Madame Speaker Says

Magogodi
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Self-Improvement

Madame Speaker Says is the podcast for women of colour ready to own the mic, drop that book and get paid like a legend. Join Magogodi oaMphela Makhene - author, speaker and coach - for real talk, shortcuts and receipts to help you lead with confidence — on stage, on the page and way beyond the 9–5. No caucacity, no crusty old school leadership.  Edges snatched. Script flipped. No apologies. Fresh episodes drop weekly.Pull up. 

  1. 4d ago

    AI Wants to Erase You. Here's How I Use Clause to Sharpen My Talks & Essays.

    What does it cost to let a machine make you sound smooth? Because the machine is trained for smooth. And smooth is forgettable. In this solo episode, Magogodi —host of Madame Speaker Says— goes deep on the move most people get exactly backwards. Feed AI "here's the assignment, just write it for me," and you'll sound like a corporate talking machine — forgettable, in a room you fought to get into.  The fix isn't to stop using AI. It's to stop letting AI write for you, and start using it as the most ruthless editor you've ever had. Magogodi walks through the exact process she used to write an application against 1,300 people — owning every first draft herself, then handing it over to sharpen, fact-check and remember what she forgot. And she's been edited by big thinkers at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Harvard Review and W.W.Norton, so she doesn't say "ruthless editing" lightly. In this episode, Magogodi breaks down: Why you own the first draft, every time—so the thinking stays yours, plus the voice-note hack for when you freezeThe five words that turn AI into a beast editor—and why they surface what most human editors missHow to use AI as your fact-checker and your memory bank—the kind that sifts your own life and hands you back the story you forgot was the best partHow to protect your idiosyncrasies—your singular unique phrasing, weird jokes and tone— so your talk still sounds like a human, not a panelWhy ethics matters around here, and why use Claude over the rest.Your authority is in how unmistakably yourself you sound when you connect with folks through the real AF human stuff they're navigating. Used right, AI doesn't flatten that —it makes you clearer, sharper and more obviously, you. When you're done, do the one thing no machine can do for her: rate Madame Speaker Says 5 stars on Apple Podcasts and leave a review. 🔔 Subscribe to Madame Speaker Says — new episodes every Sunday. madamespeakersays.com Chapters  00:00 Introduction & What You'll Learn Today  02:00 The Fear: AI Is Making You Sound Like Everyone Else  04:00 The Machine Is Trained for Smooth — and Smooth Is Forgettable  06:00 Move 1: Own the First Draft — Pretend the Internet Doesn't Exist  08:30 The Voice-Note Hack for When You Freeze  10:30 Move 2: "Show Me My Blind Spots" — AI as Beast Editor  14:00 Move 3: AI as Your Fact-Checker — More rigorous than The New Yorker  17:00 Move 4: AI as a Memory Bank That Sifts for What Matters  20:30 Move 5: Protect Your Idiosyncrasies — Keep the Weird Jokes  24:00 Why Claude, and Why Ethics Matter Around Here  27:00 Your Move This Week  29:00 The Whole Damn Talk — Work with Magogodi Resources Mentioned:  🤖 Claude — claude.ai  📚 Innards — https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324051008 Work with Magogodi  The Whole Damn Talk — 3 hours, one-on-one. Your hook, your spine, your one-liner, your business case. Built from scratch. Five spots a month.  Learn More → madamespeakersays.com 📧 JOIN -  Expect fresh newsletters every week or so, where I share bare truths, storytelling tips and plenty of F-bombs. Ready to turn your ideas into influence?  APPLY for 1:1 coaching to transform your voice into your greatest asset.

