Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards 2008

Anyone who has read this blog from the start may remember that the very first entry was about last year's Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards, which I was invited to attend as a guest at the Radio Magazine's table.

On 7 July, the event was held once again at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London and compered, as usual, by Virgin Radio's Christian O'Connell.

At these awards, they always have two guest music acts: a newcomer to open and a big name to close the proceedings. This year's closer was James Morrison, who had performed there as the unknown act just a few years earlier. His interview with Christian was positive, enthusiastic and funny and he gave a relaxed performance that was very well-received.

The singer who had the daunting task of going on before the awards started was Jessie. She looks great and has a very powerful voice which sounds at least as good to me as Amy Winehouse or Duffy. She writes her own songs and introduced each of the three with some self-effacing humour.

The stage area at the Arqiva Awards is always filmed and projected onto massive screens so that those of us at tables towards the back of the hotel's massive Nine Kings Suite can see what's happening! Jessie not only gave a mesmerising vocal performance, she also looked stunning the whole time, her use of gesture and facial expression demonstrating that she was fully in control of how she was coming across on those screens at any given moment. Performing in front of 700 people from the radio industry was a major opportunity for her and I could see that she gave it everything she had.

Public Speaking Tip #227: It is a real joy for everyone when a performer of any kind meets - and exceeds - the demands of a big occasion.

Her table was near ours and I noticed that when James Morrison was performing, she stood up and moved a little closer to watch him - one professional learning from another.

The announcer was Heart FM's Neil Bentley who, I noticed, used gestures as he spoke, despite not being a focal point as he was positioned at the other end of the stage. I imagine that he does this when broadcasting and I find myself doing it when speaking on the phone or giving a radio interview. It feels natural.

Public Speaking Tip #228: You can find yourself in visual 'public speaking mode' even when you are not visible to your audience. Voice and body language are linked. If it helps your vocal delivery then why not?

Christian O'Connell had some great material although there was one gag which went a bit too far in terms of bad taste and got a very muted response but he very cleverly extricated himself with a follow-up line and got away with it!

Every joke and humorous observation he used was relevant to the event/radio industry, from the cheesescake starter to advertising, layoffs and the dodgy competitions which some stations have recently been in trouble over. He also added some very sharp off-the-cuff lines as he chatted with guest award presenters.

A no-nonsense argument for using tailored material can be found in the foreword to John Bolton's After Dinner Speeches and Stories. He writes: 'The jokes should be... always in context. They should not be dragged in merely for the sake of their humorous appeal. To tell a golfing story at the Golf Club's Annual Dinner will be appreciated, and you will acquire a reputation as a witty speaker; to tell the same story at a dinner for a visiting celebrity will merely label you as being "rather stupid". Make full use of humour when the subject demands it, but make sure you are using the humour that fits the situation'.

Although this event was somewhat different from a golf club dinner. there were some speakers dotted among the celebs presenting awards whose appearance/speaking style were more like those you might expect at a business function, such as Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Culture Secretary and the occasional sober-suited senior figure from the radio industry. This was not the easiest arena for these more formal speakers but they kept their speeches short and delivered them with confidence.

Public Speaking Tip #229: If faced with an audience where you are something of an 'odd man out' - for example, a politician in front of 700 media types where the booze is flowing! - do not try to be something you are not but keep your remarks as brief and to the point as possible.

Presenters of awards included Nicholas Parsons, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Fiona Phillips, Mark Goodier and Tony Blackburn and it was a great opportunity to see the relaxed manner in which these famous broadcasters spoke. There was also a nice acceptance speech from Neil Fox, recipient of the Arqiva Gold Award. He said he was emotional but at no time did he come anywhere near plumbing the depths of Academy Award winners' histrionics!

Chatting afterwards was practically impossible as this year's event featured a disco with Neil Bentley now meeting the challenge of DJ-ing in front of hundreds of his peers so I left the hotel, once again grateful for having been given the opportunity to observe at close quarters the public speaking expertise of some of the best in the business.