Open Sight, New Milton

On 23 July, I gave my talk An Attractive Impediment: the Life, Literature and Laughter of Patrick Campbell for the New Milton branch of Open Sight which is Hampshire's largest organisation working with people with sight loss, part of the Hampshire Association for the Care of the Blind. This was a good choice of talk for this particular group as it evokes memories of a bygone age and includes some fascinating anecotes, mostly humorous, about a fondly-remembered broadcaster.

The group meets in Bashley Village Hall, a venue where I have spoken many times over the years, and there were about 50 people present, about a third of whom were volunteer helpers, drivers and visitors from other organisations.

The microphone proved problematic and and to be abandoned and when it was announced that the speaker would therefore not be able to use it, one lady shouted out 'Well, that's no use to me!' but I positioned my table in a fairly central position this large hall and resolved to really project to give everyone a chance of hearing me!

I had given a great deal of thought to how I would adapt this talk for this particular audience. Obviously my usual visual aids, such as pictures on book covers and Lillput magazine could not be utilised here. I also looked at the language used. I didn't want to come across as insensitive by using certain references (especially as I was speaking about a personality best-known for the visual medium of television) but at the same time, I didn't want to walk on verbal eggshells and deliver a presentation that sounded stilted. Besides, my partner Val worked as a teacher for the visually impaired and tells me that even blind people will use an expression such as 'I saw him the other day'. In the end, I compromised, omitting or editing some expressions but leaving in others. 

Public Speaking Tip #235: There may be times when you need to examine your usual content before speaking to specific organisations, for example, people with disabilities. Avoid insensitivity - but don't be over-sensitive. I think audiences make some allowances for speakers who do not share their particular experiences and provided you are not ridiculously gauche, you will probably come across as more empathetic than many other people they encounter in daily life.

I decided to treat this presentation as a piece of radio: letting the words create all the images. Having written for this medium since 1990, as well as having given numerous radio interviews, I have a great deal of experience to draw upon but this approach can be learned and I really would recommend it for this type of engagement.

Public Speaking Tip #236: If you are wondering how to adapt a presentation for a visually-impaired audience, think of it as a radio broadcast: no pictures but lively and descriptive.

It was a very hot afternoon but I did around 40 minutes. Afterwards I enjoyed tea with the group and received several requests for my details for other groups (this booking itself had been on a rcommendation from a member of New Milton Townswomen's Guild). I also made a point of asking the lady who had shouted out before I was introduced if she had been able to hear me - she said she had!

My thanks to the volunteer who gve me a lift in from New Milton Station and to the minibus driver for taking me back.

BBC Radio 4's Any Questions

Leading UK political blogger Iain Dale has published a fascinating post about his appearance last night on a live broadcast of the long-running BBC Radio 4 panel discussion Any Questions.

He mentions how he was uncharacteristically nervous in the week leading up to the recording and that although he feels that he often performs better without preparation, he had done a great deal of study of the week's papers in anticipation of questions on a number of major topics (the 'revision' for a media appearance that I wrote about here).

His post goes through the whole process: the pre-recording dinner with the host, the warm-up question and, of course, the broadcast itself:  what questions came up, where he clashed with a fellow panelist, audience reaction, etc.

This is very interesting reading for anyone who has ever wondered about how this type of political debate programme is put together.

Ian's post concludes by analysing his feelings on the way home:

'Much of the journey was spent thinking about how I could have done better, but also wondering if I had hogged it a bit. Sometimes saying less is more. Hopefully I did well enough to be invited back. Time will tell!'

Public Speaking Tip #234: However well a speaker performs, we always agonize afterwards over how we could have made things perfect, don't we? It's human nature. It's also how we consistently improve.

Andover U3A

I had an afternoon talk for Andover University of the Third Age on 15 July and I travelled by coach from Bournemouth to Basingstoke and then by train to Andover itself.

Now...regular readers will know that as I use public transport to get to my engagements, I often report on the quality of the announcements on the train or coach. I can only say that the pre-journey presentation by our National Express driver at Bournemouth was, as Americans like to say, a doozie!

Instead of delivering his spiel about compulsory seatbelt wearing, etc, over a tannoy from his seat as he was setting off, this driver stood and faced down the aisle. From his air of authority, I would guess that he is either ex-military or a former police officer (although his lack of height probably rules the last one out). He rolled out the usual content about seatbelts and not putting litter down the loo and said that there were rubbish bags provided. Then it all got really interesting:

"Right, mobile phones: I don't like 'em. If I had my way, they'd be put in the bag with the rubbish. I don't want to hear people using them. The same goes for music. If it's just about loud enough for you to hear through headphones, then it's just about OK. But if your neighbour can hear it then don't be surprised if I ask you to turn it off. I'm sure you'll appreciate that I have lives to consider and I don't want any distractions".

