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Her Media Diary Episode 35: “Leveraging AI in Corporate Communications” with Gloria Edukere
27 Plays1 month ago
Gloria Edukere is a talented writer, advocacy specialist and corporate communications expert from Nigeria. She found her passion for writing at a young age, often retreating under the dining table to craft her stories. This early love for writing laid the foundation for her successful career in corporate communication.
Gloria discusses her career path, sharing how she transitioned from writing poetry to becoming a sought-after content writer and communications specialist. She emphasises the importance of networking and seizing opportunities as they arise.
In addition to discussing her personal journey, She talks about the role of AI in modern communication. She views AI as a valuable tool that enhances productivity and efficiency but stresses the importance of maintaining the human touch in all work.
This episode is a must-listen for aspiring writers, communications professionals, and anyone interested in gender equality and the future of corporate communication.
Subscribe to Her Media Diary now on your favourite podcasting platform https://linktr.ee/hermediadiary
Learn about African Women in Media at https://africanwomeninmedia.com
List of Organisations/Resources to Support Women in Media
· International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF)
· African Women in Media (AWiM)
· Public Media Women in Leadership
· International Journalists’ Network (IJNet)
· Media Career Development Network
Recommended
Transcript
Challenges Women Face in Media
00:00:04
Speaker
I'd say women in this space tend to take the corner office a lot. You don't project yourself. You're not highlighting your achievement and all of that, which is something that is very limiting, right? Sometimes all we need to do is just pitch ourselves and just go after what we want, right? Which is something that a lot of women not just in the communication space or in the media space do, but Generally, we believe that all men have these more opportunities than we do or access more than we do. But sometimes we just need to be more proactive, more confident in projecting ourselves and going after to the things that we want.
Introduction to 'Her Media Diary'
00:00:40
Speaker
Imagine a world where we have gender equality in and through media. That is our mission at African Women in Media. I'm Dr. Yemisi Akimbo-Bola and this is Her Media Diary, a podcast that captures the lived experiences of African women working in media industries.
00:00:56
Speaker
In this episode, I'm joined by Gloria Adukire, a talented writer, advocacy specialist, and corporate communications expert from Nigeria.
Gloria Adukire's Storytelling Journey
00:01:05
Speaker
Gloria found her passion for writing at a young age, often retreating under the dining table as she describes it, to craft her stories. This early love for writing laid the foundation for a successful career in corporate communication.
00:01:19
Speaker
She discusses her career path, sharing how she transitioned from writing poetry to becoming a sought-after content writer and communications specialist. She emphasises the importance of networking and seizing opportunities as they come. Throughout this series, we'll be in conversation with African women who champion gender equality and ensure adequate representation of women in the corporate communication sector.
00:01:43
Speaker
By inviting these voices into the conversation, we hope to provide solutions to break down barriers faced by African women and media industries.
00:01:58
Speaker
Okay, so Gloria, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast. Have you listened to other episodes of the podcast? Oh, yes, I have and I love some. OK, OK, great, great, great. Yeah. so So as you know, we always start by getting to know the person who we're talking to. And oftentimes when I ask that question, everybody always refers to talking about their kind of ah career and accomplishments. But I want to know your earliest memories, like I want to really know who Gloria is. So tell me about Grace. Did you grow up in Lagos because I know you're currently in Lagos?
00:02:32
Speaker
and No, I didn't grow up in Lagos. I grew up in Akwaibam state, in you precisely. And and um my earliest contact with communications generally, I'd say that I started writing when I was eight. um And I used to write under our dining table at home, right? I'll just knock in there and and just start writing, I'll write stories, I'll write um different things that just speak to my interest and I really enjoyed it for the most part and I yeah kept thinking, oh I want to grow up being a writer, I just want to be a writer and yeah.
00:03:06
Speaker
What inspired you like that? And I'm really curious about that on the designing table situation. So what inspired
Influence of Family on Gloria's Writing
00:03:15
Speaker
you? It felt like a safe space where I knew that, oh, my siblings are not going to find me here. This is me time. And me time had to be in a place where nobody would find me to send me on errands. I didn't want to do chores. I just wanted to write and read.
00:03:28
Speaker
And were you many? or How many siblings do you have? Oh, I have eight other siblings. Yeah, so actually many. Yes. So you're one of nine. Which one are you? I'm the last one. The last board. Okay. Okay. So it's going to be sent around by everybody. oh Yes. Yeah. What was it like growing up with a family of nine?
