Poised to ensure that more women use their voices effectively, transform lives and scale new heights across sectors in the economy, a social enterprise serving as a catalyst to facilitate women’s journey, SpeakHer, recently held its maiden conference in Lagos.
[ad]
An initiative of financial analyst, Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani and broadcaster, Ayo Mario-Ese, the event themed, ‘Find Your Roar: The Power of a Woman’s Voice to Change her World’, featured four masterclasses and a Speakathon competition with 13 participants.

The founders noted that empowering women to lead, drive change and advocate is both a moral and economic imperative. According to them, as women navigate societal shifts and corporate negotiations, their immense potential as change agents remains undeniable.

The facilitators of the four masterclasses focused on key aspects of public speaking and communication included the CEO, Strictly Speaking, Bimbo Oloyede, who spoke on ‘Screen Goddess’; Executive Director, Joyce Daniels Organisation, Joyce Daniel, who took the session on ‘Own Your Stage’; Head of Portofolio, Bond and Connect Western Africa, Pernod Ricard, Bodam Taiwo, who led the session on ‘Power Talk for Corporate Executives and Entrepreneurs’ and the Founder and President 9to5Chick, Dr. Glory Edozie, who led the masterclass on ‘Branding’.
[ad]
In her masterclass, Edozie charged women to focus on their personality and choose how they want to tell their story.

“If you are confused, then everyone else around you will be, hence there must be clarity in how you choose to present yourselves. Know your why, clarify your niche, which will keep you going when you question your reason,” she stated.

For Mario-Ese, statistics show that public speaking is the number one fear in the world.

“It comes number one even above the fear of death. That’s how much people fear public speaking. We’re hoping to change that, and get women to speak more, to use their voices, and own it,” she noted.

There were four categories for the Speakathon competition, namely; Faith and Inspiration, Marketplace, Storytellers and Pitchers. Moyosoreoluwa Kolawole, who contested under the faith and inspiration category emerged winner of the competition, clinching the grand prize of N1 million.
[ad]