The blog of a busy public speaker, speechwriter and presentation skills trainer in the United Kingdom. Every post contains at least one useful public speaking tip for my readers.
Westbourne Women's InstituteOne of my final talks of the last Millennium was at the Christmas meeting of Westbourne Women's Institute in Bournemouth. On September 3, I finally returned there, this time to speak about the Power of Humour in Everyday Life, and got a great reception from the 45 or so ladies present that morning.Titles are important where presentations are concerned. This talk started out as Harnessing Life's Humour and then became the Comedy of Life before I decided that there were so many self-effacing anecdotes in it that the Riches of Embarrassment! might be a clever and descriptive name. But the change to the Power of Humour in Everyday Life (or the Power of Humour in Business for corporate/networking audiences) really seems to have multiplied the bookings.Public Sp...
UNITE, Christchurch
The former National Federation of Royal Mail and BT Pensioners is now known as UNITE and on 11 August, I made a return visit to their Christchurch branch. Once again, I was speaking at a holiday park, this time Hoburne Naish between Highcliffe and New Milton.
My eczema had cleared up enough for me to able to wear normal shoes for talks again but I had a very long walk from Somerford to the venue due to some alterations to the bus services! Nevertheless, I arrived just in time.
The Clubhouse was (as usual) sweltering and because of its size and layout, even an audience of about 60 there is always rather spread out. In the end, I condensed my Groucho Marx talk into about 10 minutes less than usual and I was worried that they might feel short-changed but from the number of very positive comments afterwards, it seems that I judged it just about right on that very hot morning.
Public Speaking Tip #239: As s......
The Probus Club of the New Forest
August is often a quiet month for speakers and I only had two talks booked this year, the first of which on August 5 was for a Probus club which I hadn't even heard of until they booked me!
I have delivered well over 100 talks for Probus clubs all over the south of England but somehow the Probus Club of the New Forest had escaped my attention, despite having been in existence for over 30 years.
Their Speaker Secretary David Bankes gave me a lift from New Milton station to a venue which I have blogged about before: Shorefield Country Park, near Milford-on-Sea.
The last time I spoke at this venue, I had a problem finding one of the four microphones I was offered which worked properly but there was no problem this time and I used a handheld. I always prefer this when I'm speaking on Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer (as I was on this occasion) because there are elements which are very like stand-up and apart from the odd prop and the uninte......
A speechwriting client's remarkable rehearsal
Through June and July I spent some time adding humour to a client's speech. Although many people come to me for a complete speechwriting service, from writing the introduction through to selecting an apt quotation to finish on, others simpy want me to draw upon my 25+ years of writing original humour for numerous markets and add tailored jokes and observations to the speech they are writing and then offer my suggestions for editing the whole script.
This speaker was preparing for a significant birthday and was going to great lengths with the construction, reworking and rehearsal (one hour for every minute of delivery). He had in mind a highly successful speech he had given many years ago and wanted to try and match this.
I was highly impressed with the speech he put together, in particular the natural and logical way in which the one-liners and anecdotes were introduced and sequenced (so important for help......
Open Sight, New Milton
On 23 July, I gave my talk An Attractive Impediment: the Life, Literature and Laughter of Patrick Campbell for the New Milton branch of Open Sight which is Hampshire's largest organisation working with people with sight loss, part of the Hampshire Association for the Care of the Blind. This was a good choice of talk for this particular group as it evokes memories of a bygone age and includes some fascinating anecotes, mostly humorous, about a fondly-remembered broadcaster.
The group meets in Bashley Village Hall, a venue where I have spoken many times over the years, and there were about 50 people present, about a third of whom were volunteer helpers, drivers and visitors from other organisations.
The microphone proved problematic and and to be abandoned and when it was announced that the speaker would therefore not be able to use it, one lady shouted out 'Well, that's no use to me!' but I positioned my table in a fairly central position this large......
