right from a very young age I've been
fascinated about the ears
my dad was an ENT surgeon and he would
hold my hand and show me the inner part
of the ear he would let me visualize the
beauty of the canal and the eardrum and
I didn't know at a point in time that
these was going this was going to lay a
foundation and be a building block for
what I love my passion for patients and
the passion of being an ear nose and
throat surgeon
it's amazing how sound travels through
the air through the ear canal and
strikes of the eardrum when it strikes
on the eardrum it causes vibrations
which make the tiny bones in the middle
ear to move this movement causes a
change in pressure in the inner ear and
causes ripple effects of a fluid in the
inner ear the ripple effects shakes a
membrane which moves the tiny hair cells
we have in the inner ear and this
movement at this tiny enhancers access
transducers that converts the mechanical
energy to electrical impulses through
the auditory nerve to the brain so in a
nutshell that's how we hear babies can
hear when you bang the door this tattoo
with reflex or they turn to the point of
direction as they grow older or they
account by the soothing sound of a
parent or a loved one this however is
different from communication because to
communicate you need to pass an
information and understanding from one
person to another and at different ways
we can communicate we can communicate
written verbal nonverbal or you can even
communicate
all three at the same time like you can
hear my voice there is a signer on stage
and if there was a presentation written
out for written we talked about letters
text messages or emails we also talked
about different interpretations when you
read a message just imagine a sign on
the road which says don't talk while you
eat it means different things to quite a
lot of people on this this presentation
to some it may mean one thing to another
a different thing and it ranges from
politics to table manners to me as an
ear nose and throat surgeon I'll be
thinking it helps us prevent foreign
body aspiration why you eat and a
foreign body goes into the airway and it
can be a form of emergency I remember
being worried brain up as a resident and
seen a lot of children who eat and have
granules being thrown into their Airways
and things like that it scared me and my
children did not take granades or
peanuts until they were like four or
five because of the fear of what I had
seen so its entrance or wrong word can
mean a lot of things and it means
different things to different people and
can be applied differently depending on
the context in which it is applied for
verbal communication we can use our
voice the musician Miriam Makeba use her
voice to draw attention to appetites now
record in South Africa
our very own son Yoko su also used his
voice to drag attention to things that
are happening in Nigeria in
communication we need to be clear there
has to be clarity in anything we have to
see in a medical profession when you ask
your patient specific questions you need
to be clear on what you want to find out
the same thing when they speak to you
everyone needs to be understanding we
understand each other because what you
say determines the diagnosis the doctors
come up with if I use some big medical
terms my patients won't understand but
if I'm talking to my
colleague then it is okay so clarity is
very important while communicating with
the next person because it determines
what you would get or your response at
the end of the day I remember in those
days in the 70s and 80s where parents
would want to step out of the house and
they would say things or play tricks on
children and see I'm not going anywhere
I'm at home and then when you turn
around they are gone there sneaks
through the back door
I also remember the common trick then
was going get your shoes and wait for
you and when you get back to the room
they were not there
those were the tricks that when were
younger
we saw parents do a few years later I
became a parent as well and I was faced
with the same challenge of my kids
eager wanted to go for two places with
me
eager to go to work I had to make a
decision to either trick them as I had
seen or as was communicated to me
non-verbally or I had to do something
different I chose the latter I decided
to sit my children down explain to them
in clear terms in a way they would
understand why mommy had to go to work
why I had to go alone and how distracted
I would be if they were we mean clarity
in my communication to children who were
4 and 6 at the time it was wonderful
because they understood hugs kisses and
a farewell goodbye it is important to
communicate even with signs directions
along the road on stage with us we have
a signer a signer helps us communicates
with those who with hearing impairment
we need to capture those with hearing
impairments in our midst and it helps
really understanding and clarity of the
message I'm trying to send but the
question is how many sign
do we invite our seminars how many
signers do we bring in to our events
some will say it is not necessary we
rarely have those with hearing
impairments attending our program anyway
but the question is are they absent
because you don't provide those services
are they absent because if they are
there they will not participate there