00:03:48
Speaker
It was great. It was great. So great open a large family just um and ensured that um I had a lot of people around me and it just made me um know that, okay, there's so much more to community. You have support system and you just have all the siblings you can always run to for something. So it sort of had um great impact on me regarding mentorship early on. So I knew that, okay, I had my siblings there. They were always going to support me. I needed something. I would run to them or anything at all.
00:04:15
Speaker
But then it also meant that for the most part, I had to be the one writing old errands and doing the chores, the basic menial things. But yeah, it was an amazing experience. It was great having family. And I always still believe in the concept of family and yeah, having a lot of people around. So. Yeah. Yeah. That's quite a few of you. I've heard really great things about Akwae Bomibot. I was beautiful and all that. So what was it like growing up there?
00:04:41
Speaker
Okay, growing up there, it was actually really peaceful and knowing that, oh, it's just a community of um a few number of persons. it's not a um It's not as large as Lagos is, right? You know that, oh, you can actually go move from here to there. You can commute to places within 1015.
00:04:57
Speaker
20 minutes you've arrived at your location which is quite different from Lagos and yeah it had this very communal setting where everybody's looking out for each other you know and it was great because um then it shaped my early years or sort of my formative years knowing that oh um I could do more than this I can be better than this um I can um go out there dream big and sort of bring changes and transformations all the way home Right. And seeing a quibom where it is today, it's actually changed a lot. There's been a lot of transformations, developments going on there. And a couple of other quibomites who are not just in Lagos um or in Nigeria, across Africa and across um the globe as well. They're doing really amazing and remarkable things. So it's it's good to sort of tie that home as well. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Brilliant. So you had this passion.
00:05:49
Speaker
for writing and which and you found your safe space underneath the dining table right in your family of nine. How did you take your passion for writing from that dining table?
00:06:02
Speaker
right to a career
Career Growth through Opportunity
00:06:05
Speaker
that you're in now? So it's been a lot of epsom flows, right? It's been a lot of growth. It's been a lot of changes, reiterations here and there. It's been a lot of me applying myself and daring myself into looking up opportunities and just not limiting myself, right? Even when these opportunities surface, face right? um So I moved from there to um realising that I had to build a network, I had to build a support system, I've had this at home, but then externally I need to ah meet with other people who get to know about me, get to know about my work and all of that. So I started with poetry hangout, right? I used to write poems, then I would definitely go for hangout and um and I started writing articles for people as well. I used to get paid as early as in secondary school
00:06:50
Speaker
and in university. So I used to get paid writing articles for people and it was quite impressive. I thought that okay I could actually make money from this thing, I could turn it into you know that moment where they're like oh turn your passion into a career right from passion to profit and I saw the opportunities there and I decided that, you know, what I think I can actually do this. So from there, writing more articles, writing more poetry, script writing as well. um I got to a tech company one day and I went there for a poetry hangout and the founder of the company, Rich Douds, was like, oh, we would need a content writer. Do you think that this is something that you can do? And it sounded strange to me at first because I was like, what is content writing? I had no clue. I had no idea what it was.
00:07:35
Speaker
um But then i I got the opportunity and I just started, right? I just started because one thing I and knew how to do was um just go after all the opportunities I needed, right? I saw in front of me, so I did that, applied, and six months down the line, I was doing really good. um I got a promotion into a communications role, a support um communications lead role, um and then I got to explore that, okay, there's more besides just writing. You can um do more corporate writing, you can do more technical writing. There's also copywriting. I got exposed to the other aspects of writing just away from content writing. right And from there, I just found myself applying for other opportunities that came with communications, with copywriting, with marketing as well. And yeah, so far, it's been six years doing it as a corporate and a full-time job. And its it's really been amazing. So I understand the career journey.
00:08:32
Speaker
and kind of the opportunity meets readiness, that kind of story as well. And that's really important because it's something that you took from being an obby to something that you practice and practice. So when the opportunity came, you were ready to take up that opportunity. Even if you had to go do some Googling to understand what content writing is, but you know, you you kind of, you were ready
Projecting Women's Voices in Media
00:08:54
Speaker
for it. yeah In those six years that you've been doing this work, what has been your personal experience as a woman in this space? What has it been like for you?