    19 min
  2. She Grew Up Between Two Worlds. Now She's Changing How Money Moves Between Them | Alicia DeLia Part 2/2

    May 31

    She Grew Up Between Two Worlds. Now She's Changing How Money Moves Between Them | Alicia DeLia Part 2/2

    What does it cost to put something sacred on a term sheet? For women in leadership and impact investing, this question is everything. Alicia DeLia's answer will stop you: "I don't think there's a cost in putting it there. I think there's a cost in not putting it there. And that's what we've seen this world become." In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, Alicia — founder of Buen Vivir Capital Institute — goes deep on the building of something entirely new. She tells the story of growing in a multi-class family, with ambassadors on her Cameroonian chief father's side and watching her Salvadoran immigrant mother put in overtime to make sure the check cleared for her school field trip. That childhood became the architecture of everything Alicia is building.  Alicia breaks down: What Buen Vivir actually means — the Ubuntu of Latin America — and why pairing an Indigenous philosophy with a capital institute is not an oxymoron, it's the pointHow growing up multi-class — not just multiracial — shaped her entire approach to fundraising and who gets fundedWhy she built an institute and not a fund — and what thinking in 40-year infrastructure actually looks likeThe real reason she chose Mexico City over New York or DC for her launch — and what it teaches women in leadership about where to seek your first yesWhy "it's fun to do capital this way" is not soft — it's the most subversive thing you can say in a funding roomHow to curate a room where power shifts without anyone having to announce itHaven't listened to Part 1? Go back. This conversation builds on everything there. 🔔 Subscribe to Madame Speaker Says — new episodes every Sunday. madamespeakersays.com Chapters  00:00 Introduction & What You'll Learn Today  03:30 Why She Left the Consulting Seat  07:00 Growing Up Multi-Class — Ambassadors and $15 Field Trips in the Same Week  13:00 What Buen Vivir Actually Means — The Ubuntu of Latin America  18:30 Pairing Something Sacred With a Term Sheet  24:00 "I Don't Think There's a Cost in Putting It There"  29:00 Why She Chose Mexico City Over New York or DC  35:00 How to Curate a Room Where Power Shifts  40:00 It's Fun to Do Capital This Way  44:00 Right Relationship — Credit to Jessica Norwood and RUNWAY  48:00 Building for 40 Years — Why It's an Institute Not a Fund  52:00 The Money Game — Rapid Fire  57:00 The Whole Damn Talk — Work with Magogodi Resources Mentioned:  📚 The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk  🌺 VidaAfroLatina — Lori Robinson → vidaafrolatina.org  Connect with Alicia  🔗 LinkedIn: Alicia DeLia  🏢 Buen Vivir Capital Institute: linkedin.com/company/buen-vivir-capital-institute Get Madame Speaker Says Coaching The Whole Damn Talk in 3 hours. Your hook, your spine, your one-liner, your business case. Built from scratch. Five spots a month. → madamespeakersays.com #ImpactInvesting #WomenInPhilanthropy #BlackWomenLeaders #BuenVivir #MadameSpeakerSays 📧 JOIN -  Expect fresh newsletters every week or so, where I share bare truths, storytelling tips and plenty of F-bombs. Ready to turn your ideas into influence?  APPLY for 1:1 coaching to transform your voice into your greatest asset.

    55 min
  3. Fundraising for Other People's Stories: Alicia DeLia on Taking Up Space in Impact Investing — Part 1

    May 24

    Fundraising for Other People's Stories: Alicia DeLia on Taking Up Space in Impact Investing — Part 1

