Barton on Sea Probus

My last speaking engagement of September was for Barton on Sea Probus on the 26th. This was my third visit to this club and, as on previous occasions, it was a mixed meeting with members' partners present: 67 people in all.

The room at Shorefield is a bit of a barn and I was asked to use a microphone. Neither of the club's own mics (a wireless hand-held and a clip-on) were suitable - both were tinny and there were also feedback problems. The venue then offered two of their own: one that clips on the ear so the speaker looks like Michael Jackson or Madonna, and another hand-held. I felt self-conscious with the clip-on so I opted for the latter!

The Patrick Campbell talk seemed to go pretty well and I also added a new 'prop'; Val had bought me some copies of Lilliput magazine from the 40s and 50s, a publication Campbell wrote for, and knowing that they were of age to remember this, I invited audience members up afterwards to look at one. This was a great hit!

Public Speaking Tip #39: Even if you are not using slides, a few thoughtfully selected props will add a visual dimension to any presentation.

Public Speaking Tip #40: Take something that the audience can look at after you've finished - it makes you even more memorable.

Unfortunately, two of the guests who came up complained, first to the Chairman, and then to me personally, that I had not held up a picture of Patrick Campbell during my talk to remind them who he was. This is not a talk with slides; in smaller venues I hold up a picture but, as I have mentioned, this was a huge room and they would not have seen it at the back where they were sitting anyway! There were certainly ample pictures for them to look at afterwards but some people just love to moan - even when they are guests!

(Another alternative is to pass a picture around as I speak but this can be distracting - for everybody!)

I have delivered this talk nearly ninety times (which represents a total of around 4,500 people) and this has not been a problem. Nevertheless, I may consider getting a larger picture.

Then a gentleman told me that he is hearing impaired and I  had been speaking too fast for him to lip-read. This contrasted sharply with an audience member at another booking who congratulated me on the fact that he had been able to lip-read every word! I also couldn't help wondering why he chose to sit off to the side and not in front of me if this was the case!

Although I didn't get to speak until slightly later than intended due to the start of the meeting being delayed, I didn't feel I was speaking any faster than usual. I try to include the whole audience but obviously I can't slow right down for one person's benefit.

I don't think I have ever had two different criticisms at one speaking engagement before! I will bear them in mind.

Public Speaking Tip #41: Take note of constructive audience feedback and, where practical, act on it to make your presentations even better.

I was very pleased to see club member Don Chipchase. Don enrolled in a public speaking evening class I taught for Bournemouth and Poole College in early 1999 because he wanted to give a talk to Barton on Sea Probus.

A few weeks later, I spoke at their annual dinner and it was Don who gave me a lovely vote of thanks. Since then, he has delivered his presentation about General Robert E. Lee to some 50 clubs and societies. He goes to a great deal of trouble with his visual aids and I even read a report of a standing ovation at one booking.

He is now working on a new talk about the American West and he also told me that he once stood in at very short notice and put together a presentation called 'Oh, To Be A Salesman!' after a speaker booked at Barton dropped out. I'm glad all those impromptu speech exercises I set that class came in handy!

Public Speaking Tip #42: Practise putting material together at very short notice - you never know when this habit may come in useful!

If you are based within 30 miles of the New Forest and would like to book one of Don's talks, please email me.

After a very pleasant lunch, the Chairman Rod Keene and his wife Merry ran me back to New Milton.

A Beautifully Written Testimonial

An envelope arrived at the end of September and I could tell immediately from the calligraphy who it was from: Mr Don Grimshaw from Romsey U3A, where I'd spoken the previous week.

Inside was the most beautiful demonstration of his craft. The letter itself stated that my talk had been very well received, that it was quite certain that I would be invited again and that he had advised other groups of my qualities as a speaker.

When you start out as a speaker, the first follow-up letters you receive will probably consist of a few lines thanking you for giving up your time (even if you were actually paid for to do so!) and mentioning that your presentation was very interesting/informative, etc. As you improve, these get longer and the praise becomes more effusive and detailed.

These glowing references are extremely valuable to you, not least of all, because they are unsolicited and heartfelt (I have heard of speakers asking for written references but where's the value in those?).

Of course, there will be times when you deliver a hugely successful speech but no letter arrives. This is because some organisations regard the vote of thanks on the day as your official 'thank you'. I have noticed that Rotary clubs seem to send out fewer testimonials than other organisations but then their members are very busy (they are always involved in fund-raising projects and are also expected to attend a minimum of 30 meetings a year).

The point is, if you do enough speaking, you will build up quite a collection of these testimonials. Keep them, treasure them, draw encouragement from them and, of course, quote from them to get more work!

Public Speaking Tip #43: Keep your unsolicited testimonials. If you give presentations as an employee, quotes from these can go into your CV/portfolio. If you are a self-employed speaker, use extracts from them in your pitch to get bookings. After a while, you may have enough to group some together, for example, I send out one particular leaflet which is tailored to get me work speaking to literary festivals and writers' workshops and on the back are a large number of testimonials which all come from those types of engagements.

If you have a speaking engagement that doesn't go as well as you had hoped (and we all do!), you can look back over the praise you have received elsewhere to remind you of your abilities.
 
So that was September: 8 talks on 5 subjects in 3 counties to 600+ people who bought 80+ books. Not my busiest month - but not bad either!