00:09:03
Speaker
So two things. I'd say women in this space, number one, tend to take the corner office his a lot. um You don't project yourself. You're not highlighting your achievement and all of that, which is something that is very limiting, right? Sometimes all we need to do is just pitch ourselves and just go after what we want, right? Which is something that a lot of women, not just in the communication space or in the media space do, but Generally, we believe that all men have these more opportunities that we do or access more than we do. But sometimes we just need to be more proactive, ah more confident in projecting ourselves and um going after to the things that we want, right? So that is number one. A second thing would be
00:09:41
Speaker
How equipped are you, right? Even when the opportunities come, how ready are you for the opportunities that come? Are you putting yourself in positions where you're learning the things that you need to learn? Meeting the people that you need to meet, getting ready for these opportunities to um present themselves and then so that when it eventually does, you're just ready to take the range of it and yeah, and and just yeah, dive in, right? So yeah, I just believe that those are the two things that um limits women a lot, protecting themselves, Yeah. I mean, there's always multiple aspects to this idea of kind of women projecting themselves. There's the aspect of, like you said, women projecting themselves. but There's also the aspect of the environment enabling you to do that. Right. Has it always been a equal, fair, balanced experience for you? Has it always been a case of it's just you not projecting a voice or has it been a case of actually there's certain things in the environment that's not allowed you to do that?
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, so personally, um I know that there's been instances where I've had to deal with, oh, there are men who are um making attempts at you, right? And all of that. And you have to deal with that whole workplace toxic culture as well. There's that. There's also the part where you know that, oh, for you to actually get this, you need to play the politics of the game as well. And just be more visible, project yourself out there.
00:11:05
Speaker
collaborate and connect with the right people who are in the leadership or management roles, right? There's also that part as well. There's also the part where it's like, oh, um as a woman, um what are you bringing to the table? There's been that question a lot of times as well. What are you bringing to the table? um The only thing that you know how to do is Maybe to talk and also to write and nothing else. You don't know how to execute. You just have strategy. Because as women, we plan a lot. So it's like, oh, you just have the strategy aspect of it. You don't have the execution strength to contribute uniquely to the team. so yeah But in all of this, I believe that if women, if we are able to just position ourselves, know that, OK, this is the boundary and that I know that.
00:11:49
Speaker
I'm not willing to cross. I have my integrity intact. These are the things that I want to do. This is who I want to be known for. At the end of the day, you definitely have support system. You definitely have mentors. You definitely be able to push yourself personally, right? Before other people are able to speak for you, right? So if you're not able to put yourself in that place where you can confidently pitch yourself, speak for yourself, have your integrity intact, you might not necessarily have the right support to um speak for you in rooms where you're not there.
00:12:18
Speaker
yeah Okay, interesting. i am I'm interested to know your perspectives around kind of women in leadership and in corporate communication know and the kind of initiatives, whether you've been involved in them around gender equality you know and what that means in those kind of environments.
Leadership and Gender Scrutiny
00:12:37
Speaker
Okay, okay, so um for those kind of environments I'd say that being a woman in a leadership position can sometimes be very tricky because then it puts you in a position where you're being questioned, your every move is being questioned. Is this person doing this from a nurturing perspective which is what women are sometimes assumed to just um naturally take on? Are we doing this from a nurturing perspective or can this person strategically execute the jobs that are or the tasks that are before her. um Is this person going to be sentimental towards it? rights Is this person going to approach these things from a logical perspective as well? And as a result of that, most women shy away from these things because of, I don't want to say attacks, maybe for lack of better words, right um because of the way they are going to be attacked. right um In this
00:13:30
Speaker
sort of positions, right? And then um you know that for an organization, for instance, where you feel like, okay, there are more women here than men, right? There are two ways. An organization where there are more women than men, you get to see that, oh, sometimes the men just take it backstage and they leave the execution, the planning and strategy for the women to do. And for other organizations where you're like the only woman in a space of five men,
00:13:56
Speaker
it seems like there's so there's so much male ego in the room and it gets difficult sometimes navigating that situation right because then you know that you just have to rob their egos you just have to ensure that you're having um this camaraderie with the men as well right you're just um you just have to sometimes not embrace your feminine part but then be more masculine embrace your masculine energy as a woman just so that you're able to have interactions with them conversations with them and get to a point where you're probably aligned with the objective of the company at the end of the day. So yeah, I think that it just depends on the situation sometimes and how you're able to navigate it individually. How have you navigated it? What has been your experience navigating such environments?
