Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog

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Saturday, November 22

A quota of quoters!

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Sat 22 Nov 2008 05:05 AM GMT

Bournemouth Literary Festival Quotable Quotes Quiz

On 3 October I made my third appearance at the Bournemouth Literary Festival. In 2005 and 2006 I was joint quizmaster with Brian Jenner for the literary quizzes he devised but this year I found myself trying to answer his questions as a panellist along with team captain Tobias Ellwood MP (who I last met when I spoke at the Bournemouth East Conservatives Luncheon in May) and the academic Melanie Semple. The opposing team comprised local comedian Gareth Richards, Dom Kippin, Community Marketing Executive of the nearby branch of Borders and witty novelist Natasha Farrant.

The attendance was a little disappointing, probably about 30, many of whom were involved in the festival anyway. I think the reason for this may have that the centre of Bournemouth on a Friday can be rough and this might have deterred some older people from attending (although the evening was uncharacteristically quiet in town) or it may just have been the resistance to the arts in Bournemouth which Brian Jenner has so often highlighted in the local media.

I struggled with many of the literary questions (although our team won) but the biggest problem for me was delivering my prepared quotations, etc, in the venue, the All Fired Up Ceramics Cafe in Bourne Avenue, where Brian holds the meetings of his successful Bomo Creatives group (now in its third year). I found myself struggling to be heard over coffee machine noises in the early part of the quiz and loud crockery-stacking sound effects towards the end!

Public Speaking Tip #255: Throughout the time that I have been writing this blog, I have been advising speakers about how to adapt in various settings to give themselves the best chance of being heard/seen, etc. Sometimes, however, there are some problems which are beyond your control and you just have to try and work around them!

The important thing is that the event took place. The Bournemouth Literary Festival receives no outside funding and yet, for a fourth successive year, it brought a number of varied literary events to the town, ranging from light-hearted quizzes like this one through readings, poetry, workshops, walks and the spectacularly well-attended book signing with Theo Paphitis from BBC2's Dragons' Den. The town owes a debt of gratitude to festival founder Lilian Avon.

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Tuesday, November 18

Presentation - or pitch?

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Tue 18 Nov 2008 09:27 PM GMT

My brother James on Summit TV

For several months recently I was plagued with problems, firstly with computers and then my Blackberry and I could not have sorted these out without a great deal of help from my brother James for which I am extremely grateful. If you're a techie, you will find his blog informative and amusing.

James is a product strategist for a leading software-as-a-service vendor and he speaks all over the world, not just at conferences and meetings but on TV and radio as well. Last month, he was once again in South Aftrica and (despite jet lag!) threw himself into a round of media appearances, often travelling great distances across the country to make them.

One of these was an appearance on the Summit TV business programme Intellectual Property and you can read a transcript and watch/listen to him here.

I am struck by his confidence during this interview. Even soime other seasoned interviewees who respond to a question with "I think there are two particular issues that you've brought up" might deal with the first and then, in the heat of the moment, forget what the second one was but he is very relaxed, knowledgeable about his subject and totally on the ball.

Another point is that even though he is there to publicise his company, any plugs are naturally introduced and this is an informative interview for anyione interested in his subject - not just a sales pitch!

Most speakers will know that presentations, speeches, etc, fall into four categories in terms of their planned outcomes:

   entertain
   inform
   motivate
   persuade

(some people say there are only three and merge the last two but I believe, like many others, that these are different).

Although there may be one that dominates, few speakers rely on only one. The goal of the political leader's keynote speech may be to persuade the electorate (and often their own party!) not to vote him out but this is more easily achieved by having a motivational message backed up with information, such as statistics. And if some entertainment can be added in the form of humour at the expense of the opposition then that helps as well!

In this case, the promotion of James's company's services is enhanced by the informative nature of his answers instead of him just crowbarring in a persuasive sales pitch wherever possible.