BBC Radio 4's Any QuestionsLeading UK political blogger Iain Dale has published a fascinating post about his appearance last night on a live broadcast of the long-running BBC Radio 4 panel discussion Any Questions.He mentions how he was uncharacteristically nervous in the week leading up to the recording and that although he feels that he often performs better without preparation, he had done a great deal of study of the week's papers in anticipation of questions on a number of major topics (the 'revision' for a media appearance that I wrote about here).His post goes through the whole process: the pre-recording dinner with the host, the warm-up question and, of course, the broadcast itself: what questions came up, where he clashed with a fellow panelist, audience reaction, etc.This i...
Andover U3A
I had an afternoon talk for Andover University of the Third Age on 15 July and I travelled by coach from Bournemouth to Basingstoke and then by train to Andover itself.
Now...regular readers will know that as I use public transport to get to my engagements, I often report on the quality of the announcements on the train or coach. I can only say that the pre-journey presentation by our National Express driver at Bournemouth was, as Americans like to say, a doozie!
Instead of delivering his spiel about compulsory seatbelt wearing, etc, over a tannoy from his seat as he was setting off, this driver stood and faced down the aisle. From his air of authority, I would guess that he is either ex-military or a former police officer (although his lack of height probably rules the last one out). He rolled out the usual content about seatbelts and not putting litter down the loo and said that there were rubbish bags provided. Then it all got really in......
Odstock, Nunton and Bodenham Women's Institute
On 14 July, I spoke on The Power of Humour in Everyday Life at the Odstock, Nunton and Bodenham WI in Wiltshire.
Getting there wasn't easy. My home town of Bournemouth is still best known as a holiday resort (although the ghastly 'night time economy' of pubs and clubs attract thousands of young, drunken revellers who turn parts of the town into unpleasant, virtual no-go areas which don't exactly help with this) but we also have a number of language schools which are particularly busy during the summer months.
I don't mind the foreign students, after all, they are often far better behaved than many local kids, but they do make public transport rather crowded and the bus companies don't seem to make sufficient allowance for the increased demand. Thus, when I set off for this talk, many full buses sailed by and it took a ridiculous amount of time to travel about a mile and a half - by which time I had missed my connection.
I ma......
Bournemouth Writers Humorous Story Competition
On 8 July, I presented the awards to the winners of the Bournemouth Writers Humorous Story Competition at Kinson Community Centre.
I had originally been rquested to read the entries, write critiques, select the first, second and third-placed entries and turn up on the evening but I asked if I could deliver a short presentation as well as I didn't want to just turn up with my opinions on which was the best and perhaps have some newer members wondering who on earth I was and how I was qualified to judge their competition. Sure, an entry in a programme can give a brief bio but demonstrating knowledge in a talk gives a much better idea of one's credentials.
This may sound incredible to any readers who are still reluctant speakers but...
Public Speaking Tip #230: When you become a regular public speaker, you may well reach the stage where you would prefer to be a speaker at an event than a 'mere' spe......
Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards 2008
Anyone who has read this blog from the start may remember that the very first entry was about last year's Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards, which I was invited to attend as a guest at the Radio Magazine's table.
On 7 July, the event was held once again at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London and compered, as usual, by Virgin Radio's Christian O'Connell.
At these awards, they always have two guest music acts: a newcomer to open and a big name to close the proceedings. This year's closer was James Morrison, who had performed there as the unknown act just a few years earlier. His interview with Christian was positive, enthusiastic and funny and he gave a relaxed performance that was very well-received.
The singer who had the daunting task of going on before the awards started was Jessie. She looks great and has a very powerful voice which sounds at least as good to me as Amy Winehouse or Duffy. She writes her own songs an......
Sturminster Newton Women's Institute
My first talk this month was on the Power of Humour in Everyday Life and my audience was the WI in the ancient north Dorset town of Sturminster Newton. Trying to get there and back in the evening from Bournemouth by public transport would have been pretty much impossible so I travelled by train to Poole and was met by their Speaker Secretary Heather Johnson.
Heather comes from Cheshire and when I mentioned my speaking hero Blaster Bates, she told me that when she was the Deputy Head of a large school there, Blaster had given talks to the pupils - and had managed to censor his usual, earthy style to accommodate his impressionable audience!