00:14:45
Speaker
OK, for such environment, um I like to observe environments when I go in at first. And I've had to work in both situations as well, whether it's being more men in the room than me as a woman. And I've had to, like I mentioned, tap into my masculine energy and just know that, OK, these people, are um this is what they do after work. You just find yourself being a part of it. Either they're dreaming, they're going for sporting activities and all, or they're hanging out, they're watching football. At that point, you're now bringing a football conversation.
00:15:15
Speaker
into um into the dynamic, right? thats You know that these are the things that men definitely like. You just have to get yourself all um acquainted with some of these things that they definitely talk about. At that point, you've been able to build some sort of and don't maybe companionship with them and then they get comfortable knowing that, okay, this person understands me. This person knows that, oh, Arsenal played yesterday and so um I'm still on edge over everything that happened, right? And it's not coming to me with so much work or this or that or that, right? You're able to balance the emotions. You have to be the emotionally intelligent person for the most part. And then, yeah.
00:15:55
Speaker
That's so good. It's very tricky. it it ah it sounds It sounds like so much additional work to the work you already have to eat at hand in terms of trying to manage all of these egos. And I'm trying to wonder whether it's our job to do that, you know? But you describe yourself as a you communications and advocacy strategist. yeah What does that mean?
00:16:16
Speaker
ah Okay so communication and advocacy because um for the most part I've been working on advocacy driven projects right from youth inclusion to women inclusion, gender inclusion, um digital transformation through education, working on projects that are focused on global health initiatives, that are focused on agriculture, that are focused on finances, so across these different sectors right. and mostly working with organizations that are advocacy driven, right? So at that point, I've been able to build an expertise around advocacy as well, yeah. Okay, so what is advocacy communication? Okay, so I'd say that advocacy communication sometimes is more development communication focused, right? It's more communication that is targeted at um
00:17:06
Speaker
amplifying advocacy initiatives for organizations, right? And these could definitely be sector agnostic sometimes. It's not just tied to one particular niche, but then your ability to be able to um use the narratives, certain strategic communication narratives, to be able to advocate for the issues that are peculiar to each organization. That's what advocacy communication is all about. I had a meeting this morning where I was speaking with an activist in Morocco.
00:17:35
Speaker
right And what they were talking about is, okay, I have this Instagram page and all this amazing content. And, you know, they're trying to promote and talking about femicide. And, you know, the outcomes is that actually what they find is that they're reengaging people who are already engaged in these topics.
00:17:55
Speaker
so For a lot of organizations, including ours, yeah the challenge is how do you engage those who are not already and engaged? You know, how do you move away from your bubble, right? yeah And particularly how to connect with Gen. I don't know which Gen we're on now. I think it's Gen Alpha, Gen Z, Gen whatever. but You know, what what is what is the superpower? What is the thing that allows you to break from, not break, but impact others who are not already engaged?
00:18:26
Speaker
but then also connecting with these and newer generations as well. So um one thing that I have been doing, right? It's not just in the organizations that I work at, but personally is always trying to identify stakeholder demographics, right? Who are the people that you're trying to reach out to, right? It's always having a stakeholder map. It's very important. It helps you streamline your audience, right? You know the stakeholders that you're trying to reach out to, the ones that you currently have, the ones that you're trying to reach out to at every point in line, right?
00:19:01
Speaker
So if you know, okay, you're able to segment them at the end of the day, these are um same with the shareholders and all of that and the co-founders and all, you know, okay, you also need to reach out to the government and all of that. Maybe that's another category of your stakeholder group. And then you also know that, oh, there are partner institutions that you want to reach out to. you know that, oh, there are people in the grassroots that I also want to um have access to my communication and the products that we already have. Knowing who these people are will help you know where to find them, right? For instance, those people who are in the grassroots, um we worked on a project um sometime last year for a company that I worked with, um and it was on financial inclusion. And we know that for financial inclusion, we didn't want to target just the everyday people who are living in For instance, Lagos, Nigeria is very urban and suburban to an extent. How about the other people who are living in the north, right? Those other women who don't have IDs, right? These are the people that we need to reach out to. Where do we find them? They're in the villages. They have community leaders as well. How do you get information across to them, right? You know definitely that they don't have smartphones. So then you need to think of the radio.