    What does it cost to spend 20 years raising money for other people's stories — and then decide your story is worth funding? Alicia DeLia has been in the impact investing sector since before it had a name. She worked at FINCA International when microlending was a radical idea. She raised capital for movements. She built a consulting firm. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, she watched the sector she believed in get watered down — from bold, disruptive activism into "profit as usual with a sprinkle of impact." In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Alicia breaks down what it actually takes to take up space in impact investing when the sector wasn't designed to see you — not as a leader, not as a founder, not as someone whose story is fundable. Alicia breaks down : Why following your curiosity is more reliable than following your purpose How to know when you've outgrown your plant pot — before you talk yourself into staying What the impact investing sector got wrong — and what taking up real estate in a broken space actually looks like How a woman singing in Spanish in a side room at a conference in Atlanta became one of the most important partnerships in Alicia's work Why the ancestors conspire — and how to train yourself to follow the signalIn Part 2, Alicia breaks down the building of Buen Vivir Capital Institute — the philosophy, the Mexico City launch, and what relational infrastructure actually means for women moving capital in 2026. Subscribe now so Part 2 lands straight in your feed. Chapters 00:00 Introduction & What You'll Learn Today  03:30 Meet Alicia DeLia — 20 Years in the Money Game  07:00 The Belief You Have to Shed Over and Over to Take the Leap  11:30 Your Body Knows Before Your Brain Does  14:00 Follow Your Curiosity — Not Your Purpose  17:30 "I Never Feel Like the Boxes Are Checked. I Just Do It."  22:00 Where Does Audacity Actually Come From?  26:00 The Worst Case Scenario Is Lovely Most of the Time  30:00 What's Wrong With Impact Investing Right Now  35:30 "The Gatekeeping Is So 40 Years Ago"  38:00 The Woman Singing in Spanish — And What the Ancestors Knew  44:00 On Not Shedding What Is Sacred to Do This Work  48:00 Right Relationship — What Capital Can Actually Feel Like  51:00 The Whole Damn Talk — Work with Magogodi Resources Mentioned: 📚 The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk  🌺 VidaAfroLatina — Lori Robinson → vidaafrolatina.org Connect with Alicia 📸 Instagram: @adelia4peace  🔗 LinkedIn: Alicia DeLia  🏢 Buen Vivir Capital Institute: linkedin.com/company/buen-vivir-capital-institute Get Madame Speaker Says Coaching The Whole Damn Talk — 3 hours. Your hook, your spine, your one-liner, your business case. Built from scratch. Five spots a month. → madamespeakersays.com #ImpactInvesting #WomenInPhilanthropy #BlackWomenLeaders #BuenVivir #MadameSpeakerSays 📧 JOIN -  Expect fresh newsletters every week or so, where I share bare truths, storytelling tips and plenty of F-bombs. Ready to turn your ideas into influence?  APPLY for 1:1 coaching to transform your voice into your greatest asset.

    40 min
  4. How to Give a Keynote When You're an Expert — Not a Speaker

    May 17

    How to Give a Keynote When You're an Expert — Not a Speaker

    You said yes to the keynote. The panic slammed into you, right after. Because yes, you have the expertise. You have the receipts. What you don't have is a way to turn twenty years of knowledge into a keynote that lands. Because knowing your field and knowing how to give a keynote are two completely different skills — and nobody told you that until right now. Your expertise won't give the keynote for you. Clarity will. Structure will. The right story will. In this solo episode, host Magogodi gives you three concrete moves to build a keynote that sounds like you, commands the room, and travels long after you leave the stage. You will walk away knowing how to:  Name what you actually stand for, not your title, your argumentFind the one story that makes your authority land and stickBuild the 90-second spine that becomes your keynote and rewrites your bioNo speechwriter. No TED coach. Three public speaking moves. Doable before your keynote date. Ready to build your whole talk?  The Whole Damn Talk is a 3-hour one-on-one intensive. We build your keynote from scratch — hook, spine, one-liner, business case. Five spots a month. madamespeakersays.com. Chapters: 00:00 You're Not Being Rejected. You're Not Even on the List.  02:30 What You're Walking Away With — Stay for All Three Moves  04:00 Your Excellence Is Not Going to Save You. Here's What Will.  06:30 "I Don't Have a Talk Right Now" — And Why That Sentence Is the Problem 09:00 Lebo Mashile: She Built the Vision Before Anyone Co-Signed It 13:00 Wanuri Kahiu: She Named the Genre Before the Genre Existed  17:30 Dr. Kemi Doll: She Made Her Excellence Impossible to Ignore  21:30 Move 1 — Name It. Your Argument. Not Your Title.  25:00 Move 2 — Find the One Story That Proves You're Right  28:00 Move 3 — Build the 90-Second Talk That Gets You on the Shortlist  31:00 The Whole Damn Talk — What We Build Together in 3 Hours  34:30 Your Work Will Not Speak for Itself. That's Your Job. Episodes Mentioned 🎙️ Dr. Kemi Doll: Your Excellence Is Not Enough. On Black Women's Health, Authority & Building in Public → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/madame-speaker-says/id1814213243?i=1000767012758 🎙️ Fear, Faith & Afro Bubblegum: Wanuri Kahiu on Following the Idea That Won't Let Go → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/madame-speaker-says/id1814213243?i=1000763653315 🎙️ Fame, Shame & The Freak Show Part II: Lebo Mashile on Turning Pain Into Power → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/madame-speaker-says/id1814213243?i=1000762218836 Work With Magogodi  The Whole Damn Talk — 3-hour private coaching intensives. Learn More → More madamespeakersays.com 📧 JOIN -  Expect fresh newsletters every week or so, where I share bare truths, storytelling tips and plenty of F-bombs. Ready to turn your ideas into influence?  APPLY for 1:1 coaching to transform your voice into your greatest asset.