Stuminster Newton WI meet in the Exchange, an attractive new £2.6 million multi-purpose venue built on the site of what was once one of the largest livestock markets in Britain. The meeting was in the Chivrick room which faces out into the street and it's always interesting when ......
Fugelmere Ladies' Probus
On 16 June, I gave an after-lunch talk on the Power of Humour in Everyday Life for the Fugelmere Ladies' Probus Club of Fleet in Hampshire.
It was a glorious, sunny day but their President Pam Grist might have wished it was rather less warm as she ended up waiting an extra half an hour for me at Fleet station due to my train from Bournemouth being delayed due to signalling problemsand this leading to a missed connection at Basingstoke.
This club actually meets some way outside Fleet at Peppone's restaurant which is located at the Bownhurst Golf Centre at Crondall. Peppone's serves traditional Mediterranean food with ingredients flown in from Southern Italy and the menu, which included an excellent main course of Sicilian pork, made a real change.
Aterwards, I chose to speak from the end of the room, rather than from behind the table, as this gave me more room for my props, etc, and, I felt, better visibility for the ......
My Freelance Comedy Writer blog
A few weeks ago, I started an additional blog entitled Freelance Comedy Writer. It's different from this one in that it's not intended to give tips. The posts are also far less frequent but if you have been wondering about my comedy scriptwriting, especially for radio, then you can certainly read about it there. Many of the posts are updated versions of my Radio Magazine columns, speaking of which, here is an article I wrote for the Radio Magazine Issue 762, 15 November 2006:
I Have Listeners Too
‘All he did was talk for two hours about his work’.
Overhearing the two London students’ discussion about some unfortunate speaker was disconcerting because the following day I was due to deliver a university lecture myself. For two hours. About my work.
I needn’t have worried. The crowd on the MA (Hons) in Radio Production at Bournemouth were fine (they even sent me a Christmas card) but audiences at speaking engagements can vary i......
Bitterne CAMEO
On 11 June, I had a return booking for a morning talk to the ladies of CAMEO in Bitterne, Southampton, who I last spoke to in February last year. I arrived at the Methodist Church Hall in very good time and 45 members attended the meeting.
I had been asked to use a cordless microphone but when their Chairman was speaking, it starting making a popping sound, not the type you sometimes get on a letter 'p' but at regular ten-second intervals, whether anyone was speaking or not - so we dispensed with that one!
It was a very warm, sunny morning but the audience was very attentive and it was a good talk.
As always after bookings in Southampton, I found myself in the bookshops in the city centre. Both branches of The Works have now closed but I went in County Bookshops where they have a good range of biographies and took a look at the life story of Duncan Bannatyne from BBC's Dragon's Den. He mentions that before his broadcasting ca......
Make notes, use notes, keep notes
I read recently that the script for a wartime speech by Winston Churchill fetched £140,000 at an auction (although not £140 million as the Daily Mirror headline stated!) Well, I've got quite a few sheets of A4 from my talks if anyone wants to make an offer...
Seriously, it's a good idea to keep the notes from all your past speaking engagements for a number of reasons:
- you may be asked to give the same presentation somewhere else
-you may be booked to speak to an organisation and wish to ensure that you don't repeat yourself
-as you develop the content of a particular presentation over time, you can look back and see how much it has progressed
Of course, all of the above also apply to recordings of yourself but if you just want to look at content rather than listen to vocal delivery, it's much quicker to look at your notes.
The very popular entertainer Bob 'the Cat' Bevan has written a book about his adventures as an after dinner speaker. ......
Bournemouth 2 Probus
22 May found me speaking - once again - to Bournemouth 2 Probus, this time about The One, the Only...Groucho Marx!
They last booked me in October 2005 and I had forgotten just what great fun their business meetings are (unlike some other organisations!) A succession of committee members, all of them very good public speakers, gave reports, made announcements, etc, and the humour was really flowing. It set the mood wonderfully for my own talk.
Public Speaking Tip #220: A humorous business meeting before your own presentation can act as an excellent 'warm-up' act for you.
