Bournemouth 2 Probus

Making yourself available to speak at short notice can sometimes make a quiet month for bookings at least a little busier. Last month it boosted my engagements by 50%! Just before the meeting began at Barton on Sea Probus, I got a call from a fellow speaker who had to cancel a booking the next day due to a family crisis.

If I cover for another speaker, I always ask them to contact the organisation themselves to let them know that a replacement speaker will be coming along with a different topic. I knew this one would be a bit of a challenge; although Bournemouth 2 Probus is a club that I have enjoyed speaking to on three previous occasions, I knew they would have been greatly looking forward to hearing the other speaker and his very popular and humorous topic so I had a lot to live up to!

My topic was The Power of Humour in Everyday Life and I put a collection of material together which they would not have heard before. (I spoke to them on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer in May 2000, Patrick Campbell in October 2005 and Groucho Marx in May 2008 so it had been the best part of a decade since they had heard any of my own personal anecdotes).

I was pretty happy with my material but on the way to the Grange Hotel, I considered the last-minute inclusion of a recording of one of my radio comedy sketches played on a dictaphone, as I had done very effectively with Blackmore Vale Probus last year. But when I tested this for volume in the small meeting room at the hotel, I found that the tape was nowhere near audible enough due to all the sound-absorbent upholstery.

Public Speaking Tip #313: There are many factors which can effect the acoustics of a room: size, height of ceiling, wall and floor coverings, etc. Try to get a feel for the place before you speak and note how the speakers before you are coping (or failing to!)

It didn't matter as it turned out that I had plenty of content, especially when taking into account the amount of laughter. After another of Bournemouth 2 Probus's wonderfully humorous business meetings, I was introduced to the audience of 53 members and guests and this one turned out to be a bit of a tour de force! The observations and anecdotes got a great response, including the new 'hazards of puns' story which I had been honing over the previous couple of months but had not used at a men's Probus before.

The talk was interrupted at one point by a gentleman falling off his seat! After making sure that he was uninjured, I pointed out that my talk wasn't actually about slapstick. He replied that he was nearly in stitches, which got an even bigger laugh and applause. It was a great ad-lib and I wasn't going to try and top that - one of those unscheduled real-life comedy moments that add even more to a humorous presentation.

The question and answer session was incredibly wide-ranging, dealing with topics from comedy past and present to copyright and pop music royalties, all subjects which I fortunately knew something about!

Afterwards, I got a fantastic vote of thanks and then enjoyed a very nice lunch with the club, during which I chatted with one of the guests, Major Peter Mylechreest from the Boscombe Salvation Army.

He was fascinating to speak to. One of the great 'windfall gains' of public speaking is that you get to meet and converse with people who have led incredibly interesting lives, people who you would probably otherwise never encounter. I have found myself at luncheons and dinners where I have been seated on tables with a former Governor of Bermuda, a retired senior Murder Squad detective, Mayors, doctors, authors, charity workers, highly successful business people...

They help me improve my grasp of a number of topics, including current affairs, by receiving informed opinion from experts.

Sometimes I receive useful advice, not as a result of pestering someone once I have found out what they do, but from something which has come up in conversation. Thus, I have had informal but very useful financial advice and even a valuation of a stamp collection (unfortunately it's not valuable at all!)

My talks have also benefitted. For example, my Patrick Campbell presentation now includes several anecdotes from people I have met at my speaking engagements who actually had dealings with him, details which I could never have found in any book. Audience members can be a great resource for a speaker's ongoing research.

Sadly, sometimes I only discover who someone was after the event. One Past Rotarian who booked me for a talk rang up and modestly said 'My name's Holland...' He was actually Sir Kenneth Holland, CBE, who had been Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services in England and Wales.

They're not all high-profile professionals, of course, but so many still have a fascinating story to tell. Imagine the thrill when, after a WI talk in the New Forest some years ago, a lady told me that her grandmother had once heard a very interesting speaker: Charles Dickens delivering one of his readings!

Public Speaking Tip #314: Public speaking enables you to rub shoulders with interesting and well-informed people; both your general knowledge and sometimes even your speech content can be greatly enriched as a result.

There are so many benefits to be gained from becoming a speaker: improved confidence, extra  income, a higher profile for yourself, your business or your cause... This list must also include the opportunity to meet - and learn from - people you would normally never get to speak to.