    37 min
  5. Dr. Kemi Doll: Your Excellence Is Not Enough. On Black Women's Health, Authority & Building in Public

    May 10

    Dr. Kemi Doll: Your Excellence Is Not Enough. On Black Women's Health, Authority & Building in Public

    You have been excellent your entire life. You did the work nobody else would do. You stayed late. You got the credentials. You built the thing — and then you kept quiet about it, because somewhere along the way someone told you that talking too much would make you look like you weren't serious. And so you stayed silent. And excellent. And invisible--This episode is your wake up call! Dr. Kemi Doll is a double board-certified gynecologic oncologist, Professor at the University of Washington, Founding Director of The GRACE Center, co-founder of ECANA — the first-ever national advocacy organization for Black women with uterine cancer — and the author of A Terrible Strength, out now. She spent over a decade inside the institution doing the science no one else would do. And then she posted on Instagram and sent out a survey — and built a movement. By the end of this conversation, you will know exactly why your excellence has been working against your authority, what it actually cost her to build in public, and the one move that changes everything — starting this week. Here's what you'll walk away with: Your work will never speak for itself — and brilliant women who keep waiting for it to become footnotesA fellowship office, 5:30 PM, one tap on the shoulder — and who gets to write the story of your excellenceThe Instagram post and survey that became ECANA — and the architecture behind turning a decade of expertise into a movementShe stopped doing one thing — and it unlocked everythingWhy she flew Black women with uterine cancer to Hawaii — and what institutional tools look like in service of communityWhat visibility actually costs — and the thing everyone's scared of that nobody says out loudWhat your body has been trying to tell you that the medical system decided you didn't need to knowFearlessness is a scam — here's what you actually do with the fearThis is an episode about the moment you stop letting other people write the story of what your excellence means. Chapters 00:00 — Introduction 03:00 — The tap on the shoulder: who gets to write the story of your excellence 11:00 — The one thing she stopped doing that unlocked everything 19:30 — The Instagram post, the survey, and the birth of ECANA 28:00 — The Hawaii meeting: institutional tools in service of community 36:00 — Survivor-led, not physician-led: how stepping back compounds authority 43:30 — The real cost of visibility — and the fear nobody names out loud 50:00 — A Terrible Strength and what your body has been trying to tell you 57:00 — Rapid fire: fearlessness, the wildest dream, and building your ECANA 📧 JOIN -  Expect fresh newsletters every week or so, where I share bare truths, storytelling tips and plenty of F-bombs. Ready to turn your ideas into influence?  APPLY for 1:1 coaching to transform your voice into your greatest asset.

    1h 22m
  6. When Failure Is the Point: Joan Godoy on Why Taking Up Space Takes Nothing From Anyone Else

    May 3

    When Failure Is the Point: Joan Godoy on Why Taking Up Space Takes Nothing From Anyone Else