At one point, a gentleman held up an envelope which had been sent to him in the post with nothing inside. When I mentioned in my talk about how the supposedly mute Harpo Marx used to send people telegrams which said 'No message. Harpo', I was able to get a laugh by inserting 'Perhaps it was him who sent that envelope!' (The fact that he died in 1964 didn't stop the gag working -......
Tadley and District History Society (TADS)
On 21 May, I spoke about An Attractive Impediment: the Life, Literature and Laughter of Patrick Campbell for the Tadley and District History Society in Hampshire. I was able to discover a little about them from their website.
Public Speaking Tip #218: You can often find out about an organisation that has booked you by looking at their website. Sometimes even some fairly small groups have one - it's always worth finding out.
This was the first time I had ever spoken to a history society and I tailored the material accordingly. Although this talk is primarily about a brilliantly funny Irish journalist who became an unlikely TV celebrity in the 1960s (he had a severe stammer), his story takes in Irish politics, famous figures in the arts in the 1920s and 30s, Ireland during World War II and the early days of satire on British television. I did extra research/revision so that I could highlight the historical parts, for example,......
Royal Army Medical Corps Association, Blandford Camp
On 15 May, I spoke on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for the RAMC Association at Blandford Camp in Dorset.
I was picked up from Wimborne Minster by Tony Phillips and after he had checked us in at the gatehouse, it was interesting to see inside the camp. Army bases are not normally noted for being pleasant to look at but Blandford Camp is laid out rather attractively and the buildings don't look at all bad.
The audience was mixed and, despite there only being 20 of them, extremely responsive. Sales of Nick R's in a Twist! were also very good, especially considering that most of the audience were couples and so there were far fewer than 20 households represented.
Afterwards, I enjoyed chatting with members over sandwiches. It was fascinating to be shown the Royal Signals' impressive collection of regimental trophies and other silverware in the display cases.
Public Speaking T......
My relevant You Tube favourites
For a while now, I have been favouriting videos on You Tube, the vast majority of which are relevant to public speaking. These include extracts from speeches, performances by comedians who use language effectively (such as one of my all-time heroes and influences, the late Dennis Wolfberg), film of performers I have written for (Roy Hudd), worked with (Justin Hayward, 10cc) or simply admire (such as the late Blaster Bates and Bill Hicks). There are performer friends, such as Mel Mellers and Jonathan the Jester and you can even see a short film of my home town of Bournemouth where my speaking career started.
There are also a number of clips from comedy films and sitcoms involving disastrous public speaking scenes.
Now here's a good tip (unfortunately I can't claim it's my own idea - I saw it being used very effectively at a training day where I was a guest speaker):
Watch a comedy scene involving a speech that goes badly and ......
Bournemouth East Conservative Luncheon
On 9 May, I was a guest speaker at a lunch at the Ocean View Hotel for the Bournemouth East Conservatives who were in a jubilant mood following the previous week's local elections which had seen a new local Conservative councillor elected, massive gains nationally and, of course, Boris Johnson's victory in the London mayoral race.
I have mentioned before that I do not support any party but I have often spoken at functions for Conservative Associations who like to book occasional non-political speakers. The other main parties in the UK don't appear to hold this type of event (or if they do, I have never been asked to speak at one!)
There were 66 present and the room was very warm on this muggy day. I decided to dispense with the microphone and delivered approximately 25 minutes of anecdotal material under the title The Comedy of Life. Although I was booked as a non-political speaker, being a writer of topical satire I always have material......
Blackmore Vale Probus
My first speaking engagement last month was about My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for the Probus Club of Blackmore Vale in Marnhull, Dorset on 6 May. This involved a very early bus journey to Salisbury and then a train from Salisbury station (where the ticket office was as slow as ever) to Gillingham, from where I was given a lift to Marnhull by Mr Alan Lloyd.
Most Probus Clubs are similar: all-male or all-female who have a meeting followed by a speaker and then lunch or a slightly shorter meeting and talk after their meal. There are variations, though: some clubs are mixed and some meet for a coffee morning but not a formal lunch and there are Probus in North Dorset - such as the one at Marnhull - which are examples of both (the very friendly Stour Valley Probus in Blandford Forum is another).