will not benefit because there is no
means of communicating with them are we
doing enough to ensure that the forms of
communication written verbal nonverbal
use of signs the signers are open in
written script are being communicated
and captured and we capturing the entire
populace and we getting everyone
involved I grew up in a very closely
knit family I have two elder brothers
who were twins and then three sisters
we're siblings but we're more like
friends and we're very close to one
another tragedy struck once when I lost
my elder brother he was 22 at a time it
was a difficult time for everyone in the
family and my younger sister had
empathize with me I told me to go out
more and all of that after we had done
the burial so I took her advice and I
did I went for a gathering and get
together at a friend's place on arriving
there I realized that I was not as
emotionally strong and stable to be out
of the house as I imagined earlier I sat
at the corner quietly because I didn't
want to rush anyone out while sitting at
the corner a friend came and sat by me
he sat with me and did not say a word he
was silent through my stay through my
period while I was there when I was done
I got off and left with a smile on my
face because he felt like that was the
best
conversation I've had in years some
people are not very good with words but
they have a way of showing you they can
that single act show two things in one
and nonverbal communication letting me
know that I'm here for you and empathy
to let me know I understand
communication can be with a smile in
warm embrace it can also be the applause
a crowd I give to someone before they
adore their speech it could also be a
stern look a parents will give to a
child when they're going out of line in
a public place or my friend who sat
quietly beside me during my final exams
in medical school I was preparing very
hard and then I got a call that my dad
had a few days to live this was not what
I needed at a point in time this was not
what I needed to hear I picked up the
phone and I made a phone call to find
out how he was doing and the background
I could hear the monitors beeping away I
had to make a decision to listen to the
monitors and get distracted and
discouraged or listen to the encouraging
voice of my father who was building me
up and telling me go ahead you can do
this I promise I will call you every day
every day I said my prayers I worked
very hard and I ensured that I did my
best I got that call every day for my
father I refused to listen to the voice
of the noise that was going on the
beeping sound that was causing some form
of destruction I decided to focus with
communication they can be distractions
but you need to choose to focus on what
is important and last I passed the exam
by a few days later he was gone it's
difficult when you lose a loved one in a
family but it's also important to know
that everyone shares different feelings
when the end they lose a loved one we
all interact
friendly with people so the same we may
not have the same reactions and it's
always important to communicate with one
another in communication we can now
develop empathy Oprah Winfrey once said
that leadership is about impressing
empathy is important for leaders because
if you know what the people want what
their pains are you understand their
struggles are you able to provide these
things for them then you've already
answered a lot of your questions and
solved a lot of their problems empathy
is important in business with your staff
to ensure that they do their best when
they have a boss or someone a leader
that understands what they're going
through and understands the pain our
struggles and looks for a way to make
those pain go away you find out that
those in your team would want to work
extra hard because you understand and
you care a medicine communication and
empathy is aware of our life
communication is key because without
adequate communication with our patients
we can't make the right diagnosis if
you're not telling us the right symptoms
then we find it difficult to know what
is really wrong we married the symptoms
and the findings to make your proper
diagnosis so communication in medicine
is very important and also we have to
empathize with our patients because most
times we always have that challenge and
we have to break the bad news to our
patients or their relatives so empathy
is more like a part of our life and in
doing that we need to set an environment
we need to put them in a quiet place
you can't break such a news in a public
place or along the corridors you need to
show empathy you need to break the news
down and let them know before you say
that you have to let them know you have
bad news so they are prepared to get
that it is important to show empathy to
other people it is important to care for
others it's important to communicate and
is also important to have self empathy
self empathy that's being kind to
yourself do not compare yourself with
others don't beat yourself up when
things don't go right don't put too much
pressure on yourself don't give up on
what you want to achieve be your own
cheerleader be your own person you are
equally important as the next person so
be kind to yourself let us communicate
better let us empathize more for a
better lifestyle thank you
[Applause]
[Music]