Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog

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Tuesday, March 17

A speaker well-suited for his audience!

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Tue 17 Mar 2009 10:15 PM GMT

Bournemouth Ladies' Probus

My last talk of February 2009 was The Power of Humour in Everyday Life for Bournemouth Ladies' Probus and the hours leading up to it were a little stressful but not because of nerves.

I'd put the suit I was planning to wear into a dry cleaner's and had arranged to pick it up the evening before the engagement but when I got there, the shop had closed early! I thought what I would say to the audience to explain in a humorous way the fact that I would be wearing rather too casual attire for a ladies' luncheon club booking (I had even worked out how it would segue nicely into another anecdote) but just after 8 the following morning, a very apologetic proprietor of the dry cleaner's was on the phone in response to my angry note through his door, by 9.30 he had delivered the suit and by 10.45 I was at the Hotel Miramar

I have spoken so many times at this venue, starting with my first- ever (and rather disastrous!) after dinner speech in March 1996 through a number of far more enjoyable bookings, including the last time I addressed Bournemouth Ladies Probus back in April 2000.

There were 58 present this time and after a short business meeting which included some very funny stories from the ladies and some specially-composed comic verse about Pancake Day from a member called Margot, it was my turn to speak.

There was a slight problem with the room in that wherever I stood, I would be obscured to a minority of the audience by pillars (well, I hope they felt it was a problem!) so I moved around a bit behind my table as I told some of my stories. As I have mentioned here before, I'm not a great fan of speakers wandering about all over the place as they address an audience but I felt that in this case a certain amount of mobility was necessary.

Public Speaking Tip #291: If the layout of a room dictates that some of your audience will not be able to see you then there is a case for occasionally moving into their view if you can. Pillars are the enemies of public speakers!

As it was nine years since since I last spoke to this group, I had a number of anecdotes which were new to them. Thinking about how I deliver stories which I have told hundreds of times over the years, I have come to realise that there is a jazz-like quality to this. Certain parts, certain themes remain the same every time but other phrases, timing and pauses are experimented with, even improvised, so that the anecdotes are never exactly the same twice in a row.

Public Speaking Tip #292: You can still experiment within established, proven material in a presentation. Never stop looking for the optimum version, both in terms of content and delivery.

All in all, a very well-received 40 minutes (lots of compliments and very respectable booklet sales) followed by an enjoyable lunch with the ladies afterwards so I ended February on a high note after the cancellations and disappointment earlier in the month.

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Mudeford Good!

by Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking) on Tue 17 Mar 2009 12:13 AM GMT

Brendoncare Castle Club, Mudeford Wood

On 23 February, I was booked to deliver The Power of Humour in Everyday Life to another club run by Brendoncare, this time the Castle Club at Mudeford Wood Community Centre in Christchurch.

After my experience the last time I delivered this talk for a Brendoncare club, I was wondering how it would be received at thisone but the 20 ladies there were a very good audience from the outset and it went really well so I was pleased to put that previous talk and what I felt was an off-form performance at Havant & District Writers' Circle the previous week behind me.

Public Speaking Tip #290: If you have a few below par speaking engagements in a row - for whatever reason - you will find that a) the sequence won't last and b) it really focuses your mind and improves your performance.

After my talk, a couple of the members turned out to be very funny storytellers themselves with a couple of hilarious anecdotes, one about a restaurant's incredibly mean discount offer after waiting staff tipped snails all over a diner and the other about a lady's first (and probably only) all-over massage!

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