Another talk for Hythe and District Probus
Repeat bookings can sometimes be for very soon after a speaker's last visit and on 6 March I was back at Hythe Probus near Southampton. My talk just before Christmas had been for the members and their partners but this one was for the men only.
I have slightly altered the title of the talk I delivered. I used to call it The Wits of the Algonquin Round Table but found that some people thought that the 'Round Table' part referred to King Arthur's Knights while others thought it was something to do with the hard-drinking, charity fund-raising group which goes by that name! I have also decided to include Dorothy Parker's name, not only to make this talk more appealing to women's groups but also because, as perhaps the most famous female wit of the 20th century, hers is a name that more people will have heard of so the subject seems less obscure;the title of this presentation is therefore now Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Wits.
Nevertheless, when Clive Young, the Speaker Secretary, suggested this talk to the Committee at Hythe Probus, I understand that he met with some resistance as some of them had never heard of Mrs Parker! It got booked all the same and the classic one-liners soon had the 25 or so in attendance laughing.
I am happy with this title now as this is a talk which organisations book for a second, third, fourth (or more!) visit from me. They know me by then and are confident that any presentation I give will be humorous. The only people who book it for my first engagement with them tend to be literary and historical societies who are well aware of what it will be about anyway.
Titles require a bit of thought, whatever your topic. Doesn't Why Garden Organically? sound more interesting than just Organic Gardening?
Public Speaking Tip #171: Some organisations may book you on the strength of recommendations but there may be others you might wish to approach directly and the title of your presentation will be at least as much of a selling point as your CV. Give careful thought to whether you need to make it:
humorous
intriguing (but not too obscure!)
challenge a perceived notion
or promise the audience practical advice.
It can be useful to use a subtitle, as I do with I Must Write That Down! (A Commonplace Book).
I added a few new historical facts to this version of the talk. Having now delivered it about half a dozen times, I can see certain points where I can modify my existing script, for example, by changing the order of some items.
This is how I hone a presentation over time. It may be going well at each engagement but, every so often, the script will nag me to make further alterations so that it just keeps improving as the years go on. I am still making occasional small refinements to My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer after 12 years!
Public Speaking Tip #172: With a presentation that you deliver on a regular basis, however long you have been doing it and however successfully, you will still keep spotting opportunities to improve it even further. This also keeps it interesting for you as well as your audience.
The lunch afterwards was unusual. The Dibden Golf Centre has a new chef and instead of telling the Club what the set menu for their meeting will be, he lets them suggest a dish so Joe, the Treasurer, chose toad in the hole! I can honestly say that I have never had this at a Probus before but it was very good and made a real change!
As well as the food, another perk of speaking at lunches and dinners for mature audiences is the fascinating conversation with well-travelled people. On this occasion, this ranged from collective reminiscences about interesting characters members had encountered in the Netherlands, Germany and the Far East to a man Joe had once noticed shouting aggressively at no-one in particular on a crowded train in this country. He turned out to be the comedy actor Derek Deadman rehearsing a part to himself (oh, to be that uninhibited!)
Clive and Joe gave me a lift back to the station afterwards. As I have now spoken at this Club three times in under two years, it may be a while before they book me again - but you never know in this game.
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"This is an unusual blog; the art of public speaking is crucial to politics and yet there's not much devoted to it specifically. This blog does, with posts combining accounts of the writer's recent engagements with some handy hints. Given some of the turgid speeches we're forced to suffer in the Commons, more MPs could do with reading it". politics.co.uk
"Nick spoke at our joint meeting with Kingston 41 Club. It was a brilliant evening. Nick is an engaging speaker, witty, topical and very interesting. He spoke for three quarters of an hour without notes, a most knowledgeable man. I cannot recommend Nick enough and can assure you that engaging him is a worthwhile endeavour. I wish you a great evening like ours". Manny Martins Vice Chairman of Hamble Valley Stick Club and 41 Club Regional Councillor, Region 24.
"Your speech to our 9 Rotary Clubs in North Surrey was much appreciated by me and I have received lots of feedback which was very positive about you. It was so refreshing to hear someone who has the wit to make us laugh throughout the evening without resort to 'blue' material and swearing. I do hope many others will get the chance to experience your talents". Howard Smith, Assistant Governor Area 1 Rotary District 1140.
