not for me, it is to help others.
Through my words, speaking engagements, online courses, and training. I can equip others to become better versions of themselves and do more.
5: What do you love about the art of coaching career women in Public speaking?
I love the fact that the women I coach are able to discover a new version of themselves and find their voice. They give themselves permission to rise in their careers. I love how they feel about themselves at the end of the coaching experience. It is truly amazing!
I love the fact that coaching women all around the world is meeting a global need and also addressing the 5th sustainable development goals which is gender equality. The beautiful part of this gender equality move is that it uses an inward approach where the woman turns on the search light on herself and sees her true and therefore projects that instead of asking for the world to treat her in a certain way.
Due to her new sense of identity, she is able to treat herself in a way she wants to be treated going forward.
6: As a public speaking coach, in what ways does the relationship between speaker and audience sustain you?
Seeing my audience follow by asking questions and contributing is always a thrill. I always prefer to make my audience comfortable and free and most importantly I love to see my audience have fun! Having fun and being intellectually humorous is me being in my element.
7: What techniques do you use to engage a live audience?
I use the questioning technique a lot but before I get to this stage, I try to warm my audience up by telling them stories, sharing a few jokes and getting them to laugh.
I love to inject humour into my presentations so that it is a relaxing and fun. Laughter is a universal language no matter the audience, so I always try to engage my audience by giving them a few opportunities to laugh.
On many occasions, I ask members of the audience to take the microphone and say a few words. It gets them excited and they feel connected to the entire presentation.
8: What are your best memories of coaching?
The feedback I get would have to top the list for the best memories for me. One particular day, I wasn’t in high spirits. I just had an experience that was not too pleasant and left me a bit moody. That same day as I chatted with a client, she gave me feedback about how my coaching lifted her spirits. I felt really blessed and I always feel this way when I get feedback like this.
This is a memory that will always be with me.
9: What is the key success when communicating with the public?
There are so many keys but one I would like to highlight here is to be clear. Try not to use high sounding words that show off your rich vocabulary but words that your audience can easily understand.
The second key to success I would like to share is engaging your audience. I always say if you don’t engage your audience, you are having a personal morning devotion.
Make it a conversation as much as possible. Ask your audience questions and let them answer. Get them to share their experiences and perspectives.
In my training rooms, I like to have 2 to 3 people illustrate with a short drama. I can ask two volunteers to please come out and demonstrate a concept I just explained based on their own understanding.
This makes the members of the audience feel like they are part of the show, it also helps them pay attention because they know you can call on them to also be a volunteer if the class is a small sized class.
The key is I try to get my audience involved as much as possible.
10: What would you want your audience to do differently as a result of having heard your presentation?
Speak confidently because they know who they are and the power they truly carry! It would make my heart glad to see members of my audience overcome their fear of public speaking and allow their voices to be heard.
11: What do you do for relaxation?
I love music. In fact, I think I should consider releasing a music album, I sing so well, lol. Music was made for me. When I want to relax, I take a walk with music and I feel really great afterward.
I should put sleep and movies on this relaxation list but with me they are mostly ideas. I am making a mental note now to finish a movie, I started a few days ago, lol.
12: Do you have a favorite place and why?
I love quiet places because I am able to think and create in them. Apart from quiet spaces, any place seafood is served tops the list of my favorite place (
13: What advise do you have for women who aspire to be professional Public speakers?
Start from where you are, start with what you have, start today! You are enough!
REFERENCES
https://www.duarte.com/presentation-skills-resources/19-powerful-presentation-stats/
