NSPCC Bournemouth Branch Ladies Day

Last Wednesday morning, I gave an hour-long talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer as part of the annual NSPCC Bournemouth Branch Ladies Day held at Canford Magna Golf Club, a popular local venue where I had never actually spoken before.

This was a very well-organised and well-attended event with around 110 women there. As well as the guest speaker's talk and the lunch afterwards, there were stalls, raffles and donated artworks to be auctioned.

As far as my talk was concerned, there were one or two challenges. It was a large, wide room and I was asked to use a microphone, a battery-powered, hand-held model. I had to choose a spot to speak from in quite a cramped area, allowing for the fact that the room had a sloping ceiling (low ceilings can cause problems with this type of mic). Another thing I had to bear in mind was the fact that the members of the audience furthest away were on a lower floor level than the ones straight in front me (normally tiered seating goes upwards, not down!)

For the whole of the talk, I was uncertain about whether the mic was working or not - and I had been asked to use it because one or two attendees were hard of hearing. Certainly, if I brought it up very close to my mouth, the volume increased but keeping it there the whole time was hardly practical, especially as I'm fairly mobile when I deliver humour!

But this is where good eye contact while speaking comes in: I was regularly looking towards the far corners and could see that everyone was laughing at the humour. This, along with the fact that no-one was shouting out 'Can't hear you!' meant that I felt  able to carry on without feeling the need to break off and ask if the mic was working - despite the fact that it didn't sound as if it was.

Afterwards, I was assured that I had been audible and I even received a compliment about my regular eye contact!

Public Speaking Tip #173:  Regularly sweeping the room with your eyes while speaking (the 'lighthouse effect') not only keeps you connected with your audience but also alerts you to any potential problems.

As this was a function in aid of the NSPCC, I had carefully considered whether there was any material which I normally include in this talk which might not be appropriate. In the end, I decided to omit two items: one is a self-effacing anecdote about a rather aggressive Latin teacher I had at school and the other is a piece of 'found humour', an unfortunately worded press item about the infamous John Wayne Bobbitt. In the case of the first, it's about violence towards a pupil, while the second is about a domestic dispute (albeit one between adults). I don't suppose the audience would have turned against me if I'd used either but their inclusion would have made me look a little thoughtless and less professional.

Public Speaking Tip #174: Sometimes tailoring a presentation to a particular audience can be as much about the material you decide to leave out as the content you include.

The speech I really must write about, though, is the one which followed mine, from Eleanor Pack, the NSPCC's Community Appeals Manager for Dorset, South Wiltshire and the New Forest.

She began, as speakers often do if they are scheduled after a humorous talk, by saying 'How on earth do I follow that?' Well, in the case of Eleanor and her subject matter, very easily and to great effect.

She spoke for just under 7 minutes without notes or a microphone and began by referring to the smiles and laughter to lead into how the NSPCC is about putting smiles and laughter back into children's lives.

Her speech included a number of statistics but all were necessary and powerful, for example the fact that Childline can only afford to answer half of the 4,000 calls it receives each day. She introduced a new fund-raising scratchcard which produces £30 - the cost of answering just one Childline call.

Repeating words and phrases in groups of three can be very effective in public speaking and Eleanor did this twice. First of all, after giving examples of many other ways in which funds could be raised, she asked the audience if more of them could look to take

"one hour out of your year, one week out of your year, one month out of your year doing something more for children".

Cards were available with details of the charity's work and a space for the name and address of anyone who could help in any way.

Secondly, after thanking everyone, she said that

"When you look into the eyes of children who have heard things they really shouldn't have heard, seen things they really shouldn't have seen or felt things they really shouldn't have felt"

we would understand why she wanted to do as much as she possibly could and raise as much money as she could.

Eleanor then told the audience to put the smiles back on their faces and have a lovely day. She was applauded warmly.

Public Speaking Tip #175: Repetition of words and phrases in threes, especially when you have an important message to get across, will make key points in your presentation more powerful and memorable.

After a very nice lunch, there was the raffle, with a staggering array of donated prizes. The speaker is often asked to draw tickets and announce numbers at engagements. I don't think I've ever called out so many! There was also a separate raffle for an wonderful cake made by Committee member Ginnie Phillips.

Public Speaking Tip #176: A speaking engagement may occasionally involve other duties as well as the talk, such as drawing raffle tickets or judging competitions at Women's Institute meetings. This can be a lot of fun!

Then Suzy, another the Committee, auctioned off two artworks. Despite claiming that she doesn't like public speaking, I thought she was a very good charity auctioneer. This is something I have never been asked to do at an event but watching her made me think it's another aspect of public speaking that I wouldn't mind trying.

All told, it was a very enjoyable day which raised well over £2,000 for the NSPCC.

My thanks to Penny for the lift in and to Suzy for taking me back.