There were about 30 members at the Village Hall and my talk was in two halves (a bit like a football match except that the speaker and audienc......
Boris Johnson's election as Mayor of LondonI was pleased to see Boris Johnson elected as Mayor of London last month. I don't really support any party; look at my profile on Facebook and you'll see that under 'political views' I've just put 'satirical' (and then when you've finished looking, mention that you read this blog and connect with me!) but I was delighted that someone who for so long has contradicted the slick ideal that the purists say public speakers must project could win in such a competitive race.Many other bloggers, including Lisa Braithwaite, have written about how the results of Professor Albert Mehrabian's 1971 studies into communication are frequently misinterpreted so that generations of hapless would-be public speakers have been left believing that all their presentatio...
A wonderful final quotation from Humphrey LyttletonOne of the radio programmes which was mentioned in the questions and discussion after my talk at Locks Heath Rotary was I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, a show which had been hosted by the hugely popular jazz musician, radio presenter (and after dinner speaker) Humphrey Lyttleton until his death at the age of 86 a few days earlier.In an article in the Observer, ISIHAC panellist Barry Cryer spoke about Humph and mentioned a fantastic saying which he'd come out with before going into hospital, one of those quotations which should go straight into the commonplace books which I hope you have all been keeping since I mentioned how essential they are for public speakers!Humphrey Lyttleton said:"If all goes well, t...
The Rotary Club of Locks HeathOn 29 April I spoke about My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to a mixed audience of around 45 at the Rotary Club of Locks Heath who met at the Holiday Inn atTitchfield in Hampshire.There was a little bit of comedy before I even got there. When I met their Speaker Secretary John Hopwood at Swanwick station I intended to greet him with 'Mr Hopwood?' but as I extended my hand, I stepped off a kerb that I hadn't realised was there so it actually came out as 'Mr Hop-whoops!' It's the sort of thing that happens to me but if he noticed, he was too polite to mention it.It was a good dinner and they were an excellent, attentive audience. I spoke for around 50 minutes and there was a very good question and answer session afterwards. A bonus was that my ear problem was...
The London Book FairAn event which was going on at the same time that I was speaking in Hereford and Kent was the annual London Book Fair. I attended this trade show in 2004 with the intention of joining a screenwriting workshop but actually spent the day attending a number of other events and presentations. I think I may have gained more in the long term and the freebies, such as books, helped to offset some of the expense of travelling there!Public Speaking Tip #207: Trade fairs/shows/exhibitions can be a very good opportunity to hear a wide variety of speakers.I went to a fun quiz called Have I Got Publishing News For You?, based on the popular UK topical comedy show but featuring a panel of (apparently) big names from the book world and with an audienc...
Personalised speechwriting commissions
There was no sitting back and relaxing after the Hereford and Kent talks as I had two speechwriting commissions to complete over the weekend. I am delighted that this website and blog are producing this kind of work and these two speeches, one for a golf captain and one for a Best Man, added a couple more to the list of countries where speeches I have written have been delivered, although the speakers themselves were from the UK.
My approach differs from that of some other speechwriters and I make no apology for this. They compile speeches consisting of wall-to-wall one-liners which certainly get laughs but seem hollow and lacking in personalisation or meaning. There is also the likelihood that many of those present will have heard at least some of these gags before which further detracts from the feeling of a tailored speech.
I prefer to write speeches which are similar to those I deliver myself i.e. consi......
Kings Hill Active Retirement Association (KINARA)Two days after speaking in Hereford, I was off on my travels again, this time back to Kent. My talk was for the Kings Hill Active Retirement Association (KINARA) which is part of the KentARA.There are more than 80 of these Active Retirement Associations in the county and they all have names made up of their location followed by the letters ARA, for example, the first one I ever spoke to was at Bearsted near Maidstone (BEARA) in November 2001 - a great crowd! - and I have been booked by a number of others since then. I have found that they are always extremely well-attended and, like all Kent audiences, highly responsive to humorous talks.I travelled by rail to Victoria then changed for West Malling from where I had been asked to take a...