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Monday, March 17
A title, a talk and a toad in the hole!
by
Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)
on Mon 17 Mar 2008 10:51 PM GMT
Sunday, March 16
Speaking to church groups, a £5 overpayment and early retirement!
by
Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)
on Sun 16 Mar 2008 05:04 PM GMT
All Saints Church Mudeford Women's Fellowship
On 4 March I spoke for the third time to the Women's Fellowship at All Saints Church in Mudeford, just outside Christchurch. There were 26 there (including one gentleman who helps out with transport for their members) and I delivered my new-ish talk I Must Write That Down! (A Commonplace Book) which went well with this friendly bunch. The last time I had spoken there, I noticed later on that they had slightly overpaid me (£5 over the amount we had agreed). They were appreciative of the fact that I had pointed this out to them and we adjusted my fee this time to allow for this. Clubs and societies mainly derive their income from subscriptions, raffles, etc, and, as new members are not always easy to attract, every penny counts. I always stick to the fees and expenses that I have quoted. Years ago, a speaker told me that he had just passed an audition for inclusion in a county's WI Speakers List and had submitted details of his fee and petrol costs, charged at so much per mile. He wondered if would be able to get two talks per day in the same town, say afternoon and evening, and then charge the full mileage to both Institutes - even though he would be in the area anyway! I doubt if he was ever able to pull this off, firstly because bookings rarely fall so conveniently close together in distant towns and secondly, organisations know - and publicise - when they meet and what speakers have been booked; a stunt like that would soon have led to him being struck off their list! Public Speaking Tip #168: When it comes to fees and expenses, deal honestly with organisations who book you. You may well be found out and harm your reputation if you don't! Tuesday Link, St George's Methodist Church, Boscombe I had a second talk at a church that day, this time speaking on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for the Tuesday Link Club, who meet fortnightly at St George's Methodist Church in Boscombe (a group very near my home which, nevertheless, I hadn't heard of until they booked me). There were about 30 there and I was really able to personalise this one by mentioning that the last time I had been in front of an audience in that building was in 1973 when I was a (lip-synching!) member of the Bournemouth School Choir (the rehearsals for this performance feature in one of the anecdotes in my booklet Nick R's in a Twist!) and also when I talked about teaching public speaking, I was able to bring in the fact that I taught adult education classes for seven years at the Bournemouth Centre for Community Arts which is just across the road from them (or will be until its planned demolition). There were also a number of other Bournemouth references along the way and the two long-standing anecdotes which mention the fact that I am a lifelong teetotaller also had particular relevance for a Methodist audience. All told, it was pretty effortless tailoring of material! Public Speaking Tip #169: Sometimes tailoring speech content involves no extra writing at all, just recognising the opportunities to highlight certain points in your existing material. Before my (hour-long) talk started, a gentleman apologised for the fact that he would have to leave after thirty minutes, along with a couple of others, because they had music practice. This often happens; people have other commitments but want to hear as much of a speaker's presentation as possible before they have to leave. They usually slip out with the minimum of disruption. If they are at the back of the room, I just carry on speaking but if they are nearer the front, and therefore a little more noticeable to everyone, then I may give them a smile or nod or even say goodbye in a friendly way, just so my audience knows that I am aware of why they are leaving! Public Speaking Tip #170: People seldom slip out early during a presentation because they don't like the speaker but for a variety of other reasons, such as family commitments, transport arrangements and, very importantly, getting the refreshments ready for when the speaker finishes! Do not let this put you off and do not make these audience members feel self-conscious. Wednesday, March 12
They'll let you know: lessons from public speakers' auditions (part 2)
by
Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)
on Wed 12 Mar 2008 12:48 AM GMT
In my previous post, I wrote about Women's Institutes but in October 2005, the month of my most recent WI Speaker Selection Day (East Sussex Federation), I also took part in two other, very different auditions. The results varied enormously but I gained something from both experiences.
An entertainment agency's showcase audition There is a highly successful entertainment agent in Devon who I've known for many years. I mentioned to her that I was wondering about the possibility of doing stand-up in some of the hotels in a major national chain she supplies acts for, hotels where the guests belong, almost exclusively, to the age group that I deliver many of my humorous talks to. She told me that she was soon holding one of her regular, Sunday afternoon auditions for cabaret acts in one of her hotels in front of a small audience. I said that I was used to delivering sober-suited talks so I didn't have any of the sometimes rather loud costumes associated with cabaret acts. She said she'd prefer to see some colour so I went shopping in Westover Road here in Bournemouth, home to a number of expensive clothes stores. I didn't want to spend too much but I was lucky enough to find a designer shirt in bright red which was vastly reduced in price. The following morning I set off on what was a very long journey for a 10-minute audition: 8am start, train from Bournemouth to Brockenhurst and then a replacement bus to Southampton due to engineering works, train from Southampton to Westbury (where I had a very long wait in the cold), then Westbury to Newton Abbott and Newton Abbott to Torquay, about five and a half hours' travel altogether. I had put together an observational routine based on everyday topics which I felt would be recognised by a mature audience and on the journey, I scoured the Sunday papers for topical stories to joke about. I got off the train at Torquay and walked around to the hotel (a fair distance when lugging a change