Owner: Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog URL:http://www.nickrthomas.co.uk Join Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:45:47 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The blog of a busy public speaker, speechwriter and presentation skills coach in the United Kingdom. Every post contains at least one useful public speaking tip for my readers. Site statistics:Click here
Giving a good presentation then being presented with a very good gift! 2007-11-28 16:01:04 Southbourne Literary SocietyLast Wednesday, 21 November, I delivered my new presentation
, 'I Must Write That Down: A Commonplace Book', for around 35 members of Southbourne Literary Society here in Bournemouth.This was my seventh appearance there so I know the drill pretty well! They have two talks, slide presentations or musical entertainments at each of their monthly meetings, the first starting at just after 7.30pm and lasting for nearly an hour.As this was a new presentation for me, it might be useful if I explain how I prepared my material to fit the allotted time.My talk was all about commonplace books, i.e. what they are, how they originated, examples of famous commonplacers through the centuries and how many of today's blogs continue their tradition but the lion's share of the material consisted of quotations, readings and anecdotes from my own commonplace book (if you are don't know what a commonplace book is, see my previous post. As I have said, they are a fantastic res Read more:Giving
Any requests? 2007-12-09 13:56:20 Waterford Probus
Last Monday, I made a return visit to Waterford Probus near Christchurch to give a talk entitled Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer Part 2 (Part 1 having been delivered back in March 1999!)
I arrived in good time and my setting up included testing the tape player which I would be using to play a recording of a comedy sketch. I familiarised myself with the volume, controls, etc.
Public Speaking Tip #85: Before you are introduced, thoroughly familiarise yourself with any equipment which you will be using as part of your presentation, especially if someone else is supplying it; they may be on hand to give you any help you might need.
When this was done, I chatted over coffee with some members of the club. One gentleman mentioned that he had always been interested in the concept of humour in business. Now, I do have a presentation called The Power of Humour in Business which I normally deliver for corporate audiences but this wasn't my subject today. Ho
The wrong way to close 2007-12-07 16:28:10 Credible contentLast Sunday afternoon, I was shopping in my local supermarket (oh, it's an exciting life!). It was packed but I was pleased to note that the announcements requesting shoppers to make their way to the checkouts didn't start until 3.45pm. On one occasion last year. once again on a Sunday, this announcement came just after 3.30 - and this was in mid-summer, not the crowded run-up to Christmas. Two things struck me at the time; firstly, how relieved I was not to be a shareholder in a company whose staff were not even telling their customers to complete their final purchases but actually trying to drive them to the tills nearly half an hour before closing time! And secondly, how all of us in the store simply ignored what we knew to be a quite ridiculous announcement and just carried on with our shopping!Public Speaking Tip #84: The message and the messenger must have some credibility if they are to make any impact.The best example I can think of regarding somebody distract
Wellow, it's me again! 2007-12-20 10:25:37 Chandler's Ford Civil Service Retirement FellowshipOn Tuesday, I completed my last speaking engagement of 2007 and it was for one of my favourite clubs - Chandler's Ford Civil Service Retirement Fellowship. I had spoken there on three previous occasions since 2004 and at my last talk on Good Friday, they booked me for their Christmas lunch at the golf club at Wellow near Romsey. I decided that my new comedy quiz would be the best choice for this event.This club is always well attended and there were about 60 members and guests there. After enjoying my fourth turkey meal this month(!), the quiz got under way. I had added some more questions since I tried this out for the first time a few weeks ago, bringing the total to 16, and, with the inclusion of anecdotes, it filled the allotted time perfectly.Quiz questions have to be chosen carefully; include too many easy ones and the whole exercise becomes pointless, make them all too difficult and people get stroppy! You have to strike the r
Simply Remembering 2007-12-18 17:58:56 My MotherFive years ago today, on 18 December 2002, my mother Jenny Walker died aged 61.Like me, Mum was a writer and speaker. As a writer, she produced very funny comic verse as well as more serious poetry. She was also a great anecdotalist. As a speaker (unlike me) she needed no presentation skills training before she started getting up in front of audiences. She had a very friendly, natural manner which drew people to her, combined with a phenomenal ability to find the humour in any situation - despite having had such a very difficult life (a popular talk of hers was called At Least My Smile's Not Broken!) It's true that she was self-conscious about her numerous disabilities, especially as many of her talks in her final years were delivered from a wheelchair, but she loved public speaking so much that even when she was extremely ill, she would frequently discharge herself from hospital for a couple of hours to honour a booking!As part of the eulogy I delivered at her funeral, I re Read more:Remembering
