5 Tips to get your child to love and speak your mother tongue

Nowadays, quite a number of Ivorian parents whose children were born in capital cities are worried about their children’s inability to speak their native languages. It is quite common now to see children who cannot even have a simple conversation in their dialect, while it is a critical way of preserving their culture and identity as a people. While some African children only understand and cannot speak, a number of Ivorian children or youth neither understand nor speak their mother tongue. The only language they can understand or speak is French. This is sad as Ivory Coast’s rich culture from 78 local languages and history may get eroded when children cannot converse in their mother tongue. It also means that they are unable to transfer this heritage to their children and grandchildren. This would gradually result in a decrease in the number of local language speakers, which, in the long run, would cause some languages to go extinct. If you are one of the parents who are worried that your child cannot speak your mother tongue, then the following 5 tips might be useful to you. TIP 1: Speak frequently to your child in your dialect As parents, you must make an effort to teach and speak your native language to and around your children as much as possible at home. Speaking to your child in your native language must be introduced at an early stage of your child’s development. Research shows that children learn languages more easily and faster than grown-ups. As a matter of fact, it will be of great value to introduce your dialect to your child when he/she is a toddler, whether you reside in an urban city or not. To be effective, conversing with your children in your native language must be consistent. As they grow up, you, as a parent, should keep on encouraging them to greet and communicate in your native language and teach them the importance of their native language. When you talk to them in your native language, let them know that they can only reply in that language. This reminds me of my late maternal grandmother. When she was still alive, and we were younger, our parents used to send us – my siblings and I—on vacation to her home. I remember her telling us to talk to her only in our native language, since her French level of expression was low. Even though we initially perceived it as a ‘laboring task’, we are now reaping the benefits of that constraint, since today I can proudly speak Tagbana, my native language from the northern part of Ivory Coast. TIP 2: Take your children to the village To help your children understand their mother tongue, they need to be immersed in your culture. Hence, during the vacation period, take them to your hometown to visit grandparents and other relatives who live there. It will help them both improve their speaking skills and discover their culture. “Many of the children born and brought up in the city do not know where their hometown is. A language is easier to learn and speak when the learner visits the place where it is spoken. Total immersion for a couple of weeks can have an amazing effect”. During their stay, grandparents and other family members will tell them cultural folk tales in the local dialect. They may not understand everything now, but with time, this will not only develop their vocabulary and oral skills, but also inculcate cultural values in them. TIP 3: Encourage them to watch cartoons in your local dialect One of the most practical ways for your child to learn and speak your native language is to encourage them to watch TV shows or cartoons in your dialect. Parents can provide their children with cartoons in their native language to watch. This will help them acquire new vocabulary. You will be surprised at how much your child will learn by watching television programs and cartoons. After watching, you can ask your child to tell you what they understood from the story. This will make them practice speaking. From there, you can start introducing them gradually to music in your mother tongue. Here are a few links to cartoons in Kiswahili, Zulu, Chichewa, Hausa, Kinyarwanda, Xhosa. TIP 4: Teach them how to read in your native language Books are the most effective tool for learning a language. Get some story books with lots of illustrations in your native language and read them with your children. Providing children access to reading materials in their mother tongue is also essential for developing their reading and writing skills. However, few African local languages have been used so far in children’ books as confirmed by Christian Elongué in this piece. Thus, this tip is reserved for parents and children who are able to find books in their native languages. Examples of such languages are Amharic, Sesotho, Sisulu, Hausa, Yoruba, and Ewe, among others. Introduce your children early to reading in your native language and encourage them as they practice speaking. TIP 5: Hire a nanny that speaks your native language Last but by no means least, hiring a nanny who can speak your native language can help your children speak their mother tongue. Parents are usually far from their homes because of work and leave their children with nannies. In the case where the nanny speaks your native language, your children can continue learning the language with the nanny in your absence. Encourage your nanny to only speak your dialect to your child. Over the years, you will be amazed at how much your child has improved. In a nutshell, language learning is a continuous process that occurs during childhood. Speaking our country’s official language is good and multiplies our chances to make it in today’s business world. However, there is a need for us to take the speaking of our local languages seriously, including passing it on to our children, as it is key to