    You've spent years making other people powerful. You built the thing, ran the coalition, trained the leaders, held the room together. Somewhere in all of that — you stopped asking what you want. Not the organization. Not the mission. You. This episode is the intervention. Joan Godoy is the CEO of Radical Partners, co-founder of Fuckup Nights Miami, and one of the most quietly radical builders in the social impact sector. She spent $1.5 million dollars a year amplifying other people's leadership. And then her executive coach asked her one question that froze everything — and set her free. By the end of this conversation, you will know exactly why you keep giving your authority away, what it is actually costing you, and the one move that starts building it back in your own name. Here's what you'll walk away with: The question that will make you stop hiding behind the institution you built — and start claiming authority in your own nameWhy failure is not a lesson to extract — it's the thing that made you brave enough to jumpHow to know when a crisis is actually an invitation to build something nobody else has the guts to buildThe hybrid model that saved Radical Partners — and why it applies to every woman sitting between two worlds afraid to claim eitherWhy the most dangerous move a builder makes is staying invisible inside the thing she createdThe three Cs that tell you exactly where your authority lives — independent of any title, any org, any room that hasn't let you in yetWhat it actually costs to step into the center — and why your coach has never asked you that questionThis is not an episode about Joan. This is an episode about the moment you stop building authority for everyone except yourself. CONNECT WITH JOAN:  radicalpartners.org  Instagram: @radicalpartners MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🔥 Fuckup Nights Miami — the global movement in 200+ cities built on one radical premise: go public with what didn't work 🏛️ Leadership Lab — Radical Partners' flagship five-month cohort for BIPOC community leaders, nearly 200 graduates deep 🌍 Global Shapers Community — World Economic Forum initiative where Joan first refused to give the accomplishment speech — and accidentally started a movement 📖 The Fuckup Nights Manifesto — the document that broke open a two-hour conversation that changed everything 🧠 Arathi Ramapushnam — the executive coach whose one question dismantled years of self-erasure 🎙️ Abstract on Netflix — why bold work always divides the room, and why that means you're doing it right TIMESTAMPS: 03:00 — The accomplishment speech she refused to give — and what happened when she told the truth instead 09:15 — Failure sucks, but it instructs: what shame actually is, where it comes from, and why you'll never outrun it 18:40 — How to know when to stay silent and when to act: the George Floyd moment that built Radical Partners' most powerful program 27:00 — The hybrid bet: how she moved from 90% grants to selling more than they raise — and what that unlocks for you 36:20 — The $1.5 million question: what it actually costs to make everyone else visible when you're still invisible yourself 42:00 — The one question your coach has never asked you — and why answering it changes everything 51:00 — The three Cs: how to locate your authority when it has nothing to do with your title, your org, or anyone's permission 55:30 — Rapid fire: Guatemala or Miami, the failure she won't applaud, bachata, and chocolate-covered humanity 📧 JOIN -  Expect fresh newsletters every week or so, where I share bare truths, storytelling tips and plenty of F-bombs. Ready to turn your ideas into influence?  APPLY for 1:1 coaching to transform your voice into your greatest asset.

    1h 13m
  7. Fear, Faith & Afro Bubblegum: Wanuri Kahiu on Following the Idea That Won't Let Go

    Apr 26

    Fear, Faith & Afro Bubblegum: Wanuri Kahiu on Following the Idea That Won't Let Go

    From Creative Vision to Cultural Movement: Wanuri Kahiu on Funding Bold Ideas and Building a Brand Bigger Than Your Work In this rich and unfiltered conversation, award-winning Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu — the director behind Rafiki and Hulu's Washington Black — gets radically honest about what it actually takes to bring a bold, unconventional creative vision to life. Because having the idea is one thing. Finding the belief, the village, and the funding to make it real? That's something else entirely. Wanuri breaks down: Why excellence alone will never be enough — and what you actually need beyond craftHow she spent seven years pitching Rafiki before getting the yes that changed everythingWhy a no is never the end — and how to turn rejection into the beginning of a relationshipHow naming a movement (Afro Bubblegum) gave her community permission to claim their right to joyWhat it means to understand yourself as a brand — and why that realisation set her freeWhy the ideas that keep haunting you are the ones you're meant to followHow to pitch your creative vision to funders when your story sits outside the dominant narrativePlus: Wanuri shares the daily four-hour practice that keeps her creative output consistent — and the dead-simple phone hack that makes it actually work. Chapters:  05:00 — When excellence isn't enough: redefining success on your own terms  07:14 — The creative process: from blank page to unshakeable belief  09:40 — The idea that keeps coming back — and why you must follow it  12:11 — Self-doubt, spirals, and the cycle every creative goes through  15:28 — Directing Washington Black and making mistakes at the highest level  21:50 — How to turn a no into the beginning of a relationship  40:44 — How to pitch when you're outside the dominant narrative  45:00 — The four-hour daily practice that changes everything Connect with Wanuri:  Website: wanurikahiu.com Instagram: @wanuri Resources mentioned in episode: 🎬 Washington Black — now streaming on Hulu 🎬 Rafiki — Wanuri's landmark Kenyan love story, funded in part by the World Cinema Fund 🎉 Blankets & Wine Festival, Nairobi — Wanuri's most Afro Bubblegum real-life experience 🎨 Afro Bubblegum — the cultural movement Wanuri co-founded celebrating African joy, imagination, and creative freedom 🎥 Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón) — the film Wanuri credits with changing how she thinks about what the camera can do Nigerian designers mentioned: FruchéZero + Maria Cornejo📧 JOIN -  Expect fresh newsletters every week or so, where I share bare truths, storytelling tips and plenty of F-bombs. Ready to turn your ideas into influence?  APPLY for 1:1 coaching to transform your voice into your greatest asset.