Speaking at Herefordshire Federation of Women's Institutes Annual Council MeetingI was greeted at the Courtyard, Herefordshire's Centre for the Arts, by Maggie Pridgeon who was my Speaker Hostess for the day. I have mentioned before that at some engagements, the person assigned to look after the speaker sometimes acts more like a guard (usually the males, I have to say!) but Maggie was excellent, doing everything to make the day run smoothly for me and delivering a super vote of thanks after my talk. I was introduced to the Federation Chairman Mrs Angela Southwell and the outgoing Federation Secretary Joanne Skelton who had booked me to speak at this event. Although the meeting wasn't due to begin for about half an hour, the venue was already very busy with WI members ordering coffee.The m...
Preparing to speak at Herefordshire Federation of Women's Institutes Annual Council MeetingMuch of the week following the New Milton talk was spent in preparation for my next engagement: speaking at the HFWI Annual Council Meeting on 15 April. This all had to be fitted around my daily scriptwriting for radio presenters, some speechwriting commissions, and dealing with the usual emails, phone calls, etc. For a start, it was now very urgent that I should see my GP and get some treatment for the persistent ear infection. I also had to deliver and collect dry cleaning, buy some other clothes, research and purchase the cheapest rail tickets in advance and order and collect enough booklets to sell and leaflets to give away to an audience which I was told could number up to 300.
Milton Green Women's InstituteI mentioned New Milton Community Centre in my last post and I was back there on 7 April when I spoke to Milton Green WI about Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Wits, a talk which was followed by a good question and answer session about comedy and humour generally. This was the first time I had spoken to them since July 2001 and they told me that in recent times, one of the other afternoon WIs in the town had folded so I was pleased to see that this Institute still met.Afterwards, I was talking to one of their members who turned out to be involved with the National Executive and we had a very useful discussion about possible opportunities for teaching on training courses for WI members. What is interesting about this is that there were only 17 at the meeting and...
Tunbridge Wells Luncheon ClubMy first speaking engagement last month was on 3 April for a ladies' luncheon club in Tunbridge Wells. I got the 05.20 coach from Bournemouth to Victoria (so much cheaper than the train!) and our very well-spoken driver announced that no-one should drink alcohol, smoke, eat hot food or pee with loo seat down. He then told us to enjoy our trip. That will be difficult, I thought; he's just banned every pleasure known to Man! Seriously, I wouldn't do any of the above but I did marvel at how fresh he made an announcement which he must have made so many times sound.Something else I don't do (well, not very often and certainly not at this time of year) is swimming but, nevertheless, I had managed to develop a condition called Swimmer's Ear which causes muffled hearin...
My apologies for the lack of blogging recently; I have been pretty busy with talks and speechwriting over the past few weeks so I now have quite a few posts to add, each, as always, containing at least one useful presentation skills tip...New Forest Veterans of NormandyOn 28 March, I spoke on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to the Normandy Veterans Association New Forest Branch in Ringwood.There were around 60 there for this morning meeting, including a number of women who, I assumed, were wives, widows or daughters of veterans. Many members travel considerable distances to attend, for example, Mr Ball, their Speaker Secretary, comes in all the way from Yeovil.They were a very good audience and I received a number of compliments afterwards.I mention...
Who books speakers?In my last two posts, I mentioned how Sarah Rourke could use public speaking to promote her podcasting company, not only by addressing business clubs but also by giving a more general presentation about her radio production career to a wider range of organisations.I am now going to list some of the types of groups I speak to on a regular basis (I have a feeling that this will be one of those posts where I keep thinking of further information to add afterwards so it might be worthwhile to revisit it from time to time!) Please note that although I have given links to the national websites of many of these organisations so that you can find out more about them, you should contact individual local branches...