Developing and using African indigenous languages in the digital age

We live in an era driven by technology whereby everything in the world needs to be digitized in order to be used, promoted and to grow. This also applies to languages, in the sense that they’re being digitized to facilitate and increase their use in the world. A study affirms that it is estimated that there are over 1000 to 2000 languages as well as 8000 dialects spoken in Africa. However, in this digital age, these numerous languages risk extinction if they are not developed to be frequently used in Africa and all over the world. According to Victor Oladokun in New African Magazine, “As elderly rural speakers die out, the survival of some African languages is at risk. In the face of this language crisis, we need to recognize what is at stake, turn adversity into opportunity, and add value to our tremendous linguistic resources”. There are various ways to add value and develop the use of African languages in the world, and in this article, I have gathered three ways to develop the use of African indigenous languages in this digital era. 1- Possibility to use search engines with African languages BDC defines a search engine as “a software program that helps people find the information they are looking for online using keywords or phrases.” Search engines are able to return results quickly even with millions of websites online by scanning the internet continuously and indexing every page they find. When a user enters a search term, the search engine looks at the website page titles, contents and keywords it has indexed and uses algorithms (step-by-step operations) to produce a list of sites with the most relevant websites at the top of the list. Making it possible to use African languages in search engines means a lot. It includes creating content for various websites in African languages, and this means everyone can have access to the internet in their language. It will also increase and develop the use of African languages in this era where the internet decides everything. Imagine being able to do research on the internet using your native African language ! It is going to be awesome! And guess what? You can already do this since Google Search engine gives the possibility of doing research in main African languages such as Hausa, Swahili, Twi, Ga, Ewe etc. Even though this is appreciable, much work still needs to be done to cover more African languages. 2- Programming language Java T point defines a programming language as “a computer language that is used by programmers to communicate with computers. It is a set of instructions written in any specific language (Java, Python) to perform a specific task”. Developing programming languages in African dialects to develop desktop applications, websites, and mobile applications will be very useful and a great opportunity to spread the use of African indigenous languages because it will make possible the creation of search engines talked about in the first point. All over the world, people will have access to the internet in African languages. There are some existing programming languages in indigenous languages, such as: 3- AI Voice Assistant devices “Voice assistants are devices/apps that use voice recognition technology, natural language processing, and AI to respond to humans. Using the technology, the device synthesises the user’s message, breaks it down, evaluates it, and offers a meaningful response in return,” verloop.io. These devices can take African languages to the next level in the whole world and therefore make their use effective everywhere, which will enhance their promotion. There is one common AI voice assistant already put in place, which is: 4- Financial Technology (Fintech) According to Investopedia, financial technology is “used to describe new technology that seeks to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services”. Fintech is used to help companies, business owners, and consumers better manage their financial operations, processes, and lives by utilizing specialized software and algorithms that are used on computers and smartphones. Business Insider Africa shows that “As investments in startups across Africa keep growing, fintech has continued to take a large chunk”. In 2021 alone, fintech received 50% of the over $2 billion raised by African tech startups, according to data from tech industry researchers, Disrupt Africa. Therefore, adding African languages through localization, to Fintech solutions, will boost their use. Africans will now be able to make financial transactions online using their African languages. This will promote African languages as well. Conclusion In this digital age, developing and using African indigenous languages can only be done effectively with the use of technology. As mentioned above, four ways of developing and using African languages in the digital age are programming languages, AI voice assistants, fintechs, and the search engines created with African languages. Let us make the right choices for the better promotion and advancement of these languages in this digital age. Do you know any other way of developing and using African indigenous languages in the digital age? Kindly share them with us in the comments! You can also read my previous article on “5 technological solutions enhancing the access and use of African languages.” Thank you!
