The Art of Yapping - How I retain my framing in conversations.

Someone asked me today how I am able to speak impromptu and speak flawlessly. My response was “I am a professional yapper”. Well, while there's that, there's actually more to it.

In my customer meetings, office talks, discussions with friends, random chats, I've always been given the feedback, “you speak well, but how do you talk for long without exhausting your thoughts?”. Regardless of the framing of this question, I provide similar responses - these responses I will share with you in this article.

For the most part of my childhood, I spent time with my dad — a professional yapper — discussing about history, wars, social studies, you name it. I asked questions, took notes of the new words I learnt, then, went back to practice those words with examples from my pocket dictionary. Sooner, I began to use those words in our conversations, I recall the way his eyes lit up everytime He heard me use a word correctly. My dad was really proud of me, in every sense of the word, “Proud”. He nicknamed me “encyclopedia” and everytime I'd travel six hours back to boarding school with him, we'd chat about anything that comes to mind — we were friends — and like they say, “you become like the company you keep”, I too became a professional yapper. The only defect to this was the incessant yapping as a child at home, but I am blessed with a community of listeners as my nuclear family, so, they always listened. If I didn't yap a day, everyone believes I'm ill or sad — a lifetime belief. Truth is, they were always right 🤣 .

How did the little Udoka grow retaining the same skills I learnt unbeknownst to me from the master yapper himself - my dad? Like, I said earlier, I have a community of listeners and communicators as family. Despite the absence of my ability to yap outside this circle (my family), I soon cultivated the ability to yap with my subconscious about things. How did I do that? It takes different routes, the most prominent is consuming any externally available information and just like I practiced the words I learnt from my yapping sessions with my dad, I had internalized deliberations on the information I just consumed. In simple terms, While I appeared quiet and blank of expressions outside the realms of my family, it was “a bustling eke market day of information trade” going on internally. This became my go to means of having the same deliberations I had with my parents and siblings but with myself. Every opportunity to have a chat with someone else on any related subject became an avenue to have deeper physical conversations based on my existing knowledge and learn.

So far, you would have noticed that “the art of flawless professional yapping” is not one that comes on the whims of emotions or like a dove descending with the exposition of a soon-to-be messiah, it takes practice and consistent exercising of the art of yapping.

You may still have the question, how do you really put these information together in your head when you are actually yapping? I'd tell you how. Let me tell you how I do this using my most recent public delivery of an executive yapping session at the just concluded Microsoft AI Tour where I have the most publicly available human evidence to my yapping prowess. 😂😂😂 What does this even mean 😂 there goes my yapping.

I was informed two weeks to the D-day that I had to lead the executive demo session for Copilot. I shouted, “yeeee egbami o” 😁😁 the local girl in me crept out for a second. As a sidenote, this is one of the many things I do with business executives but not on the scale of a Global Microsoft event. With little time and multiple other existing responsibilities, I knew I had to reference my yapping origins, for days I whittled my cards till I had the strongest cards some nights to the event. So what were those cards I played?

THE SKILL OF EXPERIENCE

As a Cloud Solution Architect for Generative AI, some of my time is spent with business executives, technical decision makers, change champions exploring our Microsoft AI solutions — mostly Copilot for Microsoft 365. These conversations can take unexpected turns and they require extensive knowledge and the ability to influence change and empower these executives with new sphere of knowledge. Everyday, I encounter different versions and perceptions to the applications of Copilot for Microsoft 365, my knowledge gets tested and I am able to have deep and sometimes intense yapping sessions on the application I love the most right now — Copilot for Microsoft365 (M365). Personally, I am a highly curious person, I find myself going beyond the usual in gaining new knowledge on alot of things including Copilot for M365 so I have a broader perspective to both the business and technical expectations of the B2B executives I engage and Microsoft as a business. This means a practical knowhow of the application, Copilot for M365. Beyond the understanding of this application there is the need to possess the ability to share your knowledge in relatable clear terms custom to the specific audience and their goals. Despite having the knowhow, I dealt cards trying to craft a relatable means of communicating this knowledge to the Microsoft AI Tour audience which were a mix of attendees from different economic and social backgrounds. What did I do to find a way out before I exhausted my strong cards?

THE COMMUNITY OF LISTENERS, DELIBERATORS AND EXCELLENT COMMUNICATORS

Althrough this article, you have seen how people, places and processes influenced and impacted on my progress, this event like every other thing was no exception. I had a community of experienced senior colleagues who allowed me to bring my individual ideas forward and we all respectfully brainstormed in the short times we had free from our job expectations — they allowed me institute the same process I used as a child, then my creative ability brought forth like the stars beaming through the skies at night. My creative juice began flowing — on the road, in my bathroom (my encounter spot where ideas break forth), while eating, early hours of the morning — everytime my brain had a free second it was “a busy eke market day of information trade”. By the weekend to the D-day, I pulled out the queen 👸 of my card deck. What were all the other cards I whittled, you may ask?

