SCALING BRANDS THROUGH THE POWER OF COMMUNICATION

Skillionaires Podcast Flo Akinbiyiyi

[Angela Thomas]

Welcome to Scalionaire, the space where strategies meet storytelling. And scaling isn't just about the number, but it's about identity. I'm your host, Angela, Angela Thomas.

And around here, we are doing things different. We are not just chasing hacks. We are unpacking strategies that scale.

We are not just telling stories. We are spotlighting stories that stick. Because the new currency is not just capital, it's clarity, it's positioning and identity.

And every week we sit down with founders, brand builders and wealth scalers who don't just play the game. They are rewriting the rules. So if you're here to build a brand with leverage, create income with intelligence and move through life with intention, you are in the right place.

Let's dive in. And today's guest live and breathes one of the most powerful tools in business, communication. Flo Akinbiyi is a global presenter, speaker and communication coach who helps more than 2,500 professionals and 200 brands to shape their messages, their presence and their voice.

You, Flo, entertain more than 95,000 people, hosting global events, moderating and coaching leaders behind the scenes. Flo doesn't just teach communication, he performs it, he embodies it and he's growing it and he's using it to grow. Originally from Germany and Nigeria, now based in Dubai, Flo has worked with names like Ferrari, IBM, Oxford University and Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

And he masters what most overlook, communication that doesn't just inform but transform. And this episode we dive into how communication becomes a leverage for scaling brands, leadership that impacts and what it really takes to become a skillionaire in communication. So let's go into it with Flo Akinbiyi.

Hello, Flo. And it's so good to have you here. I have actually a question for you right in the beginning, you are also known as the eye opener when it comes to communication.

And I would like to know where your eyes were opened to what's the whole communication subject, where did you had an eye opening moment for yourself to find out that communication is something where you can scale and grow your business with?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Well, thanks for having me and for throwing an easy question at me right at the beginning. I actually. Had to think a little bit about that one, but there was this one moment when I came to Dubai 15 years ago, I was employed, I worked for an event agency, I didn't enjoy being employed, so therefore I found a life coach that helped me and she sent me to Toastmasters where I worked on the skill of public speaking.

And for me, that's really why I joined. They have a leadership track, a public speaking track, and I focused on speaking. So after about one and a half years or two years of working on that skill, we had a pitch, we had a pitch with Ford.

And I still remember it was a pitch, a phone pitch. No, no Skype, no nothing, just on the phone. And we had to present a concept.

And I started the conversation, I said hi. And there were about 15 people from literally all over the world. So there were a few from the Middle East and a few from America in the call as well.

And I was sitting with one colleague in the office and I was just about to start and I said, hi, welcome. And I felt I'm not using my full potential because I knew that from the speeches that I deliver at Toastmasters, I can do better. So I switched and I went into that, I would almost say, higher state of communication and my colleague, she could feel it.

She looked at me, she's like, wow, why are you presenting like that? Where's that energy coming from? And as a matter of fact, we won that pitch.

And of course, it was a good concept. Your business concept always has to be good. But it was really that moment where for the first time I understood that if you know how to communicate well, business is easier.

As simple as that.

[Angela Thomas]

Yeah, that that's so true. And I have a lot of clients actually who fall in a stagnation. Why?

Because they have actually not discovered the power of voice. And how do you think that you can help them basically to unleash this? Because it's not, matter of fact, only how to pronounce, how to speak out, have affluent without Ms and Ms, all these pitches and stuff.

But it's also how you landed with the tonality, I suppose. And tell us more about it. What is it all about?

Good communication to have?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Well, the voice is one of the key elements of your speaking, of your communication, of your delivery. And it's it's more powerful than body language. That's what science can prove.

So there's enough experiments to show you that body language is important, but the voice can be more important. So therefore, or is in most cases more important. So what you need to understand is that the voice does a lot of things for you.

You mentioned, for example, pronunciation. What's amazing about pronunciation is if you focus on pronunciation, just getting your words clearly across so people can understand you, you appear to be more confident, more confident and also more competent, confident and competent just by people understanding you clearly. They did some research, for example, where they looked at juries in a courtroom.

And what they found out is that if the jury doesn't understand the lawyer well enough, they will plead more for guilty. But if they can understand them clearly, they will go for not guilty just because they hear every single word. So pronunciation, for example, is a big thing.