00:20:11
Speaker
right They listen to the radio, they they'll definitely go for community engagement meetups, focus group discussions in the village, councils, town halls and all of that. So if you're able to segment your stakeholders, you then know um you don't know what kind of information they listen to and where they listen to, where they get this information from. right So at that point, the advocacy strategy um is more streamlined. right You know that you're not already reaching out to people who don't necessarily need this information. right it's the Social media, there's so much going on there. There's so much going on there, but sometimes you miss your target audience. right So if you're able to segment this, know have your stakeholder map, know the demographics of people that are going to be on there, the kind of contents that you want to
00:20:58
Speaker
each category to have access to and when we are the frequency and all of that it helps you have a broader strategic applications plan. yeah
00:21:12
Speaker
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00:22:07
Speaker
And so when you, I mean, it's good that you've mentioned financial inclusion and, you know, use this experience of women. What do you see as emerging opportunities in this space of gender equality and corporate communication, both in terms of people entering the industry? Like maybe we should start with that. People who are looking to enter the industry and but and have this kind of feminist gender equality kind of perspective and want to advocate for that in the in kind of corporate communication environment. What are the kind of advice you would give them? Okay, so um I'm currently working on an e-book regarding people who want to break into communications, right, especially when it has to do impact and advocacy communications, ah following the steps that I've taken and a couple of other people that I know who have done similar.
00:22:57
Speaker
um I would say that for the most part, start with identifying what you want, right? What you want and what you want comes from who you are, who are you as a person, what are the things that interests you, right? For instance, um I might have um interest in gender education, but not interest in gender and climate.
00:23:16
Speaker
right so you if you're able to know okay this is who i am these are the things that i'm passionate about right then it gives you a sense of purpose to know okay this is the direction i want to go into these are the sectors that i think i want i have interest in financial inclusion climate change right energy right? There are different opportunities out there. Maybe policy as well. yu You just um do your research as well. Know what other organizations are there. yeah What kind of organizations are there? um Do I want to work with an organization that is just starting out or something that a place that already has
00:23:54
Speaker
structure, 10 years of experience, 15 years and all of that. In what capacity can I go in? Entry level, do I want to start with volunteering, opportunities, internships as well. ah Internships are being underrated now but I think that they're an amazing way to break into regardless of how many years of experience you have, right? So even if you have 10 years of experience in a different field, you can always intern for an organization that you're trying to break into, right? A sector that you're trying to break into, you can always do that.
00:24:23
Speaker
right Because at that point, it just sort of gives you good foundational um knowledge on what to do, where to focus, and you're able to eventually niche down. You might not niche down at the start. You can go into, okay, I'm interested in gender work, but then you come to realize that there's gender finance, there's gender climates, there's education, there's women in energy and all of that. You then decide which one you want to niche down on eventually. yeah But just that from identifying these opportunities um as well, knowing who you are, identifying opportunities, um tailoring the opportunities to meet your needs, passions, interests and then from there just putting yourself out there to apply. What is your niche and how hard did you narrow down to that?
00:25:09
Speaker
and Okay, so my niche um for now is on um gender inclusion, right? So I do gender inclusion focus projects, not just where I work, and I've been doing this for quite some time now, and these projects are not necessarily tied to one particular industry, right? For instance, I've worked on gender inclusion projects for finance,
00:25:29
Speaker
for health, for energy as well. So just it cuts across different sectors, but I know that it's just gender focused, right? I wouldn't necessarily do any sort of communications that is targeted at energy because I don't have the experience there. and I don't have the interest in that as well, right? So yeah. Okay. So now There's a lot of emerging technologies.
AI in Communication: A Balance
00:25:53
Speaker
Everybody's talking about AI and machine learning and all that. Is that something that you are also working with in your industry and what do you see as the future of that for corporate communication? Oh, yes, please. I use AI. um I leverage AI a lot to do my work because I think that we're in the technology era and we are slowly advancing to a point where maybe AI might just do virtually everything for us, right? So rather than fight it, why not embrace it? There are talks that, oh, AI is taking our jobs and all of that. But the truth is, if you know how to leverage AI to do your work, then it helps you be more productive and more efficient in doing your work. And then you know that, okay, you have added tools and resources to ensure that your work is more authentic, is more strategic and all of that, right?