of clothes, piles of newspapers, etc). It had started to pour with rain. I was greeted by the agent and noted that the audience was indeed very small, no more than 20. Now that's fine for a talk but not so brilliant for stand-up. I got changed and was soon introduced as I didn't have too much time to spare due to having an equally long journey back... And, boy, did I bomb! And it takes you aback when you've had years of good to excellent responses at speaking engagements.There was very little reaction from the tiny audience, a laugh here, a couple elsewhere, but never all of them together - what comics sometimes call 'tumble weed!' It was obvious within a couple of minutes that I wasn't going to be getting booked for fairly well-paid 45-minute stand-up slots at the local branches of this hotel chain, which was a real pity because one of them is only five minutes' walk around the corner from my home! It was so frustrating; I can get laughs with (admittedly harder-hitting) observational and topical humour from younger audiences in comedy clubs but there are very few near me and so much of the stand-up circuit, whether in London or outside it, is about doing endless, unpaid open mic spots or earning tiny 'door splits' - and I gave them up years ago to focus on becoming a paid speaker. And I knew that I could get a great response from older people like these - even in very small groups - with the type of (mainly anecdotal) material that I use in my public speaking but they weren't going for a gentle, mainstream stand-up routine. With hindsight, I can see what I should have done: I should have made the stand-up much more like my public speaking to mature audiences, in other words, chatty storytelling about my own experiences, instead of trying to deliver this other material in a way that wasn't really 'me'. All those years of experience and I failed to utilise it! I'm not saying I would have gone brilliantly or that this would necessarily have been what the hotels would want to book for 45-minute evening slots for holidaymakers but I think the general response would have been better. Public Speaking Tip #166: Our public speaking style and experience can be employed in many other areas as well as in giving presentations. I chatted with the agent afterwards. I was a bit worried because she had booked me to speak about comedy writing at a weekend training seminar for the hotel chain's host-compères a few weeks later and I feared she might cancel because I had damaged my comic credibility but she soon set my mind at rest, saying that this was certainly still on as it was a totally different type of event. She said she thought the material I had used for the showcase would be ideal for after dinner speaking but obviously wasn't for the audience that day. I walked back to the station in the rain. I caught the train from Torquay to Newton Abbott, another from Newton Abbott to Castle Carey and then - and don't ask me how on earth I managed to do this at such a small station - I got onto a standing-room-only train going in totally the wrong direction! Another change and back, then another train to Salisbury, Salisbury to Southampton, replacement bus to Bournemouth. So what did I gain from this (apart from the nice red shirt you can see in a photo on this blog and at some of my less formal engagements)? In a word: focus. I realised what my strengths are. (Postscript: I did travel down to Torquay again a couple of months after this to speak at the hotel group's host-compère training weekend. They were an absolutely super, highly talented bunch and it all went very well. See? Playing to my strengths!) Audition for Blah di Blah: Dorset's festival of words and voices The following Saturday morning, I set off down to Weymouth College to audition to speak at the third Blah di Blah: Dorset's festival of words and voices. The previous festival in 2004 had been a huge success, affecting a fifth of Dorset's population (around 120,000 people), whether they actually attended events or simply read the short literary extracts which the organisers had placed in public places like cafes all over the county. In the event, there were very few of us auditioning in front of the audience of 25, who included organisers, librarians and fellow writers and performers. I did about 15 minutes which went extremely well. Now, I must confess that I had been slightly irritated at having to audition; after all, other festivals much further afield had booked me solely on the strength of a mailshot which included my credits and testimonials and yet here I was being expected to prove myself in order to be booked to speak at a festival in my own home county. (Not only that, I even had to prepare a packed lunch because Weymouth College is a bit of a trek from the town centre and its cafes!) All I can say is that I'm really glad I did it. Besides the very good audience response and the chance to put myself and my CV in front of literary event organisers from all over the county (and I made sure every one of them took away a copy of the leaflets I'd taken along), here's what else I gained from the day: Three bookings for the festival to give 30 minute talks and then act as question master for literary quizzes set as part of the BBC RaW project; One of these was in Bridport, a town where I had never spoken before; Further experience as a quiz master; As part of the day, we all had a (free) photo shoot with professional photographer Kevin Clifford. These distinctive shots have proved very useful since then for promoting other events where I have been speaking. One even graces (if that's the word!) my regular column in the Radio Magazine; The press releases which I sent off to promote the events I was involved in resulted in a number of mentions in various local media including nearly a full page (with photograph) in the Dorset Echo; I got to observe some other local performers; One of these, the poet Christopher Southgate, gave me a copy of his excellent collection Beyond the Bitter Wind: Poems 1982 - 2000. After the events, I began looking at how the festival co-ordinator Ros Fry had managed to get so many people involved. This led to me finally getting around to reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, a book which now heavily influences how I market myself - and this blog!; And, of course, it was great therapy after the debacle of the week before! Public Speaking Tip #167: Whatever your level of public speaking experience, putting ego aside and taking part in a showcase could pay off in a number of different ways, some of them totally unexpected! |
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