Melody, another one. If you're looking through the corporate world, monotone speeches that are delivered. Now, what's a big problem with them?

If you speak monotone, you're telling the audience what I'm telling you is not important and we know that, right? If you think about a captain in an airplane, think about an announcer in a train station or or anyone else who speaks through a PA in a monotone voice, hi, my name is blah, blah, blah. You don't listen to it.

But if we bring in Melody, then suddenly we're listening. Right. It's a difference if I say good morning, everybody, to flight EK714 or if I say good morning, everybody.

Welcome to flight EK714. This is your captain speaking. And I'm like, OK, I can hear it.

[Angela Thomas]

Yeah.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

And Melody can also change the way how we really perceive a message. I can say things to you in a sentence, right? I can say and he ate a fridge.

So I say that as a sentence, as a full stop. And then my voice goes down. But if I say there's a question, I will say and he ate a fridge.

So my voice went up. And if I say there's a question or I don't believe your statement where I say, no, you can't eat a fridge, then we say and he ate a fridge. So there's a different melody.

[Angela Thomas]

Yeah.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

And that's what it is all about. So if you understand your voice, if you practice and train your voice, you're winning because your communication becomes so much more effective. People actually listen and you can now use it to highlight your content.

What's important right in your message. You can use it as effects. You can get emotions across and all of that through your voice.

So people should learn how to use your voice properly.

[Angela Thomas]

Definitely. I'm always in my communication trainings. Also, I have this money making front desk training where I actually train people how to get on the telephone.

And I figure out that this is here's such a big demand on because people are getting conscious that with a lot of nationalities that we are having here, there also comes different tonalities. So, for example, the Filipinians, they are singing more the language where they have and where the Germans are getting really, as I'm saying, edgy somehow to have the pronunciation. How do you train actually something like that?

Because I'm explaining in my trainings, you have to lower your voice. You have to in your thoughts, make a dot in order to get in the functionality in your phone performance. And how do you actually show people what is the importance?

I mean, you trained over two thousand five hundred people and built the voice and the identity of two hundred friends. Easy and even more. So what is your secret that you, especially in this market here, have in place as a recipe for?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Well, the simplest technique and the simplest approach would be remember that variance is key. So what that means is you need to apply voice modulation. You you cannot speak monotone.

That will not work. So what you need to do is, yes, you need to use pauses. And yes, you need to emphasis what's important.

But then if you want to really level up, you should use melody. So speaking a little bit up and down and with speaking at a lower voice, that can be good, but a lower voice can also work against you. If a man, for example, speaks with a lower voice at a higher volume, you can come across aggressive.

And a slightly higher voice actually shows you an open mindset. So that's when you, for example, record a voiceover. You're sitting in a studio.

The technician will tell you, smile. And if you smile, your voice is a little bit warmer. So too low is not good.

But of course, too quick is also not good. So you need to have it at the right level. And then, of course, the other two techniques that almost nobody knows.

And they're so simple is play around with volume. Of course, in the phone, you've got to be a little bit more careful with volume. But if you play around with volume, then if you lower your voice and you almost whisper, it's interesting for the audience because there's a change.

You're telling the audience, OK, this is maybe something important. So you need to listen. And same goes with pace.

You can play around with pace.

[Angela Thomas]

Exactly.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

And that's what we do naturally, right? If I tell you about my weekend, I'm super excited because I went surfing. It was amazing.

I would go faster. And if I think about something really serious and I have to tell my child that this is not what can happen anymore, I will be slower. So therefore, if you play around with the way how you speak, that's already one of the most effective things that you can do.

And that works almost across all languages in the English language, for sure.

[Angela Thomas]

Yeah, that is so interesting. And how you explain this is so insightful, especially with the smiling. You're making a point that resonates totally with me.

I often say my students that they have to put a mirror in front of them when they're doing sales on the telephone in order to sound actually happy and friendly. And for me, and as we are in a skill in a podcast here, it is scaling. It is something very important.

And you earlier told me that you don't like those people who call you and say No, I don't. And it's not because only they have a very monotone monotony in their voice and in this language, but also because you obviously don't like selling. Or what is exactly the point of where you dislike it?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

First of all, they try to sell me stuff that I don't need and that I don't want. So it's a waste of time. But then also how they do it.