00:26:41
Speaker
So I believe in using AI to actually do amazing work because I use AI a lot to do my work, not just charge GPT, but from creating slides. There are slides AI as well. There are a lot of AI tools, right? Even for picture generation, video generation, audio generation, there are a lot of AI tools out there. And I just believe that all you need to do is know the right way to use it. Don't leverage it 100% because the minute you do,
00:27:08
Speaker
AI is garbage in, garbage out. right the mini you um The minute you use it 100%, at that point, you lose your um human sense of reasoning. right You're not able to think in a more nuanced focus. You're not able to think in a more nuanced context anymore at that point. Everything that AI gives you is very technical, is very logical, but there's no human element in it. right So then it leaves you to modify it, keep modifying it,
00:27:35
Speaker
until you're able to find the human elements that you're looking for. um Yeah. So I want to drill further down into this use of AI in kind of corporate communication. Give us very specifically, like give us a case or an example of where you can use it effectively.
00:27:52
Speaker
particularly in terms of agenda advocacy work or whatever. And again, part of the reservations is around the ethics as well, you know, um of some of these platforms. um And even just just knowing how to do it in such a way that, like you said, you're not losing the human touch, you're not losing your expertise. yeah You're making it work for you. It's not doing the work for you, if that makes sense, right? I think it's quite a easy a thin line.
00:28:18
Speaker
So give us gives is a very specific example. Okay, so specific examples are sometimes I say that AI is first and foremost my virtual assistant because everything that I just tell it to do, it does it for me, but then it leaves me to know that okay, just like an everyday virtual assistant, you'd be like, oh no, um change this, change that, don't put this here, put that there. So then it leaves you to do the iterations and modifications at the end of the day. And then for specific um projects that I've worked on or things that I've used it to do. I think I use it to do a lot of things. For instance, some most of the images that go on some projects that I've worked on, I generate the images from AI. I just give it and a prompt and I'm like, okay, generate an image like this. This is what I need. to Generate this image for me. Something focused on this or that or that. I tweak the context to fit that and it generates images for me.
00:29:08
Speaker
right and then I'm able to pick choose keep modifying until I've gotten an image that is close to what I need right this I use this for designs as well generate patterns for me generate background for me I use this for design thinking as well it aids my design thinking process and then coming down to writing um ah sometimes I just give it okay. So there's this press release that I'm working on. um I need context on this and that and that. Maybe write the press release on this and then impute this or impute that and it does that. At the end of the day, all I need to do is sit back, re-modify it and be sure that everything that is supposed to be captured in the press release itself is being captured. An article, similar thing,
00:29:51
Speaker
right I use that a lot and um not just because oh AI is a tool that everybody can use and oh it's free, it's available for all. But because at that point, I know that I'm learning, it has exposed me into oh thinking deeper than I would naturally think. Maybe something that as I saw on the surface level, it provides more depth because I'm always asking it to be very detailed. then it has helped me in streamlining a lot of processes where I would naturally be like okay this is how I want to structure this but then you give it to AI and it structures it in a very brilliant way and you're like oh I didn't think about this but yeah thank you sometimes I just tell you thank you and move on right yeah
00:30:31
Speaker
So I leverage AI to do these things, right? Even as far as um creating program plans, yeah. And I just sit down and I'm like, okay, I have this idea. I want to create a program plan for this. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to go about this. And I just tell AI, maybe give me a draft program plan for something that should maybe drive awareness on this issue or the other issue.
00:30:54
Speaker
And it creates something for me. At that point, it has just given me a glimpse of what I'm looking for, and then I cannot flesh it out. right So I'm not one of those persons who would say, don't use AI, or this or that. I'm just going to say, use AI, leverage it, but then keep modifying it, because again, AI is not human. AI is not you. And then don't use it to an extent where it takes away your original sense of reasoning.
00:31:20
Speaker
Right. Because at that point, you know, you you become too addicted to it. Right. And you don't it doesn't give you time to creatively think as an individual about things that all you naturally think about. Right. Yeah. What is design thinking?
00:31:37
Speaker
So design thinking, this is Stacy. Design thinking is, I would say, is the process of just thinking about a design. It's conceptualizing a design, right? What is the outcome that I'm looking forward to for this particular project? And then think about it the tonality of this, the maybe colors of this as well. What branding elements do I want to infuse into these themes?
