UK weather conditions vs. my speaking schedule

This is going to be interesting...

I have been staying in the South East. The plan was to get a train back to Bournemouth today ready for my two speaking engagements tomorrow (Southampton in the afternoon and an East Dorset village in the evening)

Snow started falling yesterday and continued today. Much of Britain has been affected, the South East particularly so (seven inches last night). It's the worst for eighteen years and transport systems have been severely disrupted with motorways closed and rail services cancelled or restricted. Heathrow airport was shut and my brother James was unable to fly out to the States to deliver his Legal Tech presentation in New York - the first time he has had a speaking engagement affected in this way.

Earlier this evening, I was told at the local station that I would probably not be able to get any closer to Bournemouth than Portsmouth as the rail service was shutting down at 22.00 and I was advised not to travel.

I now plan to set off Bournemouth tomorrow if I can, stopping off to speak in Southampton on the way. Just one problem: I'm booked for my Patrick Campbell talk and the visual aids and props I use are back in Bournemouth!

But I know the content extremely well (I should do - I've now delivered this one over a hundred times!) I have a couple of his books with me so I'll have a picture of him to pass around and my clothes will be suitable for a speaking engagement. It's not ideal but I think the audience will make allowances under the circumstances and it's better than cancelling. I'll have none of my booklets to sell or leaflets with lists of Cambell's books to give out but at least I can complete the engagement.

Public Speaking Tip #284: Provided you are not delivering a power point presentation, you may still be able to complete a speaking engagement without all your usual aids/props.

Of course, this assumes that conditions don't get any worse and that the clubs don't cancel on me. I'll let you know how it goes - if it happens at all...