I mean, most of them, they don't even know basic manners. They call you without even saying their name sometimes or without asking me. Or I don't know where they got my number from.

There's so many reasons before that conversation already has started. Well, I don't like it. So I think if somebody calls and they've got a good and a positive voice, yeah, maybe I'll entertain that call for a bit and we can have a conversation.

But yes, you're right. Many just mess it up from the start.

[Angela Thomas]

Yeah, exactly. When they're not introducing themselves or asking actually something that opens up the door for a conversation.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

A hundred percent.

[Angela Thomas]

In my trainings of selling is actually always something that I point out. A lot of people like they say, I don't like sales. And this is something where I put my guard up and I don't have anything to do with sales and this is something toxic, et cetera, et cetera.

I always point out that selling is something that is actually treated like a service. You just give a very goal orientated communication to what's your client or for your client in a summary of a service or a product in order for him to make a faster, easier situation, an easier decision, basically. So when it comes to communication and all the tonality and pauses that you are training, what you think is the most importance on the whole communication situation that you think it's the biggest leverage in having a successful sales communication?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Well, audience, it's it's always the same. Think about the audience and the occasion. Why are we here?

We're here to sell. So who's the audience? Not one person has called me to send me a phone contract and asked me.

How much are you paying for your phone contract? That's never what somebody has asked me. They just go, hey, do you want a phone contract?

No, I have one. But if you ask me, how much are you paying for your phone contract? Are you happy?

I would be like, no, I'm not. I'm paying way too much. So therefore, if somebody would ask me, OK, I'm listening.

And that would mean that somebody's thinking about the audience and not just thinking about selling another five SIM cards. And that's exactly what it is. You've got to always think first about the audience.

And of course, if you want to make it better, do research. I travel a lot for work. And if somebody just asked me, I see that you travel a lot.

Is your roaming package that you have efficient? No, it's not. So therefore, you could right away find a way for me to look at least at your proposal.

But nobody does that.

[Angela Thomas]

Have actually that service in the communication of finding out and being interested in you. It's something also what opens up the door, showing with your communication that you're interested in the favor of your benefits. And that is something I feel a lot of people do not meet.

And trainers like you can open up the door because I think it's all coming from being in, not certain about yourself, not very competent or confident in what you're doing. And actually, after a training that you do, you maybe have different skills of performing exactly the favors of your client and the needs of your client to find that out. When you are on stage, Flo, what is more important for you?

We have this when we sell in a sales training. What is more important, the check-in or the check-out? So I'm asking you this on stage.

What is more important, the intro or the outro? The introduction, how you get on stage and kick off the whole performance, the whole event, performance from your side or the goodbye, the outro whatsoever?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

I'm a big fan of the opening body closing framework. So when you look at the content side to really focus on the opening, because it can make any presentation, any speech better to do this consciously. Just yesterday, I hosted a banking conference and one of the presenters started with their presentation with, and it was a good presentation and good content, but started the presentation with, OK, so it's the second day of the conference and it's been a long day and here's what I want to talk about.

Thank you. You just said that it was a long day and you're all exhausted. So I understand, but be on your phone rather than listen to me.

Instead, have a powerful opening. Your opening should be, boom, it needs to capture the attention of the audience. Every movie does that.

Every social media video that is well produced captures your attention. So therefore you need to have a hook. Non-negotiable.

You need to give the audience a reason to listen. So that's why the opening is critical. And then the closing, what do most people do?

They go, thank you. That's it. Any questions?

Again, useless. You waste the time. If you just even finish with, now, what I want to close with, what I want to say in the end, as my final sentence.

Whatever you say, people will listen. So therefore, have a call to action. Have a powerful statement.

Don't put on your slides, thank you. Put something there that is communicating and it's a wasted opportunity. So I would say they're equally important.

One, you need to make sure that people are listening. And if you don't do that in the beginning, it's difficult to get their attention then afterwards. And then at the end, that's the opportunity that you give people something that they will remember because nobody's going to remember that entire conversation.

So the closing should also be thought through. And if you just work on these two moments, you already have a better communication.

[Angela Thomas]

Exactly. I think it's always important to, in terms of selling and growing your business, that you find the moment and to step in on stage or even in any conversation where your opposite lets down their guards in order for you to be able to get other information back from your opposite, from your client, from an audience. And if then that happens, it's easier for you to actually also go ahead and close a session with the call to action.