5 Strategies that African Publishers can use to promote African Languages more effectively

The role of a publisher in the dissemination of thought cannot be overemphasised, and the immortalization of one’s literary work is a dream of every writer. For a second, just imagine the inexistence of a publisher: knowledge would have been a scarce commodity. Publishers are not just business gurus, but important agents of change who advance society by sharing meaningful ideas. As cultural entrepreneurs, they contribute to the visibility of culture and the establishment of a language through the knowledge products and books they publish. Moreover, “the health and vitality of a language are not just influenced by the number of speakers, but also by the number of writers and publishers”. The spoken word can easily be forgotten and fade away, but the written word lasts longer. Writing is the most ancient method of preserving knowledge for contemporary and future generations. As such, publishers of books are contributing to the immortalization of not just the knowledge of which books are written, but also of the language and medium through which that knowledge is communicated. Thus, the preservation of a language largely hinges on the Trinity – Speakers, Writers and Publishers. Therefore, when it comes to the promotion of African languages, the number of people able to write and publish regularly in those languages is also key. But when one looks at the book industry in Africa, one can easily notice that the number of books published in foreign languages outshines those published in local languages. It’s easier to find a Shakespeare in Africa than a Ngugi Wa Thiongo. This is sad, yet true; the reality calls for a more strategic and holistic valorization of African languages through any possible medium, especially in education and publishing. In this write-up, i share key strategies that publishers can use to promote African languages and contribute to their visibility and use. 1. African publishers should bet more on writers who write in African languages During an interview with world-renowned Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o, Nanda Dyssou, a Congolese-Hungarian journalist, inquired why there are still not enough books in African languages. She indicated that it was one of the reasons why people are used to reading in English and other European languages, and blatantly recognized that African publishers are less likely to take a chance on writers who write in their native language. In his response, Ngũgĩ[1] said that “getting published is one of the most infuriating challenges of writing in African languages. There are hardly any publishing houses devoted to African languages”. So writers in African languages are writing against great odds: no publishing houses, no state support, and national and international forces aligned against them. Literary awards such as the Nobel, Commonwealth Literature, and even the Africa-centric Noma prizes rarely go to writers in African languages that are, after all, spoken by the majority of Africans. Prizes are often given to promote African literature, but on the condition that the writers don’t write in African languages. Many African writers can write in African languages, but are afraid of not getting published. This obstacle, if removed by publishers, will encourage writers to write more in African languages; which will contribute to an influx of literary works in African languages. Again Ngugi Wa Thiongo, remains a global African writer who has consistently challenged statu quo by continuing to use Gĩkũyũ as his written language of choice, and he even asks his publisher to wait for two years before releasing the English translations of his books to give Kenyan readers more time to discover the story in the original language. “The publishers are not always with me on this policy,” he said. At Kabod, we believe this will ultimately promote African languages and increase the lifespan of the languages used. And to make that possible, we have discounted prices and special offers for African publishers or writers who want to translate their books or writings from any European/Asian languages to an African language. 2. Creating more dedicated publishing houses focusing exclusively on writings in African languages. One radical [but costly] decision that can be made by publishers is to either institutionalize publishing houses that focus only on the publication of content in African languages, or at least have a unit in their publishing house that focuses on the publication of literary works in African languages. This is a sacrificial and financial risk. However, for the greater cause of promoting and preserving African languages, it is worth the price. In light of paying the price, there are some initiatives working tirelessly to support African language publishing. An example of an initiative that focuses on publishing in African languages is WritePublishRead, in collaboration with the African Languages Association of South Africa, which aims to give unpublished local writers of indigenous language fiction the chance to be published digitally in their home language by way of a self-publish starter kit, thus enabling anyone to read these texts if they have access to a mobile phone or any other digital device. Another is the Children’s Book Project in Tanzania, which seeks to improve literacy skills amongst school children and encourage a reading culture in the country. It also focuses on equipping libraries with quality reading and learning materials (including African language materials) and supports the Tanzanian publishing industry to produce quality books for children and young people. In South Africa, Nal’ibali is an initiative that promotes reading and writing in mother tongue languages, and champions the reading-for-enjoyment campaign to ignite children’s interest in storytelling and reading. Publishers’ collaboration with initiatives that promote African languages paves the way for the promotion of the languages while making money. We can’t expect African languages to grow in preeminence, status, and global influence without being willing to pay the price. If that would require publishing books in African languages with the risk that very few people[2] will purchase them, publishers and governments must be willing to take those risks and consistently promote the publishing in and use of African languages. Increasing the number