00:32:05
Speaker
um to give me the outcome that I'm looking for, that's design thinking. Well, at that point, you're thinking about it in tonality, you're thinking about it in color palette, you're thinking about it in branding voice, you're thinking about it in, yeah, anything you would just make your communication and um seamless, it will make your marketing easier. So colors, tones, fonts, text, all of that. Yeah. Okay. Do you do a lot of work with social media platforms? And I'm not talking about the LinkedIn, do to the like TikTok and all these ones that are attractive to the so my children, you know generation, those kinds of stuff. So I'll reveal a little bit about my personal life you know in this in this question. colleague and I decided to start running. I used to love running um and you know and running is one of those things that when you stop doing, you kind of have to start it all over again.
00:32:57
Speaker
And so we started this, this running and documenting it on TikTok and, you know, yeah and it's such hard work. ah but ah Not just the running, but like the TikTok and trying to think, okay, okay. So yeah we did a video and it had, you know, 1,500 views. And I'm thinking that's great because on Instagram you get like, you know, 10.
00:33:14
Speaker
that so who what What are the fundamental, maybe you can talk a story for each of these and social media platforms from the perspective of corporate communication.
00:33:27
Speaker
but also from the perspective of kind of self-branding, right? Each of these platforms and how, what are the uniqueness in each one and how should we be leveraging them um and also understanding the the audiences. And I know also that some of these platforms you can monetize it. So TikTok and Instagram you can monetize, right? So perhaps take a walk through each of these ones.
00:33:48
Speaker
ah Okay, so I'll start with social media and as a tool generally. um So as a tool generally, I think that social media is really great to amplify the work that anybody does, right? Especially when you want to drive awareness in whatever form, in whatever sector, in whatever product or programs you have, right?
Brand Strategies Across Platforms
00:34:07
Speaker
And identifying the particular social media platform is another important thing, right? Some people, um their work is more focused on, it's more text focus, there's more networking focus, they're looking for a particular thing, um they have a particular objective that they want to meet, a particular target that they're looking for, right? And so they'll um focus on Twitter, right? For instance, sorry, X now, it's not Twitter anymore. it's
00:34:33
Speaker
yes So focus on eggs, right? For other people, they want to meet more corporate policy, um leadership, um experts, they want to meet this kind of people, the people who are in this category category, put their work out there, right? Because maybe they're trying to get jobs, they're trying to um amplify the work that they do on a more brother and general note, right? So they'll definitely use LinkedIn, right? You know that LinkedIn is a place where you can find anybody, any country at all.
00:35:03
Speaker
right and you can definitely see an expert who has um um a decade of experience working on a particular project and you can reach out to this person send a quote um email and then you definitely get this person's attention or not but then you're going to always find people that you can network with. That's LinkedIn. And then for Instagram, Instagram is more social, but now Instagram is um has infused the business element into it where you can actually just sell your product, um yeah market that and reach a good number of audience. But then <unk> Instagram is very aesthetics focused. So then you know that you're not just going to show up like you'd show up on Twitter and just make it tweet and just um put up an image and a hashtag and that's that.
00:35:45
Speaker
which is what happens on X rather and you know that you're not just going to show up or um make just one image post and type in long form content um which is what happens on LinkedIn. For Instagram you have to be more You have to think about the aesthetics. That's where design thinking comes in, for the most part. You have to think about the aesthetics, think about the branding, think about this, think about that, think about, oh, OK, who are my target audience? Yes, they're here. What kind of colors? You have to think about a lot of things when it comes to Instagram.
00:36:18
Speaker
For TikTok, it could just be like an everyday sharing your lifestyle, um sharing a particular thing that makes, that gives you some sense of purpose or something. So TikTok is more or less like, I'd say is more or less like a public diary now, right? Where you just share.
00:36:35
Speaker
just to connect to people, have fun. Yeah, I think that's what TikTok is right now. But then a lot of people have leveraged this for their businesses, right? A lot of people have leveraged this for their businesses. They are able to go further because TikTok's algorithm, I think, is way easier to navigate than Instagram. It's way easier to navigate than YouTube, right? So most people know that, okay, if I just wake up today and I create a TikTok account,
00:37:02
Speaker
My videos could just have 500 views, 1000 views, 2000 two thousand views million views, right? Depending on um the content of the video and your hooks and all of other elements that you're able to infuse into it, right? And TikTok is consistency. And yes, now I'm taking it to personal branding,
00:37:23
Speaker
So I believe in finding a platform that works for every individual. For some people, they're able to sell and be themselves across all platforms, right? But for some other people, um they've only been able to grow a community and an audience on X.
