Leanne on Demand Daily with Leanne Hughes

📚 Thanks for coming back for part three of my book prescription series! Over the last couple of episodes, I’ve been sharing the books I recommend constantly —not just because they’re great reads, but because they solve specific problems my clients, friends, and colleagues bring to me. In today’s episode, I cover books that will help you if you: Are doing great work, but feel like no one notices H...

Last week I shared my first seven Book Prescriptions —titles I recommend constantly because they solve very specific problems. Today I’m back with the next seven. These are the books I turn to (and re-read) whenever someone asks me things like: “How do I come up with a catchy name for my idea or business?” “I want to become a paid speaker—where do I even start?” “Why do I keep making expensive mis...

As facilitators, our clients don’t pay for the 50% version of us—they pay for the fully-charged, present, 100% edition. In this chat with Brisbane-based facilitator, trainer, and speaker Nicholas King , we talk about how to show up at our best, design “winning” workshop moments, and make deliberate choices about what we feed our minds so we can serve the room. Why listen: You’ll steal practical fa...

Today’s convo is an extract from Virtually Possible 2.0 with the brilliant Marissa Agrasut (Singapore) and Joeri Schilders. Marissa walks us through an online spin on the classic Fishbowl format to sharpen listening, observation, and the craft of facilitation—then we demo it live. What’s inside Why I left the livestream mostly unedited (and why you might, too) Fishbowl, but online: how we split “s...

Every week, someone asks me: “Leanne, what book should I read next?” And my response is always: “Well…what problem are you trying to solve?” Because you don’t need another list of “top 10 business books” that just recycle the same titles. You need the right book, at the right time, for the right problem . Jenny Blake calls this a Book RX — a book prescription. Like a doctor scribbling on their pad...

If you’ve ever thought, “This meeting could have been an email” … today’s episode is for you. I’m sharing why agendas aren’t just nice-to-haves, they’re the thing that keeps meetings short, sharp, and actually useful. I’ll take you behind the scenes of some 25-minute listening tour calls I’ve been running, and how a 10-minute pre-email with sample questions changed the whole dynamic. We’ll also ta...

I’m back with a short and sweet episode today—and it’s all about a new Apple feature I’ve fallen in love with. If you’ve ever been mid-flow and suddenly interrupted by a random call from a solar panel company (even though you already have solar 🙄), then you’ll get why this is such a game-changer. With iOS 26, you can now: Turn on Call Identification so your iPhone checks Apple Business Connect, c...

Today, I’m handing the mic back to Jason Knight. You might remember him from last month’s episode where we jammed on branding and how to think of your positioning like a newspaper headline. This time, Jason’s diving into one of my absolute favourite topics: frameworks . Whether it’s a Venn diagram, a 2x2, or a hand-drawn sketch, frameworks have this magical way of taking complex ideas and making t...

Today I’m taking you behind the mic into what’s actually on my mind right now: the AFL Grand Final. My Brisbane Lions are chasing back-to-back wins, Snoop Dogg is headlining the pre-game entertainment, and I’m scheming about whether I can somehow score a last-minute ticket. This episode is less “self-development” and more about the fun of throwing out a wild idea and seeing what’s possible. From r...

This weekend rewind is with my friend Sally Porteous. Sally is the Managing Director of Red Lanyard , an event production company where she produces festivals, conferences and meetings. She also runs the Event Planners Workshop and the Event Managers Network, bridging the gap between theory and the real world. In this conversation, you’ll hear parallels between workshops and events—how both are ab...

In this NEW episode of  First Time Facilitator , I chat with  Dr Liz O'Riordan  about her leap from the operating theatre to the workshop room.  After being diagnosed with cancer and leaving surgery, Liz turned to speaking, writing, and now — facilitation. With only days to prepare, she discovered my book  The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint , raided her kitchen cupboards for pr...

So here’s the question I’m now wrestling with: Am I about to break up with Kindle? On today’s walk (weighted vest and all), I stumbled into an audio summit via Hello Audio and ended up learning something completely unexpected from Vanessa Poin. She shared how she uses Substack for discoverability (hello, generative engine optimization) and then dropped a perspective that stopped me in my tracks: P...

This one is less about “what I learned” and more about the process of an experience I just had in Melbourne — a Wizardly Walk designed by Dr. Jason Fox and Michael Bungay Stanier. Across pubs, cafés, buses, bushland, trains, and communal dinners, the whole thing unfolded like a story. What stood out to me wasn’t just the 20km walk (that got cut short thanks to wild winds and falling branches!) but...