A nice bit of splutter! 2007-12-18 17:12:48 Three Legged Cross WI Christmas MeetingI thought I was doing so well avoiding the cough that most of the country seems to have come down with in recent weeks but it caught up with me a couple of days after my last talk. I expected that I would at least be getting better as my booking to speak to Three Legged Cross Women's Institute last Wednesday approached but the cough hadn't loosened at all. I mentioned in one of the first posts in this blog about cancelling a booking through ill-health earlier in the year but I decided that in the case of this one, I would go ahead with it. The reason was that this was a special meeting: a Christmas party with guests, a meal and then the WI putting on some entertainment of their own as well. My talk, being humorous, was an important part of the schedule and had been advertised for months. I also figured that many of the members would have the bug, or would be getting over it, so I would not be alone!Public Speaking Tip #97: If you have been booke
If it ain't broke you could still improve it! 2007-12-16 00:30:18 Hythe ProbusOn Wednesday 5 December, I set off to speak to the Probus Club of Hythe near Southampton. I always seem to have travel problems when they book me. Last June, I arrived in Southampton very early and, as it was a lovely, sunny morning, I had planned to travel across to Hythe by ferry. Unfortunately, it was such a lovely, hot day that by 9.30am the boat had seized up in the heat and wasn't running! The Speaker Secretary drove all the way around to fetch me and still managed to get me there for the start of the meeting - much to the relief of their new President.This time around, there was no chance of me wanting to go by ferry because the weather, as forecast, was terrible, so I was being picked up from Southampton station but my lift was delayed by 25 minutes due to traffic problems. Clive, the new Speaker Secretary, and Joe, the Treasurer, eventually arrived and turned out to be great characters.We reached the golf club in good time and I set up ready for the Groucho Marx t Read more:broke
The Twelve Public Speaking Tips of Christmas 2007-12-24 13:57:14 Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers! web pageConsidering the fact that the first post on this blog only appeared in mid-August, I have been delighted with the impact it is already making in terms of traffic, enquiries about work and compliments received about its usefulness to public speakers.As a Christmas
gift to readers who have never picked up a copy at one of my speaking engagements, I am posting my very popular leaflet 'Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers!' on this site.Rather than make this a sticky post which would be confusing when included with the other numbered PublicSpeaking
Tips in the blog, I have decided to put it with the other web pages over on the left as a separate 'crash course!'Thank you for reading Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog in 2007 - I hope it has helped you.Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.Nick. Read more:Twelve
, Public Speaking
The Royal 'I' 2007-12-23 18:23:11 The Queen watches her speech aloneAn ITV documentary on 25 December celebrating 50 years of televising the Queen's Christmas Day message reveals that she sometimes leaves the room at Sandringham when her pre-recorded speech is being broadcast so she can watch it away from her family and see whether it has come across in the right way.It is certainly much easier to concentrate alone on watching a film of yourself speaking. Many famous actors hate to watch their performances, even with loved ones; some never watch them at all!When I started teaching public speaking classes, I was asked by one of my bosses why I didn't video students' presentations and then show these films for the whole class to watch and comment on. My reply was simple: because I wanted them to come back the following week! I
know there are presentation skills training firms offering intensive
courses which involve using video in this way but I always found that
gentler alternatives achieved excellent results -
witho Read more:Royal
They'll let you know: lessons from public speakers' auditions (part 2) 2008-03-11 19:48:20 In my previous post, I wrote about Women's Institutes but in October 2005, the month of my most recent WI Speaker Selection Day (East Sussex Federation), I also took part in two other, very different auditions. The results varied enormously but I gained something from both experiences.An entertainment agency's showcase auditionThere is a highly successful entertainment agent in Devon who I've known for many years. I mentioned to her that I was wondering about the possibility of doing stand-up in some of the hotels in a major national chain she supplies acts for, hotels where the guests belong, almost exclusively, to the age group that I deliver many of my humorous talks to. She told me that she was soon holding one of her regular, Sunday afternoon auditions for cabaret acts in one of her h Read more:speakers
They'll let you know: lessons from public speakers' auditions (part 1) 2008-02-29 23:13:04 Women's Institute Speaker Selection DaysIt's around this time of year that forms start arriving through the post inviting me to submit my details to the Yearbooks containing details of speakers
