EP.06 | S1 | How to Own the Room: Kenechi Okeleke on Building Presence, Confidence and Influence

What does it really take to walk into a room and be heard, especially when self-doubt, bias, or plain nerves are working against you? In this episode of SheShapes Africa, Caroline Mbugua sits down with Kenechi Okeleke, Senior Director at GSMA Intelligence, for a candid conversation on presence, confidence, and the practical work of getting past imposter syndrome to actually own the room. "The opportunity to speak means that I am good enough for it. I am not going to put myself down, and I will not allow anybody else to put me down either." — Kenechi Okeleke, Senior Director, Regional, Social and Policy Research, GSMA Intelligence Presence is a skill, not a personality trait Kenechi was a shy child who once refused to get out of the car at a friend's birthday party rather than face a room full of strangers. He unpacks how that same person went on to build a career built on speaking to rooms of a hundred people he has never met, and why presence can be learned by anyone willing to put in the work. Self-doubt does not disappear, it gets managed He speaks openly about imposter syndrome, including a moment speaking at an event in Seoul where he was the only Black person in the room. He shares the one thought he returns to every time doubt creeps in before walking onto a stage. Preparation defeats bias before you even speak Kenechi breaks down why knowing your subject inside and out is the real answer to walking into a room where people already have assumptions about you, and how preparation changes the reaction in the room by the time you finish speaking. Listening is where the real preparation happens Before you can speak with impact, Kenechi explains, you have to understand your audience's pain points and even the positions of people who disagree with you. He shares how this kind of listening is what makes an audience actually stay with you instead of switching off. Keeping control when the room pushes back Kenechi shares a personal story of losing his composure while defending a point, and the lesson it taught him about staying level-headed with a difficult or disagreeing audience, including knowing when to simply admit you got something wrong. Hosted by Caroline Mbugua HSC. — An initiative by Caroline Mbugua HSC In partnership with THOP Institute Produced by ASER45 Agency