Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog

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Sunday, October 7

A Motioning Table

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Sun 07 Oct 2007 11:58 PM BST

Brain Men

After my talk in Romsey, I caught the train for Southampton. I don't think I ever go there without visiting both branches of the remaindered bookshop chain The Works which are situated within a few hundred yards of each other in the city centre. I have often picked up books and recordings which are of use for my public speaking research and on this occasion I bought a copy of Marcus Berkmann's Brain Men for just £1.99. This is a humorous look at quizzes, from the pub variety to big-money TV game shows.

As a speaker, I have hosted three quizzes for Blah di Blah, Dorset's Festival of Words and Literature (these were linked to the BBC's RaW project) and co-hosted two others for the Bournemouth Literary Festival. I am currently putting together a new quiz where I will be the one devising the questions so I hope to pick up a few tips from this book as well as being entertained by Berkmann's writing (and not for the first time; in the late 80s he co-wrote Lenin of the Rovers, one of my favourite Radio 4 sitcoms).

Public Speaking Tip #37: Mastering public speaking can lead to numerous other activities besides delivering presentations, talks and speeches. Becoming a quizmaster is just one example. You could also take people on guided tours, earn money from giving in-store demonstrations, make the announcements at an event...it opens up a whole range of possibilities!

CAMEO in Basingstoke

My talk in Basingstoke that evening was for the local CAMEO group (it stands for Come And Meet Each Other, in case you were wondering!) and there were more than 40 ladies at the Richard Aldworth Science College where I spoke about 'The Power of Humour in Everyday Life'.

The talk was very well received but there was one thing I would like to mention. The group were meeting in a different room from usual and one of the metal legs of the table I had requested for my props, leaflets, booklets, etc., was bent at an angle of about 45 degrees! This led to a slight wobbling whenever I picked anything up or put it down but as this wasn't too distracting for myself or the audience I didn't ask for a replacement (in fact, if anything, it was a good example of unexpected humour in everyday life, the theme for my talk!) but I thought about the teachers or pupils who would also have to use it; wouldn't you think a school which, according to its Mission Statement, aims to 'promote a scientific, technological and vocational learning culture' would have found someone who could fix a wonky table leg?

Public Speaking Tip #38: There are often minor distractions which can be tolerated during your presentation but try to anticipate any major problems before you begin speaking and, where possible, take appropriate measures to alleviate them.

It was a long day and I was rather relieved that I hadn't slotted in that extra booking in Southampton for the afternoon as I had originally considered doing!

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Saturday, October 6

Moving swiftly on...

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Sat 06 Oct 2007 04:49 PM BST

Romsey U3A

I was up early the next morning as I needed to be in Romsey for a 10am talk about 'The Wits of the Algonquin Round Table' for the town's U3A, a group I had last spoke to nearly five years earlier. It has grown considerably since then, in fact this was the largest audience I'd had for a while: 200!

Public Speaking Tip #32: To a beginner, even an audience of 20 can seem daunting but once you get in the habit of regular public speaking, you will find that numbers don't seem to make a lot of difference to you, in fact, if you are anything like me, you will soon come to regard audiences of less than 60 as small!

This even carries over to speaking on radio where there may be tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of listeners - it can feel no different to speaking to a group of 40 in a hall. This is what regular practice can do for you.

I handed the Speaker Secretary who would be introducing me a card with a few brief details.

Public Speaking Tip #33: If you are asked to provide information for an introduction, I would suggest a piece of card with just a few clear, large lines explaining:

- a little about yourself

- where you have travelled from

- when you last spoke to them and what the subject was (if applicable)

- a very brief description of today's topic.

I had been asked to use a microphone. Normally I try to avoid these if at all possible as I believe more public speaking is ruined by sound equipment than anything else but the Crosfield Hall is a big room and there were a number of people in this large audience who had hearing problems so it was necessary. The mic on this occasion was a good one and there appeared to be no problems for myself or the audience.

Public Speaking Tip #34: After a while, you should be able to project your voice adequately for even very large audiences to hear you perfectly well but there will be occasions when even a tiny group will insist on your using a microphone, probably because some members have hearing aids connected to a Loop system and you should co-operate with this.

Public Speaking Tip #35: Problems you may encounter with microphones include:

- low batteries leading to cordless mics cutting out

- feedback unless you stay rooted to one spot without moving!

- the sound being just too 'tinny'

- echo caused by low ceilings

So there will also be times when, out of equal consideration for your audience, you should just dispense with the damn thing altogether and simply speak LOUDLY!

If you test the microphone before you are introduced, this should give you an idea of any potential problems.

This talk is one that I have not delivered very often so I still rely on bullet-point notes. The classic lines of great wits like Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, George S Kaufman and many others got big laughs from the crowd but it still felt a little less fluent than other presentations which I have delivered hundreds of times.

But there were a gratifying number of questions and I received many compliments afterwards.

Public Speaking Tip #36: I have found that there is no correlation between the number of questions for a speaker and the actual success of their talk (I often have absolute barnstormers followed by no questions whatsoever!) but a good question and answer session can 'rescue' a presentation which you may not feel was your best; this is, after all, the last element that the audience hears and they also have the opportunity to participate.

I was very flattered that a lady came up afterwards and bought a copy of my anecdotes booklet to send to her niece who is about to start studying as an actor at New York's famous Lee Strasbourg Theatre Institute.