AN ESPIONAGE OF KNOWLEDGE, FREE FOR ALL TO SEE, YET ACCESSED BY A FEW

Recently, I asked an older colleague what education was like without YouTube, let's just say I still can't wrap my head around that reality.

As someone with a photographic that creates pictures of everything, I assimilate visual content faster. One of my cards in my deck of bridges has always been the vast information available on YouTube unearthed by a few seconds of curious search, so, I dealt this card. At my free time, I watched videos on different topics including Microsoft’s own Copilot centric videos. I watched TedX speakers, intellectually and vocabulary sound YouTubers. The goal was to spin up my warm data reserves for speaking eloquently and my personal vocabulary kits. Soon, I became inundated with an avalanche of information. It was now time to piece all together in a meaningful way to all parties involved. Here came the queen 👸 I mentioned earlier. What's this queen card ?

A QUEEN KNOWS WHO SHE IS AND THE POWER SHE POSSESSES TO BRING COLOR AND VALUE TO LIFE FROM THE LITTLE FRAGMENTS ✨️

Like a Queen, this process is where everything always comes together and creates a holistic base for the successful pivot to brighter realms, my queen is my book and pen. With just 3days, to the event, I penned down all the details of the sessions, my envisioning of the flow of the demo, the content of the demo, how I will kick-off the demo, how I and my co-presenter will pivot, my outfit, the impact of the sessions, every single detail of the event from when I walk in and exit the event venue – “Write the vision and make it plain” – this became my playbook now the vision was clear and defined. I kicked off phase 2, practicing my speech with my Copilot App and asking it for feedback then refining my words.

Now the tension began to rise, so I pull the next strong card. What was it?

THE KINGS OF KINGS IN HIS FULL GLORY

One of the funny memories of my childhood my parents always referenced was, I was their only child that prayed for every single thing. I cut my finger, I call my parents for prayers. I feel ill, I call my parents for prayers. I get a gift, I pray. Prayer for me is more than a religion it's a personal belief and conviction based on personal life encounters that there's always a God that will help me — and He always does.

As emotions began to build up, I went to the only Daddy I have left and told him my fears, desires and expectations. I asked for divine wisdom then I let it go. With two of my strongest cards now dealt there was just one last string to pull.

PRE-YAPPING IS A WAY TO GO

An eve to the event at about 8pm WAT, I and my brilliant co-presenter spent hours presenting our topic to the empty seats in one of our meeting rooms at the Microsoft Lagos office. We reviewed every detail, criticised our presentation, helped each other see our blindspots then gave it off to God before we left later that evening.

PS: this would be a lifetime memory for me, this my very senior colleague, really included me, my thoughts, my yapping, my fears, allowed me to criticize him ruthlessly and He took every single feedback. A man of wisdom needs not to boast of it, He exudes wisdom in every expression of himself. This is who this colleague is. A true man of wisdom and dignity.

THEN IT ALL CAME TOGETHER

The D-day, the moment we have both prepared and prayed for came and we did an exceptional delivery. Despite the technical malfunctioning of the projection device.

How did I stay connected and still deliver my demo despite the technical failures?

PREPARATION, A DECK OF CARDS FOR THE WIN

From the beginning of this article, I have repeatedly shown you how I always prepared, whether it was engaging my Dad and practicing his words afterwards or consuming information and deliberating with my siblings or internalising my dialogues or even writing my ideas, and connecting with my beliefs; you have seen a persistent dedication towards high value results. I was able to impact the value of the demonstration because I was prepared, I knew my story, I lived and experienced the story I was sharing. I had embodied the entire story.

As you have read this article to this concluding section, you may have reflected or related to the actions I take to replenish my knowledge and create mindmaps for my brain to quickly connect the dots and craft a flawless flow of words that reflect the images captured from the information I have consumed.

Just like I am able to have impromptu conversations, I have written this article from the persistently resurfacing thoughts of sharing my means to “a flawless yapping session” allowing the words flow as the thoughts are projected from the images of my brain. I wrote this article on my phone lying down in my room just after coming home from work. To crudely express how I am able to speak impromptu yet eloquently, I have decided not to edit the content of this article. Feel free to share your thoughts. As I prepare to sleep.

FINALLY, I LEAVE WITH YOU MY PEACE ✌️

Overall, as the saying goes, “you become what you consume”, I hope this article ignites a personal reflection and helps you find the tools in your personal kits that enables you express your original thoughts flawlessly. Maybe not as a professional yapper but as one with the ability to retain your frame while speaking and as one with the exceptional skill of THE ART OF YAPPING.