You will agree that people find it difficult to express their opinion in public, sell or convince others to get a product, and pitch their ideas to investors.

If you struggle with this, worry no more.

Mediahooch, in collaboration with Epic Digital Academy and Northpad Nigeria, organized 4 weeks of physical public speaking training in Zaria to encourage the participants to be more outspoken, tackle stage fright and share their thoughts with others.

How It Happened

The public speaking event took off at exactly 2:30 pm on the 5^th of November 2022 at Mediahooch in Zaria with an opening speech by the founder of Mediahooch Spaces, Ila Bappa Ibrahim. He welcomed everyone who signed up for the training and also shared what the course was all about. He also shared his experience and how timid he was before he became so confident.

The founder of Epic Digital Academy, Dr A.S  Abdulrasheed, a public speaker, YouTuber and content creator, spoke next. He made the participants understand that public speaking is very important no matter the sector they find themselves in.

He provided great tips and hacks on how to perfect speaking on stage and also laid emphasis on the importance of being conscious on the stage as it affects one’s whole posture and behaviour on the stage.

Afterwards, each participant was asked to come on stage to share a story they felt comfortable letting the audience know in 3 minutes.

Abdullahi Mukhtar, a graphic designer, told the audience about how he landed his job at Mediahooch and how it impacted his life. He shared how he got to network and learned many skills at Mediahooch.

Jamila Abdullahi, a makeup artist, gave a brief biography of herself and her love for makeup. 

For Ann Ene Agbo, a blogger and content creator focused on her likes and dislikes. She was a bit emotional when sharing her ordeal with the audience for the first time.

Usman Ahmad wowed everyone in the audience. While he declared he “loves to talk”, he claimed, “of what value is it to talk about oneself?” Instead, he talked about the pencil he was holding and how it is just a pencil to everyone else but engineers, architects, and artists who give it a larger meaning. Usman was of the notion that everyone has a story to tell.

Aisha Yusuf gave the audience a brief summary of her life and how the COVID-19 lockdown benefited her, as she got the opportunity to learn graphic design, which changed her life.

Daniel Monyei, a Law student, spoke about the power of negotiations and how they can be used to one’s advantage.

Najah El-Yakubu also spoke briefly about herself.

The photographer of the day, Gabriel Kureh, was also not left behind. The Mediahooch staff told the audience about his passion for photography and his journey so far. He spoke about how he is looking forward to more exposure and development.

Zainab Umar’s presentation was superb, as she made the audience understand there is absolutely nothing wrong with being weird.

Your thinking, behaviour and way of doing things might be different, but then you are a human being after all.

Zainab Umar

Abdullhi Malumfashi, the Chief Editor of Northpad Nigeria, took the presentation to another turn. He shared a side of him he claimed, ‘most people don’t know. He also shared some tips on public speaking and how to overcome the fear of public speaking

Muhammad Jimada spoke about his passion for the position at Mediahooch and shared an experience he will never forget.

Mujaheed Suleiman, a final-year Industrial Design Student and graphic designer, educated the audience on the difference between intensity and consistency, which rounded up the sessions perfectly.

At the end of the session, Dr Abdulrasheed congratulated all those present for taking the bold to be present at the event. He also commented on each person’s performance based on how each speaker posed, smiled, used fillers, played with the mic, and how well they connected with the audience.

Ila Bappa Ibrahim gave the closing remark and also gave the participants an assignment to work on for the next class.

I felt so excited about the session, and I think it was an opportunity to perfect my public speaking and presentation skills. If you want the opportunity to improve, don’t hesitate to use this link to register for the next batch.