Then, after a short pause, he almost smiled and added:

"Right, let's get out of here, shall we?"

(I was surprised he didn't emulate Station Sergeant Phil Esterhaus from Hill Street Blues and say "Hey, let's be careful out there!")

But it made a change. I didn't have any calls to make and I am quite capable of enjoying a journey without any musical accompaniment so none of this bothered me at all although I can see that some would consider his rules just a wee bit extreme. Actually, I didn't hear anyone else complaining, either. Come to think of it, I didn't hear much conversation at all - perhaps everyone was too frightened to speak. I was changing coaches at Southampton but I wondered if this peaceful atmosphere would continue for several hundred miles to the north where the coach was headed! I was only sorry that I had to change at Southampton.

After about an hour's wait at Southampton, the coach to Basingstoke appeared to be something sub-contracted from another company: old, no toilet, no air conditioning on a fiendishly hot day, what appeared to be chewing gum on the seat - lovely.

I was met from the Basingstoke to Fleet train by Alan Burgess, the Speaker Secretary for the Andover U3A and he drove me to the new Fairground Hall, part of the Fairground Craft and Design Centre at Weyhill, a few miles outside the town.

There were around 110 there and My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer got a fantastic reaction. There was a very good question and answer session, booklet sales afterwards were excellent and many members told me some great tales of their own. The response was especially gratifying as I have seldom spoken on such a hot day. But this talk felt a little strange to me.

For several weeks, I had been suffering from a problem with the whole of the top of my left foot. It was originally diagnosed as athlete's foot which had developed into a fungal infection (you're really glad you started reading this now, aren't you?) but it was later thought to be very bad eczema. Even for talks at non-formal occasions, I like to wear black brogues but getting one on over the swelling and the dressing was nearly impossible and would have irritated the condition even more so, as with the day before, I wore trainers. And as these would have looked odd with smart dark grey trousers, I wore (new) blue jeans. So the first thing I had to do was apologise to the audience for the way I was dressed, explain that I wasn't being disrespectful to them and tell them the reason.

Public Speaking Tip #233: You may well be better off explaining - briefly - to your audience about a problem, such as with your appearance, rather than feeling self-conscious or risking having them being distracted by wondering about it. This unplanned-for content can also sometimes segue seamlessly into your existing script...

I got a laugh by adding that as I have already had swimmer's ear and athlete's foot this year, I fully expect to develop housemaid's knee just to complete the set. But I found that explaining about the way I was dressed linked beautifully into a funny story about a recent embarrassment and, as with the WI ladies the day before, this got my talk off to a great start and the laughter continued throughout.

Another really enjoyable speaking engagement.

Alan ran me back to the station and the two coaches - and their drivers for the return journey seemed fairly normal. My only disappointment was with the Southampton to Bournemouth leg. The coach was supposed to go through the New Forest, which would have been glorious on such a lovely evening, but as every one of the few passengers on board was heading for Bournemouth, the driver got permission to go straight down the motorway instead (so if you were waiting for a coach that never turned up in Lyndhurst that night - that's why!)

A year of Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog

My computer guru brother Jimmy Blake set up this blog for me and I started writing it on 14 August 2007. Including the Introducing Nick entry and the Photos which each have accompanying articles, this is my 100th post.

I would like to thank everyone who has been reading (and I hope benefiting from) the 233 Public Speaking Tips posted so far. There will be many more!

Thank you also to those who have posted comments, not least of all my fellow public speaking bloggers, Lisa 'Speak Schmeak' Braithwaite and Jason 'Pro Humorist' Peck. Then there are the other presentation skills experts in the blogosphere who have mentioned me, such as Jeremy Jacobs and Bronwyn Ritchie. And, of course, Andrew Dlugan at Six Minutes, whose links in his his weekly reviews of the best of the public speaking blogosphere have brought me many new readers.

The mission statement of this blog has always been

'Acknowledge, advise and advertise'.

- I acknowledge the bookings, the warm audience responses, the votes of thanks, booklet sales, lunches, dinners, unsolicited testimonials and help with transport.

- I advise by passing on the insights I have gained from preparing and delivering my presentations, or thoughts that occur to me about public speaking issues in the media.

- And I advertise my services on the web pages so a final thank you to all of those speakers, radio presenters and comedians who continue to commission me for original, tailored speechwriting, topical gags and routines and to those organisations who book me to speak as a result of reading this blog and website.

Please keep it coming! I'll do the same.