00:37:41
Speaker
right And they've been doing this for a good number of times. um Some people are not even on Instagram, but then they have thousands of followers on X and some of them are not even on LinkedIn, but they are on Instagram and they have a community on Instagram. right So finding which platform works for you as an individual would actually help you portray your personality more. right So at that point, you're able to unapologetically show up without feeling some type of way, without feeling like, okay, am I doing too much? Am I not doing too much? you're just yourself, right? So that's one thing about these different platforms. And then now for monetization, I would say that um influencers, creators, digital creators, and the rest are able to monetize now, right? Before, we didn't have this as a feature, but then now you're able to monetize just by, sometimes maybe just by going live, right? You just sit down, you pick your phone and then you go live and then one hour later, so money drops into your account and you're like, okay, after a month or after a a couple of weeks, you're able to withdraw just by being yourself on social media. So it's, I think it's also ties into the creator economy and the opportunities that exist there, right?
00:38:57
Speaker
There are a lot of creators now. They're doing really great things. They're selling themselves. And social media is that platform now where you can just go from zero to 100. Right. Depending on how well you're able to utilize it. Right. I hope that's answered the question. Absolutely. Absolutely. I've learned so much. I'm literally planning my TikTok channel right now as you speak. ah So I'm getting into that creator economy, as you said.
00:39:24
Speaker
So looking forward then, what's in the pipeline for you, Gloria, and what are you excited about looking forward in terms of copyright communication? Okay, so regarding copyright communication, one thing I'm always excited about is the impact that the opportunity of being in this space has given me to work on different projects, variety of projects, working with different organizations, some not just national organizations or Nigerian focused organizations, but some Pan-African brands as well and international organizations as well. So that exposure that comes from it has been really, really remarkable and For me, um one thing I know is I'm still definitely going to be here, put my best foot forward, keep doing amazing work, keep working with incredible people, keep networking, keep looking out for other opportunities to avail myself and do amazing work, right? Especially when it comes to the things I'm really passionate about, which is Africa's transformation and growth, youth inclusion, women, um gender equity, and the likes. So yeah, I'm definitely going to keep leveraging these platforms, networking and yeah, just putting my best foot forward. Thank you. Well, wishing you all the best and with all of that Gloria and also with your ebook that you're working on. Looking forward to reading it as well. So thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. Thank you. Thank you so much. My pleasure.
00:40:49
Speaker
A significant portion of my conversation with Gloria focused on challenges women face in corporate communication. She candidly shares her experiences navigating what is quite a male-dominated industry and the importance of projecting oneself confidently.
00:41:05
Speaker
and she encourages women to embrace their strengths and not shy away from leadership positions, though we understand how difficult that might be at times. In addition to discussing her personal journey, Gloria talks about the role of AI in modern communication. She views AI as a valuable tool that enhances productivity and efficiency, but stresses the importance of maintaining that human touch in all she does.
00:41:30
Speaker
This episode is a must listen for aspiring writers, communication professionals and anyone interested in gender equality and the future of corporate communication. So drop me an email at gmc at African women in the media with your thoughts and please do share and let me know if you'd like to be on an episode of the podcast.
00:41:48
Speaker
To find out more about African women in media and our work, visit our main website at AfricanWomenInMedia.com. In the show notes, there's a list of organizations and resources to support you if you've experienced any of the topics we've discussed today. And don't forget to subscribe and follow Her Media Diary on your favorite podcast platforms. And also don't forget to tune in to our partner radio stations from and anywhere you are across Africa. Join the conversation using the hashtag Her Media Diary.
00:42:21
Speaker
Her Media Diary is a product of African women in media, an NGO advocating for gender equality in the media industry. And this episode was hosted by Dr. Yemisa Kimbabola, produced and edited by Blessen Udeobasi, as part of a four-episode series on women in corporate communications. All music featured in this podcast is Baenana Kuabena. Thanks for listening. and Join us again next time.