Bafta speeches on BBC1

Yesterday's Times had a very interesting review - with transcripts - of three of Sunday night's BAFTA acceptance speeches as they were shown on BBC1. (the BBC1 coverage featured quickly-edited highlights of the event which had only just finished).The reviewer is Philip Collins, former speechwriter for Tony Blair. I agree with him, especially about the quality of Danny Boyle's speech, from its humorous opening to the highly effective use of a quotation at the end.

Terry Gilliam's speech was a puzzle. I pretty much telegraphed his prop gag with the huge sheet of paper and that the 'little people' he referred to would be the Time Bandits actors. It proved to be a damp squib ending which was a shame. But if it's any consolation, maybe not all viewers noticed because they were still too busy wondering why so many items were shown twice in his clips compilation (you'd think he had also directed Groundhog Day!) Was this because Gilliam's speech was censored and underran so the TV editors had to make the clips reel last longer so the programme filled the hour? Baffling!

Much has been written about Mickey Rourke's speech, quite a bit of which of which had to be bleeped out. So was part of Mick Jagger's but I thought he was rather impressive. He was smiling, relaxed and unhurried, he timed and delivered his gags well and got good laughs.

And although he has starred in films, he's done a lot less spoken word performance than Kate Winslet or Mickey Rourke...

Public Speaking Tip #287: Even a very short speech can be a profound/humorous triumph or a waffling disaster. Awards ceremonies often give us the opportunity to study both!