circulated to their members by Women's Institute County Federations.These lists are useful because not only are they sent out to every WI in a county (and my home county of Dorset has around 145 individual branches, while neighbouring Hampshire has 203 - all of them booking up to 11 speakers per year) but some County Federations also ask if you would like to go on a further list (where fees are left negotiable) to be sold to other organisations. In theory, a WI can book any speaker they can like but the Yearbook usually plays a big part in drawing up the programme for the year ahead.Furthermore, all
Four speaking engagements, ranging from a festive February to a torchlit TG 2008-02-25 02:13:38 North Baddesley Women's Institute Annual Dinner
My February
speaking engagements finished with four talks in seven days.On 15 February, I spoke at the annual dinner of the North Baddesley Women's Institute. This is, in effect, their Christmas dinner but it works out better for them to hold it at this time of year!When I was sent the menu so I could confirm my choices last month, I discovered that we were having a starter, soup, main course (turkey, cranberry sauce, etc!), a dessert, cheeseboard and coffee and mince pies! I therefore suggested that it might be be an idea to cut the length of the talk from the proposed 40 minutes to 30! The dinner was actually starting at 6.30 so there was little chance of it running late but audiences do not generally want to sit through a long speech after
I'm sure I speak (in public) for the majority 2008-02-23 23:45:51 Ignoring the negative minorityI recently met up again with Mel Mellers, a very successful cabaret entertainer who I have known since the mid 90s. Throughout my speak
ing career, he has been very helpful in giving me advice but nowadays he spends much of his time working on luxury cruise liners so I don't get to see him too often. He told me that on one recent trip he had heard an excellent presentation by Jack Canfield, originator of the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul inspirational books. Canfield had mentioned how, even if we have plenty of approval from people, it's always the discouraging minority who seem to make the most impression on us, even define us, and that we need to stop associating with them!This got me thinking about how, even if a speaker's presentation is going really wel
I told them about public speakers' notes (what a card!) 2008-02-23 16:21:32 Wessex Women's NetworkThere are some bookings that a speaker really looks forward to and I was delighted to be asked to speak once again at the Wessex Women's Network in Brockenhurst. My last presentation for them was in October 2004, when The Power of Humour in Business was very well received.This time the topic was Public Speaking = the Triumph of Technique Over Terror!So, on Tuesday evening of last week, I made my way from Brockenhurst station to the Cloud Hotel, which is on the outskirts of this New Forest village. The lanes had no pavements in places and were also unlit, convincing me that a larger torch might be an essential for future evening engagements!Public Speaking Tip #143: When choosing what to take along with you to a speaking engagement, don't just consider items that you w Read more:speakers
ANY questions? 2008-02-20 21:34:00 Hengistbury Head Townswomen's GuildOn 5 October, I gave my fourth talk to Hengistbury Head Townswomen's Guild here in Bournemouth. The title this time was The Comedy of Life - Part 2 and I was a little concerned about filling the allotted time as they have heard many of my tried and tested anecdotes already in Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer and The Comedy of Life - Part 1 and although it's been years since those two bookings, I make a point of trying avoid repetition of material I have delivered before (although a certain amount is unavoidable due to recapping, etc).I therefore decided that if I under-ran a bit then after the talk I would invite questions
about comedy generally including on TV and radio, not just the humour in everyday life which I was booked to speak about. Sure enough
BBC RSVP Part 3: Handling a live radio interview 2008-02-16 23:25:18 My live interview
on BBC Radio Solent(This is a long posting but it takes you through every stage of a live, 18-minute radio interview).The BBC building in Southampton is home to both Radio Solent and BBC TV South but it's a bit of a 'ghost town' on Sundays when only one radio studio is working, with a team consisting of the presenter, the production staff and a newsreader and traffic reporter. I had a brief chat with Lewis (the producer) about radio and comedy courses at universities (he had noticed that in the past I have been a guest lecturer on the MA course in Radio Production at Bournemouth Uni). He got me a coffee from the machine and led me in to the studios where Alina Jenkins waved to me from her booth as she introduced Honky Tonk Women by the Rolling Stones. Our interview was du Read more:Handling
BBC RSVP Part 2: Revising for a live radio interview? 2008-02-09 21:12:30 Preparing for my latest interview
on BBC Radio SolentHaving agreed to go on Radio Solent, the first thing I did was find out about the presenter who would be interviewing me as I hadn't been a very regular listener to the station recently.This is so much easier nowadays than when I did my first 'radios' as so many stations have 'Listen Again' facilities on their websites as well as short biographies of their broadcasters.Alina Jenkins has her own website and I noted from it that she has appeared as an actress in series such as Preston Front and Red Dwarf so she has experience of comedy - the subject of our discussion.And can you imagine giving presentations using highly sophisticated visual aids to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people five days a week for four years? Alina did th