And I think that is much, much important. Even if you're on stage, don't you have this also? Have a call to action on stage when you close down?

I mean, if you are working for an event or if you are working with an event, probably you have also a call to action in the outro, isn't it? So if you don't place the intro very good, then the outro is also not very successful, isn't it?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Well, you can always turn things around in communication. I think that's what's amazing. But of course, if the intro is not well, it will be more difficult.

But yes, you should definitely think about a solid outro. And I mean, for me, when I host events, it really depends. Every event is slightly different.

And so therefore, sometimes when you wrap up an event, people are already after the last speaker running out. And that's also OK. So there we don't really need a powerful closing.

Sometimes it's something like see you next year. And that's what it needs. And sometimes it's something more thoughtful.

So it really depends on the audience and the occasion. Do you think of what will make the most sense here?

[Angela Thomas]

Yes, I have one question that just comes up to my mind. In my former career in the beauty industry, I always had the address to my clients. The first impression is something that you can't really do it twice.

And it's done in the matter of seconds. I think first three to five seconds you have that one first impression. Now, the first impression is obviously not always about the communication with words and sentences, but with body language.

And now here's my question for you. How do you think both of them actually influence each other? How is the body language influence actually your word communication and vice versa?

How is influence the good communication that you have with words, your body language? What would you say?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Body language is something that you literally have to take apart to understand that question or to find the answer. If you look at the first impression, it's all about your appearance. So what am I wearing?

What's my style? That's because that's communicating. And that's the first thing that people will see.

Then the next thing that we'll see is what's your posture? How are you moving? So the movement and the posture is then important.

And that's what will give these clues of do I like somebody or not? Because that's really all we can capture in these first couple of sentences or in the first couple of seconds. And then if you move on to your speaking now, simple things make your communication better.

If you, for example, use gestures, you will have more melody in your voice. And that's that's fascinating. Well, so many presenters or people speak with their hands in their pockets.

So therefore their voice, you're not helping your voice to sound better.

[Angela Thomas]

Yes.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

But also from a communication point of view, when you look at your body language, you're not using your hands to communicate better because there's research that shows that children learn better if you use gestures. And it makes sense, right? If I tell you, yes, look at the wall, well, there's three, four walls around me.

But if I say, look at that wall now, you know exactly where to look at.

[Angela Thomas]

Yeah.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

It's a simple explanation of how effective gestures can be. So your body language, yes, has an impact on the way how we come across. Does it have an impact on your words?

I'm not 100 percent sure if your body language can really impact your words, but it can definitely have an impact on the way how you think. If you're slouching, you're already your energy is just lower. Well, if you sit up straight and if you breathe properly, it has an impact, of course, also on the clarity of your thoughts.

So from that perspective, yes.

[Angela Thomas]

And I think when then the words coming out very confident, you also have another gesture, isn't it? Wouldn't you think that you have another body language? When you have also a clarity in your words, I find it sometimes that people are communicating totally different.

I mean, stand also totally different when they are communicating clearer or more percent than somebody who is nervous in their voice. They're also nervous in their body language.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Yes. So it's a bit like the egg and the chick.

[Angela Thomas]

Exactly.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

I would distinguish here. When it comes to body language and clarity of thinking, people are very different. So an introverted people might have really clear words, but the body language is still off.

But the content might be really good because think about somebody who's in finance. They will have a really poor body language, but they give you crystal clear thoughts and analysis because that's really their speciality. But the body language is what we got to fix here.

And then with someone else, they will have maybe great solid body language already, but they're all over the place. So it can really depend on what I've seen over the years that it can depend. But yes, very often if you if you fix your words and if you're structured and you know what you're talking about, it can have a positive impact.

Or then it will be a lot easier to fix the body language because you already know what you will say and how you will say it and how it will land with the audience. Now we just put the hands out of the pocket, stand straight, use a few gestures. That's about it.

Yeah, yes.

[Angela Thomas]

Very good. Yeah, I think we cannot not communicate, isn't it? You always communicate even if you don't say anything.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Absolutely.

[Angela Thomas]

And that's why I wanted to ask you, what is the one thing that you would like to give our audience here that they should work on in the first place of getting better in their communication, body language or even voice, anything? What is the one thing that you think it's most important to start with?