Another very good blog I recently discovered is Tiger Two Tiger - Surviving the Jungle of Online Reputation. In a recent post, Nancy Williams wrote about visiting the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin and the difference between education and pitching. She lists networking as the fundamental requirement for attending an event like this and education as the second and she uses a wonderful phrase to dismiss those going in for the hard sell:

"We take the time out of our working life and spend the money because we want to come away enriched, inspired and possessing more knowledge than we did before we came. It is on the basis of this second fundamental requirement that I judge the speakers. And the big issue I have found is that being pitched at does not fulfill my educational requirements".

Remember that last sentence!

Public Speaking Tip #254: A presentation that informs (or entertains) may be a far better advert for your goods or services than a straightforward sales pitch. Selling is often done on the basis that whatever is being sold can solve a problem for the prospective customer - so why create an additional problem by alienating them?

Thank you once again, James, for solving my own problems!

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Wednesday, November 5

Some September Speeches

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Wed 05 Nov 2008 04:54 PM GMT

Cranborne Women's Institute

23 September saw me giving an evening talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for Cranborne Women's Institute in North Dorset. This was a small audience - just 13 - but much more responsive than another tiny crowd I wrote about previously!

I am always looking for local references to include, wherever I speak, and for this, my first-ever talk in this village, I mentioned that when I was writing for BBC Radio 2's News Huddlines, a familiar face at the end-of-series parties was the character actor Jonathan Cecil whose aristocratic family have connections with Cranborne going back over many centuries (in fact the meeting was being held in the Michael and Richard Cecil Memorial Hall, a very pleasant venue.

Public Speaking Tip #251: if you think about it for long enough, you should be able to come up with some reference that links you to the place or organisation where you are speaking. It doesn't have to be some great long story or even terribly recent - just something to add that little touch of personalisation amongst your other material.

My thanks to their Chairman and Speaker Secretary Mary for running me in from Wimborne Minster and back. Since then, this WI have celebrated their 89th anniversary!

Solent U3A

I spent part of my birthday on a speaking engagement. No hardship - there are few things I would rather be doing! This was a return visit to Solent U3A in Titchfield in Hampshire. The audience of 80 was very sharp and picked up on the subtler references in my Algonquin Round Table talk. The interesting thing is that there were so many present; the last time I spoke to this group in April 2006 there were about half that number but their membership has increased so rapidly that they have had to move to a bigger venue,

So many of the organisations I speak to are struggling to keep going and sadly a number do have to close, usually because they can't attract enough new, younger members or no-one wants to take over a committee position when someone finally stands down after many years. But there are some organisations which seem to be booming and this certainly is the case with the University of the Third Age. There are also a large number of Probus clubs with waiting lists with the result that new ones are constantly forming.

Public Speaking Tip #252: If you are a speaker for clubs and societies, you should be able to identify a market among certain organisations which are constantly growing in popularity - whatever the trend where others are concerned.

The recent improvements to my Algonquin talk have now made such a difference that I wonder how I ever managed without them. My thanks to their very well-travelled Speaker Co-ordinator Valerie for the lift from Swanwick station and back.

I was home in Bournemouth in time for Val to treat me to a super birthday meal at my favourite Bournemouth restaurant, the Himalay Brasserie, which I first heard about when it was recommended to me by someone I met at a talk years ago!

Downton Good Companions

My last booking in September was on the afternoon of the 30th for the Good Companions Club in Downton, Wiltshire. There were about 25 there to hear My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer and, as with all my bookings in this village, I was very pleased with the response. I also ran out of copies of Nick R's in a Twist! to sell.

Public Speaking Tip #253: If you run out of merchandise at a speaking engagement then look on the bright side - you should have some customers for that item the next time they book you! Of course, in order to get re-booked, you need to a) deliver a good presentation and b) add further titles!

I enjoyed chatting to the members of this friendly club afterwards and, as always when I speak in this area, I took the opportunity to head into Salisbury after the meeting. It was a good way to round off a pretty busy month for speaking - but then September usually is!

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