Picture this: I’m in Melbourne, it’s been a day of hiking, gathering, and birthday celebrating, and I somehow manage to rope Michael Bungay Stanier (MBS) into a conversation about… netball. Now, Michael’s got the height but zero experience, so naturally I recruit him into my imaginary corporate games team as goal shooter. What follows is a hilarious and surprisingly profound chat about netball, po...

Today’s episode comes to you from my hotel room in Melbourne — in my hiking gear, ready to head out on a 20km walk with friends. But before the walk, I had dinner last night with a small group (13 or 14 of us) and Michael Bungay Stanier kicked things off with a killer icebreaker: Share two essential things about yourself. What I shared surprised even me. The first thing? I’m left-handed. After 250...

I turned 42 today—and yes, I was that person who posted about it from an airport lounge. Usually, birthdays spark me into dreaming up wild projects, but this year, my big reflection is simple: nothing dramatic has changed in my world, and I’m incredibly grateful for that. In this episode, I share a birthday riff on aging, incremental growth, why stability feels like such a win, and how reunions of...

It’s my birthday! 🥳 To celebrate, I’m replaying the episode I recorded on my 40th—my 12 rules for life. These aren’t the glossy “melody” lines; they’re the bassline I keep returning to when life gets loud: from memento mori (yep, we’re all going to die—and that can be fuel), to finding a new pond when you feel like a fish out of water, meeting your heroes (sweaty palms and all), and remembering t...

Today on Talk the Walk , I grabbed my coffee (Alan Weiss had his martini 🍸) and we dived into two big C-words: clients and community . It was a global hangout—Brisbane spring for me, early fall for Alan—plus friends dialing in from Portugal, Seattle, Sydney, Italy, Montreal and Silicon Valley. We unpacked how to create a community of buyers (not just followers), the difference between tribes vs c...

Today I’m diving into an underrated communication skill that barely ever gets taught in programs—but once you notice it, you’ll see it everywhere: the art of segueing. And no, I’m not talking about the two-wheeled scooter (though I’ve definitely fallen off one of those before). I mean segues: smooth transitions that connect one topic to the next without that clunky, awkward energy shift. I share:...

On today’s walk (eight kilos in the vest, hello shoulders 👋), I riff on quick, practical communication moves that create instant cut-through at work. I share a client story where we kickstarted a 90-day sprint with a one-take video (record → Descript → captions → Loom link) and the responses rolled in. Then I unpack BLUF—Bottom Line Up Front—so your reader gets the “why” and “what now?” in the fi...

I’m saying the quiet part out loud: the most valuable asset in your business isn’t your Instagram, it’s your email list. I share how Con Con happened because of my list, why social posts rarely convert on their own, how I use Substack weekly (and why unsubscribes are healthy), plus the big mistake I made for years—never making offers—and how I’m fixing it. In this episode, I cover: Why subscribers...

Two super quick reflections today. First up: the settling in period. Whether I’m running, or just switching tasks at my desk, those first 10 minutes always feel clunky. You’re questioning yourself, wondering how you’ll keep going. But if you can just hold out, your body (and mind) adapts faster than you think. Don’t judge yourself in that early stretch—just celebrate that you started. The second t...

Big weekend for me — and my Oura Ring confirms it with my lowest recovery score ever (48 out of 100 🙈). Between a four-hour training hike (with that brutal post-lunch slog) and Riverfire fireworks with friends, sleep wasn’t really on the cards. But what I really wanted to share today is a Con Con update. Tickets went live, and within 21 minutes the first 15 were gone. Nine days later, we’re compl...

Today I’m joined by Germany-based facilitator and psychologist Nadia Petronov , founder of More Shiny Eyes —and yes, her mission is exactly what it sounds like: helping people light up at work (even on Mondays). We riff on visual facilitation, why listening beats lecturing, and how to guide groups through messy moments without losing the room. Nadia also shares the story behind her Wonder Cards —a...

Today I riff with Brisbane dynamo Melanie “Mel” Loy —founder of Hey Mel Comms & Training, co-owner of a gym, President of IABC Queensland, and host of Less Chatter, More Matter . We bounce across crisis comms, workshop design, and group fitness—aka how to stay calm when everything goes sideways, and how to bring “Mel 2.0” energy to a room. We also dig into running international workshops (Mala...