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

I get this question all the time. And I I find it very difficult and tell you why. Because communication.

Is a range of tools from if you look at content, there's something like the opening body closing framework, there's storytelling, which will be definitely one of the most important things when you think about content storytelling, that you should learn at least a little bit and you should have a black book full of stories that you always have a story to tell. And then, of course, you want to think about the wow factor in your content, in your messages, and that's really important as well. And you need to understand if you're in a corporate environment, what a world class slides and how can I present them?

So so all of these things are really key. But then, of course, when you think about your your delivery, authenticity must energy, you got to speak with energy and passion and passion can come through energy, voice and body language. All of them are important.

Voice definitely, I can give you my top three. Voice definitely one to work on. Authenticity and I would add storytelling to the mix.

Then you've got three things. But at the end of the day, today, you should prepare yourself to be able to speak anywhere, anytime to anyone. That's what you should be doing.

[Angela Thomas]

Yeah, that's so true, especially in the in the world of our fast social media content that we have everywhere. These little short bits and pieces that are being digested and especially with the help of AI, you sometimes have so realistic content being created fast, too. Where do you see the power of communication?

Authentic communication is in this whole development with AI and the whole situation. Do we have to communicate ourselves or can we let it do AI and advertise and all these artificial produced communicators? Sometimes I'm looking at my own avatar and I think, oh, what beautiful English accent I have here, but then also I look at it the second time.

I was like, it's just not me. Let's do it myself.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Yeah, I actually think that what's going to happen in the next five to 10, 15 years is that people will lose to a certain extent the skill of communicating. I mean, who writes anymore by hand, right? We all type.

So the skill of writing is going away. And next, the skill of communication will also, it will not go away, but it will, they will get worse at it because they will have AI prepare all their content. So therefore, coming up with the right words and how to structure messages will be difficult, more difficult for people.

Then also you will interact more digitally. So therefore, being in a real world scenario where you have to be on a stage or where you have to speak to people directly will be also more challenging. So therefore, right now you should invest consciously in the skill of communication, because I see this being actually one of the key, one of the key skills that people will need in the future or that the ones that are good communicators, they will have an advantage because other people, they, they are able to be great digital.

But when it comes to real world, I think that will be difficult for them.

[Angela Thomas]

Yeah, I think authenticity is such a big key and people get also kind of a fatigue eye on all these avatars and yeah, artificial produced things that you actually can stick out with authenticity and having your own content and practice and invest in communication. You, you take actually communication as your leverage point for growth in your business because that's your product. So tell our listeners, our audience, maybe where we can find you and what we can find with you.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Well, you can find me on most social media channels. LinkedIn is definitely the one that we take the most care of. And what you can get is lots of tips, inspiration around communication, whether it's speaking on the stage, whether it's presentation in a boardroom or in any corporate environment, whether it's presentations to your clients, it's all around communication.

And for me, it's all about building also a connection with the audience and using communication to really unlock your full potential, because it's true. As I said in the beginning, if you understand to communicate well, it will be a key factor for your business.

[Angela Thomas]

That's interesting. And I think our audience will find the information from you in our show notes and info box and wherever we can place all your channels to get in contact with you. So it is really nice to have you on the podcast, on the Screenair platform here.

And I really enjoyed the conversation with you. Dive deeper when we have maybe another interview, when we feature you in our magazine and get you a little bit more space of showing the audience what they can get with you and what benefits are coming with your great communication skills and trainings that you have. Thank you, Flo.

[Flo Akinbiyiyi]

Thank you very much.

[Angela Thomas]

That was Flo Akinbiyi, a communicator, a performer and a true Screenair in his field. If today's episode showed you anything, let it be this. Scaling isn't about what you say.

It's about how deep it lands, because real growth doesn't come from louder messages. It comes from international presence, from clarity, from communication that scales beyond the moment. Here at Screenairs, we build a new kind of playbook.

One where your story becomes your strategy. One where your voice becomes your vehicle and where your identity becomes your greatest asset. If this is resonating with you, subscribe, share and leave a review.

And let's scale this movement together until the next time. And stay sharp, stay clear and stay committed to the strong story that only you can scale. With strategies that scale and stories that stick here in the Screenair podcast.