City of London Gala

How to Hold a Room: Lessons from the Guildhall

I had the honour of hosting the Official Black History Month Gala for the City of London at the Guildhall — a space usually hosted by the London Society of Toastmasters in red coats.

This time, the challenge was different:
Respect the tradition — but take the room somewhere new.

In front of me were finance leaders from the biggest banks and asset mgt firms, fashion icons, the Lord Mayor of London, Omar Lye-Fook (Nothing Like This), and Danny Sapani from Black Panther.

To connect those worlds, I used three tools every communicator can learn from:

🎤 Cultural Code-Switching – shifting tone, rhythm, and even accents to acknowledge leaders in the finance world whilst also acknowledging the heritage and cultures we are celebrating.

💡 Humour as Bridge – a quick laugh about how men in the city have lowered standards, having gone from wearing fine suits to a blue shirts and gilets

❤️ Purpose Before Performance – anchoring the night in Black History, Black Dandyism and Black achievement gave the theme of fashion deeper meaning.

That’s how you hold a room: by making every person feel they belong in the same story.
A big thank you to Edwin Lamptey and City Black Employee Resources Group for inviting me to host such a prestigious event.