Morris minor Owners Club Dorset Branch

Speakers want our audiences to find us interesting but sometimes I am booked by organisations which are fascinating in their own right.

On 5 November I had another engagement at a Club Night for the Morris Minor Owners Club's Dorset Branch in Bournemouth. I last spoke to them in June 2005.

This is part of a national network celebrating these wonderful cars (and vans!) which were massively popular during my childhood. The room where they meet at the Southern Electric Club was well stocked with merchandise, such as model Morris Minors, Morris Minor mouse mats, Morris Minor greetings cards, Morris Minor coasters (I bought a set!)...

Members travel in from up to 30 miles away to attend this club and there were around 50 - 60 there.

I mentioned in one of my three posts back in April about marketing yourself as a speaker that specialist clubs will often book talks on topics not related to their subject. The last time I spoke to this club it was about My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer. This time my topic was An Attractive Impediment: The Life, Literature & Laughter of Patrick Campbell. My opening remarks pointed out that Campbell's heyday was during the era of the Morris Minor - so that was a tailored start to my presentation.

One of the props which I bring along for this talk is an issue of Lilliput magazine which employed Patrick Campbell as its Associate Editor. Glancing through it before I was due to speak, I noticed an article about slow motorists - from 1954! During the talk, I drew the audience's attention to a humorous reference the author made to cherished car clubs and their love of badges. As you can imagine, this drew a big laugh of recognition from this crowd.

Public Speaking Tip #265: Is there some prop or perhaps something you have seen in print which has particular relevance when you speak to a special interest group? The response when you include this tailored material can be excellent, especially if it is humorous.

The Club posted the following on their website:

"Many thanks to Nick Thomas for his talk on Patrick Campbell at November Clubnight - very good!"

So I think it went well!

Afterwards, I chatted to some of the members including a former teaching colleague from Bournemouth and Poole College. Audiences often include someone I know, perhaps not surprising in view of the fact that I speak to thousands of people each year.

It was an enjoyable evening with the added bonus that, despite it being 5 November, my presentation was not interrupted by any pyrotechnic sound effects!