BBC RSVP Part 1: An invitation to give a live radio interview 2008-02-07 00:35:24 Live interview
on BBC Radio SolentAfter posting about speaking to so many clubs and societies in recent months, I can now tell you about a different kind of engagement which I accepted last week: a live interview on a BBC local radio station.This is an important topic so I am going to write about it in several posts, starting with my previous radio experiences and then how I prepared for this latest interview. Finally, I will tell you how the broadcast went.Over the years, I have been featured on the radio a number of times:(1). 1993: 2CR FM. A 15-second sound bite for a minute-long feature about turning a hobby (i.e. writing) into a business. This was years before I enrolled in an evening class in public speaking and even though the piece was pre-recorded, I was still so nervous in those
Short notice speaking around Swanage a speciality! 2008-01-29 16:32:30 Harman's Cross Village ClubI was back in the Swanage area last Thursday afternoon, this time speaking at the AGM of the Village Club in Harman's Cross, a hamlet a little way outside the town. This was a short-notice
booking which came in when I got back home from my previous Swanage talk. I was asked to stand in due to a speaker from the Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre having to cancel as he was busy giving 24-hour care to a baby woolly monkey so the villagers of Harman's Cross had to make do with a grown-up hirsute comedy writer instead!Fortunately they had all been informed of the change in the programme at the business meeting before I arrived. There were nearly 50 there, I did about 55 minutes (Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer) and got a great response and a large number came up and ch Read more:Short
Thanks for a Proper Vote of Thanks! 2008-01-26 19:38:48 Milford-on-Sea ProbusOn Tuesday, I made a return visit to Milford-on-Sea Probus, this time to deliver my talk about Patrick Campbell. I was greeted at the South Lawns Hotel by the club's very friendly Programme Secretary Stan Kirtley and, after coffee and their short business meeting, I spoke to 35 appreciative members and guests for 50 minutes and then took questions. Then Mr Richard Mallory, who had been making notes throughout my presentation, proposed the vote of thanks.And it was a good one.It turned out that Mr Mallory is himself a fan of Patrick Campbell's writing and he had even brought along a copy of a Campbell book, one of several which he has collected over the years.He mentioned what my talk had meant to him personally.He added material from the notes he had made to the conten Read more:Thanks
, Proper
Let him - or her - speak now! 2008-01-23 13:26:30 Prince Charles speak
s - as a hologram!The Prince of Wales gave a powerful six-minute speech about the environment to 2,500 delegates at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Except that he didn't. His content may certainly have been powerful but it was actually pre-recorded in the drawing room at Clarence House last November and then projected as a hologram. The 3D HRH didn't want to leave a massive carbon footprint by flying with his entourage to the United Arab Emirates so he chose an alternative and very newsworthy method of getting his message across:Fascinating and environmentally friendly - but also perhaps a little worrying.And it's not just the wonders of modern technology such as holograms, videoconferencing and podcasts which me make wonder about the future of sp
Public Speaking? I was driven to it! 2008-01-23 00:03:06 Durlston WII had a great deal to do last Monday before I set off to give an afternoon talk in Swanage: I proof-read the 250 items of original observational humour that I was sending to a radio presenter and then I wrote my fortnightly 600-word article for the Radio Magazine. I then made notes from the online versions of most of that day's papers so that on the 65-minute bus ride over to the Purbecks I could use these as inspiration to write a minimum of half a dozen topical gags and observations for another radio presenter and a similar number for a further comedy client! I thought I was going to miss the the Wilts and Dorset service150 thanks to a connecting bus which was being driven so slowly that it would have been faster if we'd all got out and pushed but I did manage to catch it and Read more:Public
, Speaking
, Public Speaking
Just doing a bit of window stopping 2008-01-19 18:51:00 Emsworth WII was back in Emsworth last Friday morning for a return visit to their Women's Institute who I had last spoken to a year before. I arrived in good time and began my talk about Patrick Campbell for the 55 ladies present.About halfway through, their President got a signal from a member in the second row that the room was too cold (they had heaters on but a skylight was open) so she stood up a few feet off to the side of me and started pulling the cords to try and close it. I was halfway through a story at the time and immediately most heads had turned to watch her, with the result that I was now seemingly talking to myself!To have just stopped dead would have looked tetchy so I abbreviated that part of my presentation as best I could and waited for the matter to be sorted out. I Read more:doing
