Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog

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Thursday, October 11

Now, I'm all in favour of free speech (advice)

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Thu 11 Oct 2007 09:30 AM BST

Free booklet 'How to Make Effective Presentations' with today's Independent

This year has seen some excellent newspaper give-aways which have been very useful for anyone interested in public speaking. In April/May, the Guardian gave away 14 booklets and a CD of Great Speeches of the Twentieth Century. These were very nicely produced and contained overviews from historians as well as the content of speeches from JFK, Churchill, Mandela, MacMillan, FDR, Khrushchev, Emmeline Pankhurst, Martin Luther King, de Gaulle, Thatcher, Nehru, Aneurin Bevan, Virginia Woolf and Earl Spencer. With a line-up like that, I can even forgive them for never sending the free storage box that I saved up all those tokens for!

Throughout July, the Daily Mail gave away DVDs of the superb documentary series The World at War. Not only did this give me the opportunity to see a brilliant work that I never appreciated as a child in the 1970s but it also contains footage of historic speeches and relaxed, fluent interview clips from 30 years later.

The Independent is currently giving away free pamphlets each day containing extracts from business titles (the same sort of idea as the condensed books that come with the Anthony Robbins Power Talk recordings).They're part of a series called Success at Work and today's is How to Make Effective Presentations. Discounting adverts and title pages, this comprises 15 pages of extracts from Brilliant Presentations by Richard Hall and Effective Presentation by Ros and Antony ('Yes Minister') Jay.

Hall fills most of his 6 pages with tips about conquering nerves, backed up with some fascinating facts about panic attacks.The Jays give a highly detailed analysis of the structure of a sales presentation.

These extracts make both books look very appealing but this pamphlet alone contains a remarkable amount of concise, indispensable information and all it will cost is 80p for today's Independent! Now what could be better value than that (well, apart from a blog which gives ongoing presentations tips for free?)

Public Speaking Tip #48: Watch out for newspaper give-aways, such as booklets, DVDs or CDs, which may be of use for your presentations.

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So let's come right up to date...

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Thu 11 Oct 2007 08:06 AM BST

A Speechwriting Challenge Helped by Mind Maps

October may look as if it's going to be a bit quieter as far as speaking engagements are concerned but on the very first day I found myself busy with other work. I got a call from a client who was having a party thrown for him and he wanted a speech written in case he was asked to say a few words. There were just a few problems:

1. This was a 'surprise' party which he was not supposed to know about so he could hardly produce a script! He would therefore have to learn the speech by heart.

2. Because he was meant to appear 'surprised', the speech could not sound too structured/scripted but had to be in conversational language, as if it was something he had been thinking up in the past few minutes!

3. The party was the following evening so I would have to get started straight away with little chance to collect personal information to ponder and write around - just a few biographical facts.

We agreed a price and a deadline. Then he phoned back wanting it a couple of hours earlier than that so he would have more time to learn it!

He rang dead on time the following afternnon and I emailed the 450-odd words I had written. We discussed how he was going to memorise this 4 minutes in such a short space of time and I was relieved that he knew what a Mind Map is...

A Mind Map, an idea most associated with the psychology author Tony Buzan, is a diagram representing ideas around a central concept. Simple Mind Maps are great for speeches because they enable you to arrange brief notes in a logical sequence, working your way clockwise around the page - thus making it very difficult to lose your place. Impromptu speeches can be constructed very effectively using Mind Maps (this certainly helped me when I took my LAMDA Public Speaking exams and, in later years, students of mine who did the same).

I use them when I write a speech for a client, putting down all the information they have supplied and then adding in ideas for jokes, quotations, etc, until I am ready to piece together the finished version. Over the years, I have also found them to be invaluable for exam revision, and planning magazine articles and letters.

The great thing about using them for setting out speech content is that because they are a 'picture', you soon become familiar with where everything is on the page. After a while, you can remember what is in the top left hand corner or the bottom right even without having the diagram in front of you, in fact, if you were to turn up at a speaking engagement and discover to your horror that you had forgotten your Mind Map notes, you could quite possibly rewrite them from memory.

!n 2005, I delivered my presentation 'Public Speaking = the Triumph of Technique Over Terror!' as part of an Awayday for the Central Management Unit of the Home Office and my suggestions regarding using Mind Maps made a big impact.

But back to 2007: I suggested that my client familiarise himself with the script then set it out in brief notes in a Mind Map and memorise that.

Public Speaking Tip #44 (one of the most important I will ever include in this whole blog): Simple Mind Maps are invaluable as aids to devising, laying out and learning speech content - especially at very short notice!

There are many inexpensive books available by Tony Buzan about Mind Maps and their uses.

Inner Wheel Club of Hythe and District

That evening, I spoke on 'My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer' to the Inner wheel Club of Hythe and District. There were no more than 20 there but I got a very good response from this friendly club. Sometimes it can be difficult to get much of a reaction to humour from small audiences but it is so much easier when they are on home ground and in familiar company.

Public Speaking Tip #45: A big factor in audience response is whether or not they know each other.

A Booking Every 11.33 Minutes!

This must be something of a record: on Monday, between 17.01 and 17.35, I took three bookings: one for next March for a club just a mile away which, nevertheless, I'd not heard of before, one for next September for a retirement club who are booking me for the fourth time to in seven years (so I guess they must like me!) and one at two days' notice to cover a cancellation for Bournemouth North Probus, a club I last spoke to in 2001.

Public Speaking Tip #46: A combination of widely-circulated details, a list of several appealing topics and availability at short notice should keep the requests to speak rolling in!

Bournemouth North Probus

Yesterday morning I delivered my talk about 'The One, the Only...Groucho!' to 30 members of Bournemouth North Probus as a short-notice replacement for a coastguard speaker who had to cancel due to work commitments.

The last time I spoke to this club was in July 2001 when they met at a different hotel and listened to their speaker after lunch. On that occasion, I spoke on 'My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer' and although it didn't go badly, I felt that the response was a little muted by my standards (so often the case when speaking after a big meal to a retired audience!)

But this talk showed what a difference it can make when you speak before a lunch (as I have mentioned before, mid-morning is usually the best time for speakers). The response was very good and I was also pleased to observe how I am becoming familiar with the content of this particular talk and relying a lot less on my notes.

Public Speaking Tip #47: Even if your presentation contains a huge amount of information, it is possible to learn it with repeated delivery so that your notes will eventually only be required as a 'safety net'.

Afterwards, I enjoyed a very nice lunch with the gentlemen at the Mayfair Hotel. This very friendly Probus club still needs more members so they are having a recruitment drive. I hope it works for them.

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Wednesday, October 10

To paraphrase the proverb: you can't please everyone - just the vast majority!

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Wed 10 Oct 2007 09:24 AM BST

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!

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