    1h 21m
  8. Fame, Shame & The Freak Show Part II: Lebo Mashile on Turning Pain Into Power

    Apr 19

    Fame, Shame & The Freak Show Part II: Lebo Mashile on Turning Pain Into Power

    From Body Shaming to Reclaiming Her Voice (Part 2): Lebo Mashile on Turning Pain Into Power In Part 2 of this raw and unfiltered conversation, Lebo moves beyond the origin story and into something even more powerful: what it actually takes to trust your voice, follow your calling, and bring a bold vision to life. Because the truth is, having the idea is one thing.  Having the courage to act on it? That’s something else entirely. Lebo breaks down:  Why Black women’s bodies are still treated as public property and how to reclaim yours  How Saartjie Baartman’s story still shapes the way Black women are seen, judged, and controlled today  Why your body is still a battleground and what it takes to defend your boundaries  What happens when you stop asking for a seat at the table and start becoming the whole house  How to know when a risky creative vision is yours to pursue even when you don’t feel ready  Why the ideas that won’t leave you alone are usually the ones you’re meant to follow Plus: Lebo shares the internal test she uses to separate fleeting ideas from true callings and why taking the first step matters more than having the full plan. TIMESTAMPS:  05:00 — Is this vision really yours to pursue?  06:00 — The True Love Magazine cover that sparked a national controversy  12:00 — Everything is data — and why Pamela Vete changed everything  15:00 — How Lebo went from poet to playwright overnight  17:00 — Saartjie Baartman and the hypervisibility of Black women  22:00 — Why you have permission to make the work that scares you  29:00 — Why a poet is telling you to make AI your research assistant  35:00 — Do you have the nervous system that fame requires?  43:00 — Stop plotting the steps — take the first one  47:00 — Your future self wants to know they can trust you now CONNECT WITH LEBO:  Website: lebomashile.com Instagram: @lebomashile  Twitter: @lebomashile MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:  🎭 Lebo's play Saartjie vs Venus at the Market Theatre: markettheatre.co.za/shows/watch/saartjie-vs-venus Other theatrical works mentioned in her journey include: “Roses and Angels” — the production where Lebo first stepped into acting and writing for theatre, under the influence of Pamela Nomvete“I Am Dancing” (stage adaptation) — based on Pamela Nomvete’s autobiography, where Lebo performed and collaborated creative📧 JOIN -  Expect fresh newsletters every week or so, where I share bare truths, storytelling tips and plenty of F-bombs. Ready to turn your ideas into influence?  APPLY for 1:1 coaching to transform your voice into your greatest asset.

    1h 12m
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About

Madame Speaker Says is the podcast for women of colour ready to own the mic, drop that book and get paid like a legend. Join Magogodi oaMphela Makhene - author, speaker and coach - for real talk, shortcuts and receipts to help you lead with confidence — on stage, on the page and way beyond the 9–5. No caucacity, no crusty old school leadership.  Edges snatched. Script flipped. No apologies. Fresh episodes drop weekly.Pull up. 

Information

  • Creator
    Magogodi
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Madame Speaker Says
  • Show Website
    Madame Speaker Says