Cross-promotion between presentationsLast time, I wrote about how a reader of this blog, Sarah Rourke, could promote her podcasting business by speaking to business networking and arts-based events and clubs. Now I'm going to suggest some other speaking engagements which she might also consider.Although Sarah is mainly interested in speaking about podcasting, I notice from her CV that she has worked as a BBC radio journalist and producer. I am going to suggest that she develops another presentation all about her experiences of this, perhaps entitled 'My Life as a Radio Producer', 'A Day in the Life of a BBC Reporter' or even (depending upon which part of the Beeb she worked in) 'Behind the Scenes at BBC Radio'. The talk should be up to 50 minutes long and include interesting/amusing facts ...
Finding the right audience for your presentationNot for the first time, a reader has contacted me with a query (and if anyone else wants to use me as a 'public speaking agony uncle' then please feel free to do so. I'll help if I can - but it may sometimes take a while, depending upon my commitments!).Sarah Rourke, The Audio Pod Artist, is a former BBC journalist and producer who is therefore not nervous about public speaking but wants suggestions for finding the right organisations to speak to in order to promote her podcasting, audio resources production and training business. First of all, here are the more obvious suggestions. Let's start with business networking clubs. Now Sarah could certainly join some and get to speak at their meetings, ranging from...
Political BiographiesLast weekend, the top UK political blogger Iain Dale published a list of his Top 75 Political Books.Political biographies often include a great deal about the preparation, delivery and impact of their subjects' speeches. A favourite audio book which I am just listening to yet again is A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan by Michael Deaver. Throughout the 4 cassettes, there are constant references to Reagan's public speaking.Oratory obviously also features heavily in political fiction, as viewers of the superb drama The West Wing are aware; some of the most interesting and entertaining characters are the speechwriters.Public Speaking Tip #181: We may never wish to go into politics but we can still pick up some excellent public speaking pointers ...
Controlling panic attacksIn a recent interview, Madonna revealed that she still gets panic attacks on stage.Now, you might be thinking that if even a performer with her experience still panics after a quarter of a century of superstardom, then what hope is there for me?But then we are not performing as part of a multi-million pound tour where we are expected to remember and deliver outstanding songs and dance routines while knowing that every second we are up there, the world's critics are scrutinising us for any sign of weakness as we grow older.Madonna has her own techniques for dealing with her panic. I am now going to enlarge on one of the suggestions on my Thomas's Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers web page which can help you if you get really ner...
Royal Air Force Yacht Club Ladies' Luncheon, HambleOn 14 March I spoke to around 50 ladies at the Hamble Royal Air Force Yacht Club in Hampshire.They were a very good audience and, despite the talk being scheduled for after the (very good) lunch, attentive enough for me to speak for the best part of an hour on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer (often a presentation following a meal has to be somewhat shorter!)Afterwards, as always, I chatted to members, gave out my Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers! leaflets and sold and signed booklets. Even back in the days before I gave people handouts or did any merchandising after my talks, I would still be available to chat with audience members. It is only on the rare occasions that I have to get away quickly to travel on to another engagement m...
Bournemouth Cornish AssociationMy second speaking engagement last Wednesday was a talk, once again My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer, for one of my home town's oldest clubs: Bournemouth Cornish Association (founded 1921).They were all extremely friendly and I decided to speak from up on the stage in the Charminster Moose Hall. Once again, I was asked to use a microphone. This was a good one, detachable from its stand and not battery operated - for once!The agenda for their meeting is a little different from other clubs, in that I was asked to do a spot of about 30 minutes and then stop as the food would be ready by then. There would be a raffle after the meal and, if there was time, I could speak for a few minutes more and take the odd question - but they had to be out by ten o'clock!I ...
NSPCC Bournemouth Branch Ladies DayLast Wednesday morning, I gave an hour-long talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer as part of the annual NSPCC Bournemouth Branch Ladies Day at Canford Magna Golf Club,a popular local venue where I had actually never spoken before.This was a very well-organised and well-attended event with around 110 women there. As well as the guest speaker's talk and the lunch afterwards, there were stalls, raffles and donated artworks to be auctioned.As far as my talk was concerned, there were one or two challenges. It was a large, wide room and I was asked to use a microphone, a battery-powered, hand-held model. I had to choose a spot to speak from in quite a cramped area, allowing for the fact that the room had a sloping ceiling (low ceilings can cause problems...