One of the 'windfall gains' of travelling around giving all these talks is that I get to meet so many interesting and talented people - and hear what they have to say. Don Grimshaw, the Speaker Secretary of Romsey U3A, does the most stunning calligraphy, in fact his letter confirming the booking was the most ornate I have ever received! It was fascinating to hear him talk about his art and his interest in the Book of Kells.

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Tuesday, October 2

It's the way I sell 'em!

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Tue 02 Oct 2007 04:41 AM BST

Milford-on-Sea WI

On the evening of the 18th I spoke about 'My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer' to Milford-on-Sea WI. This is one of the biggest Women's Institutes in the New Forest and there were about 65 at the meeting. It's funny how often before a talk like this I will get someone asking if I find it daunting to speak to a large group of ladies. Not at all, in fact I once spoke to 500 at the Spring Council Meeting of the Avon Federation of Women's Institutes and really enjoyed the experience. In future posts, I might mention some of the audiences who were daunting...!

The Milford ladies were a great crowd and afterwards a number of them took the updated free 'Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers!' leaflet. Sales of my booklet 'Nick R's in a Twist!' were excellent - 22 copies!

Which brings me on to merchandising. The first item I offered widely at talks was the BBC double cassette 'Roy Hudd's Pick of the Huddlines'. I eventually sold all the copies I had ordered from BBC Worldwide but at £9.99, sales were low and slow (many of the groups I speak to live on pensions) The minimum order was quite an investment and the profit margin fairly small. Also, cassette players were starting to go out of fashion and it wasn't released on CD.

I then added a 24-page A5 photocopied booklet, 'The (Fairly) Little Book for Comedy Writers', comprised of handouts from my comedy writing evening classes and one-day workshops. These go well at Writers' Circles, U3As with Creative Writing groups and Literary Festivals where there are aspiring writers in the audience but their sales are obviously limited elsewhere. Nevertheless, I have sold a few hundred.

From very early in my speaking career I had people asking whether I sold a book of my anecdotes. For years, the intention was to market a live tape (I record virtually all of my speaking engagements - more about this in future posts) but there was the problem of finding someone to edit a compilation, the fact that the material was always being honed/added to and, as I have mentioned, the business of cassettes being replaced by CDs - should I offer both formats or just one, and if so, which?

Two years ago, I finally decided that it was best to offer my anecdotes in a booklet which would be easier to dip in and out of than a live recording, cheaper to produce and easier for me to carry around in large quantities!

One difficult part was deciding what style to write it in: did I reproduce these items word-for-word in a conversational manner as they have been delivered at my speaking engagements for years or put them down them in the more formal written style? In the end, I think I reached a happy compromise. I am very proud of this collection; these true stories have been extremely good to me and I was particularly pleased with how the structure just seemed to fall into place.

'Nick R's in a Twist!' is a 10,000-word collection of humorous anecdotes which are all connected in some way with my speaking engagements, TV appearances or, to a lesser extent, my writing career. It also contains much of the unintentional 'found humour' that I have stumbled across over the years. Once again, it's a photocopied A5 booklet and it has a cover illustration by my late mother Jenny Walker who was a talented artist, writer and speaker. Sales are now pushing towards 1,000 copies, virtually all of them sold at my talks (never mind about the Harry Potters and Da Vinci Codes, I read recently that the average sale of a published book in the UK is around 250 copies a year!)

Not only does it give me extra income (there are some engagements where merchandising doubles my fee, thus making some of the lower-paying bookings more viable for me) but it gives the audience a souvenir (many people also seem to send them on to friends and relatives as well) and they get additional stories that I didn't have time for.

The merchandising can also be useful for the organisation that booked me, for example, those WIs who allow selling (not all do) take a very reasonable 10% commission. In the case of this talk, their percentage recouped the travel expenses they paid me plus a small portion of my fee so it really was a 'win-win' situation.

The point about merchandising is that it's an extra - you cannot make your talk a sales pitch. When I am delivering 'My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer' or 'The Power of Humour in Everyday Life', I mention the booklet and its title as part of a section about the humour of names. Then, just before the end of the talk, I briefly mention it again, along with the free leaflet ( I even have a humorous anecdote to introduce that with!). It also helps if I read the odd story from the book as part of the talk - a short reading varies the style of delivery, as I have mentioned before.

There is no way to predict the number of sales (I have spoken to 31 people and sold 18 booklets, I have delivered the same talk to 66 and sold 1! ) but overall it makes quite a difference and it's very satisfying to know that are all these pockets of the country where x number of people own something that I've written - even a smallish book is less ephemeral and more substantial than a quick sketch on a BBC show or a ghost-written joke for a DJ or speech for a businessman!

Just one other thing: even when selling a booklet at a very low price, I have had the first customer hand me a £20 note so I always take a float with me.

Public Speaking Tip #31: As well as providing additional income, selling an inexpensive item such as a booklet at your speaking engagements reinforces your message, gives an opportunity to include additional material and can be a great souvenir. It may also make lower-paying engagements more viable and a commission on sales can be most useful to the organisation booking you.

Do not make your presentation a sales pitch for whatever you are selling but naturally introduce it into your content a couple of times - including once towards the end of your speech.

Take a float with you - not everyone will have the right change!

Very important: when someone books you, always mention that you would like to offer a popular, inexpensive item for sale afterwards and ask if this is acceptable (the vast majority will say yes but it's just common courtesy to check).

All in all, I had a great evening at Milford. I must also thank the very charming Mrs Clarke who gave me a lift from New Milton station - and back to it!

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