Speak with Impact & Own the Room
Stage fright? Fear of public speaking? Too shy to speak up? Intimidated by authority figures? Struggling to connect with your team members? If you're an entrepreneur or working professional and you're facing these or other communication challenges at the workplace, hop on! I'm Mridu Bhandari, TV Anchor & Journalist, Podcast Host, Public Speaking & Workplace Communication Coach & Entrepreneur. Every week I share learnings, experiences and actionable tips to help you SPEAK WITH IMPACT & OWN THE ROOM!
How a 9-Year-Old Reminded Me Why Communication is Magic
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #13 Hello hello! I need to start this conversation with an apology! I apologise for being missing in action for a long time. No excuses - just I'm sorry that this newsletter was on a back burner and that I will do better! The last few months were about experiencing a rain-soaked Mumbai. The kind I always talked about while being a Delhi-girl, the kind that makes news headlines, the kind where the city slows down… but the spirit doesn’t. I learnt...
From the village of Gohad to Global Stages: What I’ve Learned About Influence
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #12 Hello hello! You know how they say “Never say never”?Well… I used to say I’d never live in Mumbai. Cut to now: Today, Mumbai is where I find myself leading meaningful conversations whether moderating panels, events, hosting podcasts or TV shows . Somewhere along the way, I landed up in the financial capital and am making peace with the city’s pace and pulse, energy and (sadly) lack of public infrastructure! The truth is - the things we resist often...
From Air Force Bases to Boardrooms: How Moving Taught Me to Speak with Impact
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #11 Hello hello! I have often said this to the clients I train in executive presence - I strongly believe my childhood had a lot to do with my communication skills. You could say I had my first communication coaching lessons… at the age of 5. I just didn’t know it then. Growing up as an Indian Air Force kid meant moving every few years -new cities, new schools, new accents, new friends. From Hindon to Gwalior to Bangalore, Shillong, Allahabad, Najafgarh...
In the Air. On Stage. At Work. One Skill Connects Them All.
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #10 Hello Hello! I know I've been missing in action for the last 2 weeks. Now, I'm back after the hiatus and no, I haven't resorted to automating this newsletter yet so you didn't receive it for 15 days. I was moving countries and taking a break for that, hence was completely off work - even the fun parts of it - like writing this newsletter! Four days after the Air India Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad, I found myself boarding an Air India flight from New...
The New Language of Leadership: Can You Speak AI Without Sounding Robotic?
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #9 Hello Hello! Over the years, I’ve gone from interviewing rural India families on manual scavenging and caste based discrimination… to interviewing CEOs on digital transformation and AI. The topics changed. The intention didn’t: make the complex simple, and the boring emotional. From 2020's business continuity panic to 2023's boardroom Gen AI debates, and now in 2025, the buzzing trend is Agentic AI. So what’s the story behind the story? An excerpt...
This One Skill Helped Me Earn Trust in Indian Villages and C-Suites Worldwide
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #8 Hello Hello! How are you doing? This week, I’ve been reflecting on my early days as a journalist - when I wasn’t moderating panels or coaching CXOs on executive presence, but chasing stories in some of India’s most remote corners. I was an investigative journalist who was always in the quest of stories around rural development (or rather, the lack of it!). In those years, I reported on the kind of stories that break your heart and then rebuild your...
Your Next Appraisal Starts Now (Even if It’s 6 Months Away)!
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #7 Hello Hello! How are you doing? As you know I juggle journalism, leadership communication coaching and entrepreneurship and on most days I am walking a tightrope. So when I started writing this edition of the newsletter, I was reflecting back on all the wonderful people I've met and interviewed over the years - from policy makers to global business leaders, economists, academicians, founders, VCs and others, I thought hard about what's common among...
What Bollywood Dancing Taught Me About Executive Presence
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #6 Hello hello! Last weekend, I did something delightfully different. I went out Bollywood dancing in New York. Think thumkas, sweat, and high-energy Govinda moves on full blast. It was loud. Really loud. You couldn’t hear a thing. But here’s what fascinated me: even without words, we were all communicating. A quick glance. A nod. The exaggerated movement of someone’s lips mouthing “LEFT!” or “AGAIN!” across the room and somehow, I understood them. It...
Headed for your appraisal meeting? Say THIS not THAT!
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #5 Hello hello! It's appraisal season. Yes, that time of the year - again! And if you’re like most professionals, you’re feeling hopeful, a little anxious, and unsure how to position yourself powerfully in that one conversation that can change the trajectory of your year. Let me start with a simple truth. You’ve done the work. You’ve delivered. But performance doesn’t speak for itself, people do.And how you speak in that room makes all the difference....
From US Capitol to Justin Trudeau to your Career: It's all about Powerful Speech!
Speak with Impact & Own the Room Issue #4 Hello hello! How are you doing? April has been very interesting for me. I love to travel (as do most people these days!) and I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Washington, D.C. this month - that I really loved visiting. The high point was riding around on electric scooters all the time but also, I felt there was something in the air - democracy, public policy, activism - it was just different. Good different! 🏛️ I stood at the Capitol and...
Stage fright? Fear of public speaking? Too shy to speak up? Intimidated by authority figures? Struggling to connect with your team members? If you're an entrepreneur or working professional and you're facing these or other communication challenges at the workplace, hop on! I'm Mridu Bhandari, TV Anchor & Journalist, Podcast Host, Public Speaking & Workplace Communication Coach & Entrepreneur. Every week I share learnings, experiences and actionable tips to help you SPEAK WITH IMPACT & OWN THE ROOM!