4 Critical Reasons Why Every African Must Know Their Native Language Now

Language is defined as a structured system of communication. In communicating, we have the opportunity to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas, etc. More than just communicating; language and culture have an almost unbreakable and intricate bond. As we know, language is always linked to a group of people. This explains the notion that to better understand one’s language, you must first understand one’s culture. This begs the question: How best can you know someone’s language and culture if you do not know yours first? Our individual culture and native language, which define us and influence our actions and inactions, beliefs, and worldview, build the rudiments of self-awareness and unique identity. Having an in-depth knowledge of one’s own native language is crucial for the following reasons; Prevents language extinction. Having an in-depth knowledge of one’s own native language prevents language extinction. Language extinction occurs when there is no speaker of that language. The longevity of a language largely depends on the number of its speakers. Intellectual development Studies have shown that cognitive development, as well as intellectual development, is comparatively faster in those who are fluent in their mother tongue. It has also been noted that if a student is educated in his/her mother tongue, the rate of his or her educational success is higher than someone who is taught in a different medium other than their mother tongue. Better connection with your culture Languages are the most important way of keeping our culture alive. Often, the direct translation of one language to another might not carry the same essence as it does in the source language. Thus, the best way to thoroughly learn about a culture is to know the language. Our mother tongue helps us stay connected to our culture and our roots – this is what defines us. The Pride Knowing your mother tongue well is a matter of pride. It boosts one’s confidence and creates awareness in the individual’s mind, while also helping them connect with their cultural identity in a better manner. How to contribute to the promotion of one’s native language The following are some ways Africans can promote indigenous languages: Increase indigenous initiatives and evidence-based research on African Languages Increase the development of quality content and teaching resources in African languages Contribute to the increased presence of indigenous languages online through NLP Develop language policies that prioritize the use of indigenous languages for official purposes and as a medium of learning and teaching. Intentionally teaching and speaking native languages at home, especially at home. In conclusion, it is incumbent on every native speaker to be the custodian of their native language. Contributing to the safeguarding of these languages ensures the longevity of our diverse history, culture, and unique identity. A few initiatives are contributing to the preservation of African languages using natural language processing (NLP): ● Masakhane is a grass root initiative that has the mission of conducting and encouraging NLP of African languages by Africans in Africa. ● Lanfrica Lanfrica aims to mitigate the difficulty encountered in the discovery of African language resources by creating a centralized, language-first catalogue. ● The African Language Teachers and Translators (ALATT) network is a major platform on LinkedIn that brings together language professionals of African languages to facilitate connection, learning, and opportunity sharing among the actors of the African language industry. ● The Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) has ingrained its presence on the African continent for decades by partnering with communities to develop language solutions. There is no legacy worth more than knowing one’s native language and culture and passing them on to the next generation. Should posterity look at the ancestral records, what will your contribution be towards the preservation and promotion of your culture and language? Would you be happy to see your native language go extinct? If not, then the time to act is NOW! Kindly share in a comment the actions or ways you are contributing to the preservation and promotion of your mother tongue/native language.
5 Technological Solutions enhancing the access and use of African languages

Africa is the second-largest continent in the world after Asia and is the most multilingual continent in the world. Whereas world linguistic surveys point to growing language rationalization and a decline in the number of living languages, African languages continue to reproduce and generate ever-new dialects and lingua francas. According to the African Language Program at Harvard, it is estimated that there are between 1000 and 2000 languages spoken on the African continent, with possibly as many as 8000 dialects. They are traditionally divided into major language families, which are the Afro-Asiatic, the Nilo-Saharan the Niger-Congo and the Khoi-san. These various languages have been negatively affected as a result of colonisation, which almost led to their extinction because of the impact of foreign languages and their ascribed privileges. However, Africans, increasingly willing to stick to their culture and maintain it, made use of many assets including technology to ease the use of African languages and avoid its extirpation. “Digitizing African languages is a complex but necessary process. Now, academics and information technology companies from around the world are working together to integrate new languages into various forms of software and technology.” observed Andrew Thompson, a freelance writer. Technology, therefore, is a great tool to enhance the visibility, preservation, and use of African languages, and I have gathered 5 technological solutions that are boosting African languages. 