TG Tips 2008-01-16 16:00:15 Swanmore and Southbourne Townswomen's GuildsI had two talks last Wednesday, both for Townswomen's Guilds here in Bournemouth. In the afternoon, I made a return visit to the Swanmore Guild where I last spoke 15 months ago. This time I spoke about 'The Power of Humour in Everyday Life' and this talk lasted just over 40 minutes as I was trying to save my voice as I had a further engagement that evening. There were about 25 present and it seemed to go ok.The last time I spoke there, the afternoon was spoiled when, just as I was leaving, a member came up and moaned for several minutes about how unhappy she had been about the reply she had received when she wrote to a certain celebrity who I have supplied scripts for in the past - as if this was anything to do with me! It was rather like somebod
It's me again, doctor 2008-01-15 19:19:02 Lilliput WII felt better by 8 January when I was due to speak to Lilliput Afternoon Women's Institute but Wilts & Dorset bus drivers were on strike that day so I had to catch a Bournemouth Yellow into Poole and then walk from Longfleet to the Holy Angels Church in Lilliput which took about 45 minutes! By the time I reached the venue, I was very hot and sweaty, coughing and feeling generally rough as I sat through the last 30 minutes of the ladies' business meeting but there is a concept known as 'Dr Theatre' where performers may feel better the moment they get up in front of an audience. It would obviously not apply if a speaker was suffering from the ghastly Norovirus which is sweeping the UK at the moment but as far as colds and the recovery period after the flu are concerned, it obv
I'm on a little list (actually, rather a large one) 2008-01-13 16:00:31 A remarkable list of public speaking blogsAndrew Dlugan has compiled a list of no less than 78 blogs connected with public speaking and presentation skills tips (including, I am very pleased to say, this one).They cover so many styles and aspects of public speaking that there is bound to be something to help you improve your presentations and you can subscribe to all of them in seconds!Public Speaking Tip #109: The blogosphere has a wide range of constantly updated sites with tips from working speakers. Read at least some of these to add to to the knowledge already available to you from public speaking books/classes/clubs.I really must recommend one blog in particular, Lisa Braithwaite's excellent Speak Schmeak.Lisa's views on public speaking echo so many of my own and her (very) regularly Read more:little
, large
But I know a man who can... 2008-01-13 14:42:06 Cancelling my first booking of the yearIt wasn't exactly the best Festive Season I've ever had - I spent nearly a week in bed with the flu! I'd had the persistent cough I've been mentioning since early December but by Christmas, it was even worse and I eventually developed a temperature of 103. Then I passed it on to my partner Val who doesn't normally catch these things. It was the New Year before we eventually opened our Christmas gifts!My first booking of 2008 was for 3 January but there was no way I was going to be up to it so I had to cancel but I was at least pleased to be able to recommend a replacement, a new-ish speaker who had a coaching session with me last year. He is a wood carver who has some stunning examples of his work as visual aids and, as the talk was for a gardening cl
The end justifies the moans 2008-01-03 12:42:28 Suggested New Year's resolutions for anyone booking a speaker in 2008:
1. If you leave a message for a speaker you would like to book, bear in mind that there is a very good reason why they may not return your call immediately: they're busy speaking somewhere!
2. Do not get the speaker to agree a fee and expenses and then drop a bombshell, such as 'Oh, and you'll have to get a taxi from the station. It's only about twenty minutes!'
3. If you leave a reminder message as the date of the booking approaches, such as 'Don't bother to call me back unless there's a problem', do not then ring again in a panic saying 'You never returned my call!' Sometimes a speaker just can't conjure up a problem at such short notice!
4. Although you may think you're being terribly hospitable by greeting the speak
Speaking to church groups, a £5 overpayment and early retirement! 2008-03-16 12:04:29 All Saints Church Mudeford Women's FellowshipOn 4 March I spoke for the third time to the Women's Fellowship at All Saints Church in Mudeford, just outside Christchurch. There were 26 there (including one gentleman who helps out with transport for their members) and I delivered my new-ish talk I Must Write That Down! (A Commonplace Book) which went well with this friendly bunch.The last time I had spoken there, I noticed later on that they had slightly overpaid me (£5 over the amount we had agreed). They were appreciative of the fact that I had pointed this out to them and we adjusted my fee this time to allow for this. Clubs and societies mainly derive their income from subscriptions, raffles, etc, and, as new members are not always easy to attract, every penny counts. I always stick to Read more:Speaking
, retirement
A title, a talk and a toad in the hole! 2008-03-17 17:51:43 Another talk for Hythe and District ProbusRepeat bookings can sometimes be for very soon after a speaker's last visit and on 6 March I was back at Hythe Probus near Southampton. My talk just before Christmas had been for the members and their partners but this one was for the men only. I have slightly altered the title of the talk I delivered. I used to call it The Wits of the Algonquin Round Table but found that some people thought that the 'Round Table' part referred to King Arthur's Knights while others thought it was something to do with the hard-drinking, charity fund-raising group which goes by that name! I have also decided to include Dorothy Parker's name, not only to make this talk more appealing to women's groups but also because, as perhaps the most famous female wit of the 20th
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