1- Online and offline dictionaries Dictionaries are useful tools for language documentation and standardization, as they try to cover and document the general vocabulary (general dictionaries) or the specialized vocabulary (technical dictionaries). They have a high symbolic value for a language. Having dictionaries, and especially technical, online, or cell phone dictionaries, is visible proof that a language is standardized and modern and can be used in all domains of life. However, very few African languages have standardized dictionaries, which can facilitate the use of African languages by making them accessible to everyone. There are some dictionaries in different African languages, such as Swahili, Kalenjin, Jarai, Zulu, Thai, Twi, Ga, Baoulé, Bambara, etc. 2- African Languages Applications African Language applications are mobile, or web apps created to help facilitate the use of African languages and can be used everywhere in the world. There are various types of such apps: some are used for the teaching of the languages, as games; or to provide news in the local languages. These apps make the languages accessible to all, especially Africans in the diaspora. They can be downloaded and used offline on any device, and this makes it easier for users to cope with them, learn the language, or learn more about the languages everywhere. Some of these applications are: Lulla, which is an app that can be used offline and teaches Bambara, Baula, Yoruba, Wolof, Tamasheq, Swahili, Peul, Zulu, Fun, Bassa, Igbo, and Xhosa as well as African cultures. Another app is Linguarena which teaches Swahili, Bambara, and Wolof. Mandla on the other hand, teaches over 15 African languages through bit-sized lessons, practice listening, speaking, reading, etc. Zivo, with which you can learn Swahili, Zulu, Shona, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Tswana, Venda, Swati, Sepedi, Tsonga, Ndebele, Hausa, Igbo, and Oromo etc. These apps facilitate the use of African languages throughout the world. 3- Online resources on African languages They are passionate individuals such as Chris Emezue, founder of Lanfrica, Christian Elongué, founder of the network of African Languages Translators and Teachers (ALATT), and institutions that are regularly creating, advocating or sharing informative and interesting online resources about African languages. These individuals and institutions are providing information, lessons, news, projects, and research, that are related to African languages. Some of these African language resource websites are: 200 Word Project is a visual and audio tool comprising a database of specialized words with pictures and video clips that allow students to hear native speakers pronounce each word, Dialogue Africa which gives free access to fun lessons to learn Twi, Yoruba, Swahili, Ga, Igbo, and more. Ayekoo Afrique, created with the primary interest of making the learning of African languages an easy task for people such as Africans in the Diaspora. African Americans, although living outside the African continent, share a connection with Africans. African languages.com which contains information about African Languages, and other African Language related resources. Currently, mostly South African languages are covered, as well as Kiswahili and Cilubà. 4- African languages keyboards These language keyboards enable Africans to communicate freely, quickly, and comfortably in languages they can best express themselves in. The first-ever African language keyboard, called Bhala, was created by a Zimbabwean called Sabelo Mhlambi. It first had the languages of Ndebele, Shona, Swati, Swahili, Xhosa, and Zulu spell-checkers online and is now being developed. There are now many more African language keyboards such as African Keyboard and Keyboard Africa but there is still room for more keyboards to be developed and for the existing ones to be improved. 5- African languages chatbots Chatbots are software applications designed to simulate human conversation in African languages. Chatbot technology uses natural language processing and artificial intelligence to understand what a human needs and adapts its response to help end-users achieve the desired outcome. According to Michaek Keenan, they are like virtual assistants that create a better customer experience during each consumer touchpoint. There are many chatbots in African languages, such as: Proto chatbot for Mozambique, to help Mozambicans program customer care for Portuguese, English, Nyanza, and many more African languages, Proto chatbot for Tanzania which helps Tanzanians ease their communication in Swahili, English, Arabic, and other languages, etc. Conclusion African languages are increasingly being promoted and used more in our world today thanks to technology. I have presented many ways technology is facilitating the use of languages in Africa, such as chatbots, keyboards, websites, applications, and dictionaries. At Kabod, we believe technology has a great potential in enhancing the visibility, access and use of African languages and must be taken more seriously by Africans for the betterment of Africa and the conservation of African cultures. Do you know any other
Skyrocket Your Business with Expert Consultants

Make the most of your digital world through Kabod Group’s knowledge management systems, e-learning tools, consulting, coaching and translation services.
Why you need a Knowledge Management program

The benefits of Knowledge Management programs are innumerable, ranging from improved business processes, to enhancing organizational agility and performance, all the way to better and faster decision-making.
Best Practices on Implementing ICT in Education: Preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s world

The world is evolving at a very rapid rate. Globalization has affected the way people behave, work and connect in new and exciting ways. Different sectors are reacting differently in order to meet up with the changing demands. The education sector is not left out in this struggle. It is widely accepted that students with access to a 21st-century education are more likely to succeed in their future jobs, achieve better salaries, and, thus, contribute to their region’s development. When they face obstacles in getting a quality education, their futures are compromised. According to the Institute of the Future (IFTF), 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been created yet. At the same time, many of today’s jobs will become automated by technology and even artificial intelligence. If we are talking about automation, then the big question is, “Are we preparing students properly for the automated future?” In this light, Critical Links organized a webinar on the theme, “Best Practices on Implementing ICT in Education” to better prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s world. This webinar which took place via zoom on Tuesday, 19th April 2022 brought together over 80 participants. The presenter Paulo Costa, an EdTech specialist, started by interrogating the level of preparedness of today’s students for tomorrow’s world. In his opinion, they were not prepared, and he outlined the following as some of the reasons why he considered them unprepared: There is therefore a need to change the way students are being educated. How can this be done? Despite the need to push ICT in education, the process is not void of challenges. These include: During the question-and-answer session, participants were interested in knowing how ICT could be fostered in areas with limited or no access to the internet. The presenter introduced the C3 micro cloud (C3 classroom, C3 hybrid, C3 school) which is a completely self-contained and cloud-enabled e-Learning environment that allows students access to cloud-based learning management systems, curriculum, content, and resources – even if the school has no connectivity or power. In his concluding remarks, he emphasized the fact that technology on its own is not a solution, but just a critical piece of the bigger puzzle. Interested in getting more information on how the C3 micro cloud works, contact us via email at info@kabodgroup.com.
Christian Elongué Consulting Announces Name Change to Kabod Group

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DAAD Alumni Workshop: Connecting Research to Practice

How DAAD Scholars can bridge the gap between theory and practice Over the years, DAAD Alumni have organized a series of activities and events that are centered on expanding their global network and addressing key issues relating to development and innovation. One of these issues was on bridging the gap between theory and practice. A two-day workshop was organized to this effect, between 27th and 30th January 2022, bringing together 33 DAAD Alumni who convened at the Hephzibah Christian Center in the mountains of Aburi-Ghana. Funded by the German Academic Exchange Service, the event was organized by Nancy Kankam Kusi of the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI). With all the research being carried out by African scholars and researchers, their findings seem to barely reach the right stakeholders involved. Why is the impact of research not felt considering the number of projects being carried out by these researchers? These and many other questions keep taunting the minds of most researchers and scholars. The disconnect between academia and industry is worrying. Day 1 focused on raising awareness and appreciation of the relevance of research to development actors. It was with no doubt that participants were cognizant of the fact that there was a disconnect between theory and practice; and the issue needed to be tackled. Taking into consideration all these, what needs to be done? Bridge the gap. How then can this gap be bridged? With this question in mind, the pace was set for the presenter Christian Elongue, Managing Partner of Christian Elongue Consulting (CEC). His topic of discussion focused on Curating and sharing knowledge resources – Identifying and reaching the right audience. He outlined the end goals of research as the advancement of knowledge, a solution to a problem, to increase understanding, facilitate learning, and decision making. He asked participants to indicate the main type of research they engage in and the different tools they used. The most common included Google Scholar, acdemia.edu, and Research Gate. Six of the participants acknowledged using Google Alert. Depending on the fields researchers specialize in, the research tools will vary. He encouraged participants to take time to assess the current tools they were using to ensure that they were effective. The choice of where we put knowledge products ultimately affects its accessibility. Using the 3S approach (Seek, Sense, and Share) he explained the technique for knowledge curation. Participants indicated their worry about the methodological requirements governing writing. He indicated the importance of challenging the norms on the production of knowledge. In his closing remarks, the major take-away points for participants were to: Day 2 focused on Research Dissemination Strategies and Tools. Here, the facilitator Christian Elongué provided participants with practical tools to increase their brand and professional visibility together with the impact of their publications. He began by asking participants to list the common tools they used. Slide Share, Instagram, Tik Tok, Telegram, Facebook, Research Gate, and Academia.edu seemed to be some of their favorite tools. He provided participants with some tips and strategies to promote their papers online, emphasizing what they could do differently to target a wider audience. These included making short, interesting videos, pictures and using infographics. He then dived into educating them on how to build a personal audience, its importance, and the ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ when communicating research to the public. He finalized the session by educating participants on what communication tools and skills were most effective in creating impact. He presented participants with various area-specific tools such as plagiarism checkers, project management and collaboration, knowledge management, and research tools and how they could be used. “Information without application cannot lead to transformation“ Find below the link to the slide share PowerPoint: