Recent work and then that tip... 

I'm going to publish my 500th Public Speaking Tip in this post but first I will tell you about some recent talks and training. You may notice a theme developing... 

CAMEO at St Mary of Bethany Church, Woking

I had two talks in August. The first was in the hall of the St Mary Bethany of Church in Woking for their CAMEO (ie 'Come And Meet Each Other') group. I enjoyed speaking to them and my thanks for the lunch, tour of the very busy church and lift back to the station. The talk I delivered, incidentally, was a mixture of My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer and the Power of Humour in Everyday Life, just two of the many talks I have available...

Coaching a club speaker

The following week I spent a 3.5 hour session with a speaker who had booked me for my service offering coaching for Women's Institute speaker auditions and club speakers. During the session we worked on delivery, discussed the particular types audiences that they speak to and I suggested various additional markets. I also suggested variations on their presentation for other types of audiences.

I was delighted to receive this testimonial:

"Just wanted to say a big thank you for your coaching on Tuesday. I gained so much information from the session and am filled with ideas as to how to go forward. Thanks for all the input you gave me, I really appreciate your generosity in sharing information that must have taken years to glean. I shall certainly get busy. And I'll work on my presentation, bearing in mind the points you made. I thoroughly enjoyed the session. Thanks again.".

Me too. It was good to work with such a focused speaker.

Orpington and Chislehurst National Trust Centre, Kent

Two days later, I spoke about My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to the Orpington and Chislehurst National Trust Centre who meet at the town's Methodist Church, a booking I got on a recommendation following my talk last year to the Orpington Video and Film Makers.

I must admit that I had been a bit surprised when their President and Programme Secretary Mr Dyer told me that there might be 200 - 250 in the audience. After all, this was an August meeting and any groups that even bother to hold meetings in the summer have lower attendances - don't they?

More than 200 turned up that night! I have often mentioned about how great Kent audiences are and a large Kent audience is even better. My thanks to Robin, their sound technician, and to Mr Dyer for the lift to the station. A terrific evening and I would very much like to speak there again so before leaving I reminded them that I have further titles.

(Have you worked out that theme yet?)

Black tie dinner for the Friends of St Andrews, Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire

I spoke on 21 September at a fundraising black tie dinner dinner for the Friends of St Andrews at Hamble-le-Rice in Hampshire. This group does amazing work maintaining the beautiful 12th century Priory Church of St Andrew, the Apostle. They also raised the funds that built the very busy Priory Centrewhere the event was being held.

The three course dinner (all cooked by the Friends) was of a professional standard and during the meal I really enjoyed speaking to Father John Travers. These events are well-supported (there were 73 tickets sold) and many supporters travel some distance to attend. They were a good audience for My Life as a freelance Comedy Writer and I received many compliments afterwards. My thanks to Grant for transport from the station and back (during the latter journey I mentioned that I have a number of additional talks to offer).

Portsmouth North Civil Service Retirement Fellowship

The following Monday afternoon I spoke about the same topic to the Portsmouth North Civil Service Retirement Fellowship in the hall of St Nicholas Church in Copnor.

There were around 17 in the audience, a very friendly group. As I was leaving, I mentioned my further talks.

Bournemouth and Beyond Discovery Group

My first October booking was about Patrick Campbell for the Bournemouth and Beyond Discovery Group at their temporary venue, Richmond Hill St Andrews Church in the centre of Bournemouth. This was my second visit to them (although they were called the Bournemouth Local Studies Group last time) and the talk went well. I made sure that the organisers were aware of my other subjects.

Elliot Lodge No. 1567 White Table Event ,Staines

I had never been the guest speaker at a masonic event before but on 6 October I spoke on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for Elliot Lodge in the historic Staines Masonic Hall. My talk was followed by a superb dinner, during which one member mentioned Marx Brothers films so I mentioned to him that I actually do a talk about Groucho Marx. My thanks to the members for their hospitality at this event, which raised an impressive amount for charity, and to Steve, the human sat-nav who walked me to the venue!

Wilton Wednesday Club, Wiltshire

A fortnight ago I spoke for the second time to the Wednesday Club in the Community Centre at Wilton near Salisbury, my subject being Patrick Campbell. I was immediately booked to speak next year to another group on one of my many topics.

Newbury U3A, Berkshire

The following day found me in St Nicolas Church Hall at Newbury speaking to 77 U3A members about My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer. A very good audience and I let them know that I have a number of different presentations.

The Probus Club of Parkstone

On my way to the talk at Wilton l I received a call asking if I could take a short-notice booking for the following Tuesday at Parkstone Probus. I had already spoken to them four times between 1998 and 2007 but I had enough new material to return with My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer Part 2. By Monday I had developed a cough and a cold but decided that they had already had one speaker cancel so I couldn't as well. I got through the talk without a coughing fit, the audience were great, I enjoyed the conversation with the members (especially some great jokes from Mr George) the very good lunch demonstrated once again why Bournemouth's Riviera Hotel is so popular for club meetings. A very successful fifth visit and I still have at least one further topic that they could book me for...

Some years ago I was discussing a very good speaker with an organiser who had booked me for a club. 'The trouble is, they're a one-talk wonder', he said He had loved their presentation but could never book them again as they only offered a single title - not even a 'Part 2'. My own talks had also gone well - and he had booked me 3 times in 15 months!

The fact is that if you want a steady flow of bookings as a speaker then it pays to have an ever-increasing range of topics to offer - and let organisers know about them (the earlier part of this post demonstrates this. Note also that some of these were repeat visits - a fifth booking in one case). I speak all over the country at any time and at short notice but if you limit your speaking activities by area, time of day or season of the year, then it is even more important to have a decent list of presentations.

But there is another kind of 'one-speech wonder'. There are some people who have never really been public speakers but find themselves expected to deliver a one-off speech, perhaps at a wedding. They dread it but prepare, get through it and realise that it wasn't so bad after all. And then what...? In many cases, rather than building on the experience by taking on further speaking opportunities, improving and gaining in confidence, they will simply never do it again. Such a waste.

Public Speaking Tip #500: If you are a speaker for clubs and societies you will need to introduce further titles, either further instalments of your original presentation or entire new subjects. These organisations prefer to book speakers who are known quantities and you will need the repeat engagements from them to help fill your diary.

If you have been a reluctant speaker at a function, such as a wedding, but got through it then why stop now? Why not take on further speaking opportunities to increase your confidence and ability?

Whichever type of speaker you are, you should keep up the momentum; in other words: don't be a one-speech wonder!

Last month I celebrated my birthday and, a few weeks before that, this blog had one of its own.

When I started posting in the summer of 2007 I wanted this blog to:

"Acknowledge, advise and advertise".

Acknowledge the friendly groups who book me and the response they give to my presentations and also thank them for their hospitality, help with transport, etc;

Advise public speakers of all kinds on speechwriting, presentation skills and even marketing themselves. I gave up teaching in the state-run adult education system many years ago because, like so many other lecturers, I no longer found it to be an environment that I wanted to be part of (and that certainly wasn't the students' fault!) I still am regularly booked by organisations and individuals for training sessions, of course, but I knew that I could help many more speakers by passing on tips in a blog;

And advertise my various speaking, writing and coaching services, both through additional pages on this site and by demonstrating my knowledge.

I also decided that every blog post would contain at least one valuable Public Speaking Tip.

Not long after I had started this blog I was earnestly advised that I should take it down! I can only try and guess what the person's agenda was for suggesting this but if I tell you that they were a rival speaker...

I am glad I ignored this advice: I would have missed out on a lot of work!

I have had some interesting experiences over these past five years. I have spoken in theatres, hotels, golf clubs, community centres, churches, village halls and even private houses. Audience sizes have ranged from just into double figures to hundreds (even more for the radio interviews). I have coached Mayors, watched a then-unknown Jessie J perform at a radio industry event and even had my picture taken by a former Pirelli calendar model who was also one of the first Page Three Girls!

I have made connections with other bloggers, in particular Lisa Braithwaite, whose excellent Speak Schmeak has just celebrated its sixth anniversary and, in the UK, Jeremy Jacobs, whose inspiring communications seminars were mentioned here. 

Many bloggers fall behind at some stage and I had to decide whether to omit some of my past engagements but decided to feature them in catch-up posts as there were so many lessons to pass on from them.

When this blog moved from the Blogware platform to Squarespace in March, all the comments posted over the years were unfortunately lost and I would love to start featuring readers' responses again (but please, none of those inane, generic 'Very interesting, keep up the good work' comments that are invariably accompanied by a link that has no relevance to public speaking - they won't appear!) 

I also do not want to receive those regular emails offering me content (sometimes relating to public speaking, often not) that the sender feels would be 'a great fit for my readers'. How insulting! I am a writer - I have been finding a fit for my readers, listeners and viewers for decades!

But I am happy to continue answering brief queries from readers about any aspect of public speaking that I can help with. Just one thing: that advice costs nothing and neither does the courtesy of a 'thank you' afterwards - you would be amazed how many people don't bother.

Over the years, it has been interesting to see what have been the most popular posts. You might think these would have been the items about controlling nerves when public speaking or even the 'Mehrabian Myth'. In fact, the posts about how to give a vote of thanks and how to pass Women's Institute speaker auditions seem to have generated the greatest interest!

Well, whichever posts have been the most popular, from the feedback I have received over the years, I can see that this blog certainly seems to help its readers because, as I mentioned earlier, every post has a Public Speaking Tip. So what can I pass on from this piece celebrating five years as a presentation skills blogger? This...

Public Speaking Tip #499: You can learn a certain amount about public speaking by enrolling in a class, joining a club, booking a personal coach, reading a book, watching a DVD, listening to a CD, attending a webinar or, of course, subscribing to a blog like this. Any of these will contain useful theory and some will also involve practising in a supportive environment, but nothing - nothing! - will teach you more about public speaking than getting out there and doing it! After nearly 17 years and some 900 speaking engagements I am still learning - and then passing on that knowledge,

Thank you for reading Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog. Five years - and counting!

And in my next entry I will post my 500th Public Speaking Tip...

Because my talks often involve anecdotes about amusing incidents that have happened at other speaking engagements, audiences usually assume that at my next booking I will be telling a story about them! Now, my talks have produced hundreds of speaking tips to pass on in this blog but the percentage that result in funny stories for potential use at speaking engagements is tiny - and the number that actually work well enough after being tested to make it into my presentations on a regular basis is even smaller.

In July, following my talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for Durrington WI I sat at the front of the room in the village hall while they had their business meeting. The talk had been a great success and the meeting afterwards produced some very funny comments of its own: numerous crossed wires and innuendos. After the first, someone said 'He'll be using that!' When, after a couple more, audience members said the same thing again, I felt obliged to get out a pen and notebook and write them down, which got a decent laugh.

I don't know if I ever will use these incidents but this business of still being on show after a talk and whether you carry on 'performing' needs to be mentioned here.

Back in 1998, when I had been a speaker for just a couple of years, I spoke at a WI Group meeting in Oxford. They were a brilliant (and, as I now know, typical Oxfordshire audience) and it was, at that time, one of the best talks I'd had. As I was clearing my props away on the stage at the venue, a VCO (now known as WI Advisors) started delivering a talk of her own, which began with asking whether any of them had considered how, for example, self-massage could lead to 'a whole new you'. All eyes were upon me still on the stage behind her and I couldn't resist reacting to this with some exaggerated facial expressions. This got a big laugh and the poor speaker realised what was happening and said 'Well, he has to get his material from somewhere!' and I got off the stage. Afterwards we chatted and she didn't mind, in fact she booked me for the Oxfordshire WI Markets Annual Lunch the next year, another great gig, but I look back on it as unprofessional behaviour by a fairly novice speaker.

But now, many years later at Durrington some continued participation was clearly expected of me and I played along but, generally speaking, when you've finished, you've finished - don't upstage the speaker who's on after you!

Public Speaking Tip #490: Your stage time at a speaking engagement starts and ends with your presentation - unless you are definitely expected to continue to contribute in some way, perhaps in a joint Q&A with other speakers, judging a competition or drawing the first raffle ticket. You should never upstage the speakers who follow you.

My thanks to Marion for running me back to Salisbury station.

Odiham District U3A

I had a double booking the next day, the morning engagement being for Odiham District U3A in Hampshire. One of the great things about travelling around doing all these talks is that sometimes I find myself speaking in some wonderful historic buildings. In this case it was the 16th century Cross Barn. It certainly beats turning up to work in an office!

My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer got a great response and was followed by a very good Q&A session. Many thanks to their Speaker Secretary Jim for getting me back to Hook station in good time to travel on to my next gig that day.

Monks Brook U3A

My afternoon talk was at St Boniface Church Centre in Chandlers Ford for Monks Brook U3A, who I last spoke to in July 2009 but I actually got rebooked by them as a result of speaking at Shaftesbury and Gillingham U3A in August 2011. Repeat bookings sometimes come to a speaker in a roundabout sort of way!

Public Speaking Tip #491: Repeat bookings for a speaker usually come directly from an organisation itself but can sometimes occur as the result of speaking elsewhere!

My previous talk had been The Power of Humour in Everyday Life; this time it was My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer. There can be some overlap between these two presentations as I have content that is an ideal fit for both but I do have enough tried and tested material to deliver two totally different talks - important for an audience that I had only spoken to three years earlier. The version I did on this occasion allowed me to go into extra detail about comedy writing itself.

I can remember how one of my earliest talks back in 1997 went very well at a Hampshire luncheon and led to a super testimonial letter and an invitation to return less than a couple of years later to speak some more on the same subject. At that time I was spending more time honing the material I already had  than on adding new content. This repeat booking involved a massive amount of new material, untested and added just for that day. The result was a lukewarm response, no testimonial that time and no further bookings! You have to have enough strong, honed material before you can return to an audience for a 'Part 2' presentation. It was a lesson that I have never forgotten and I still bear it in mind whenever I am asked for a 'Part 3!'

Public Speaking Tip #492: A presentation to an organisation may go so well that they invite you back soon afterwards to speak some more about the same topic. Beware! Have you exhausted your strongest material? Was the success of the engagement due to how well the content had been honed over a long period? Is there really much you can add that is worthy of an audience's time? Returning too soon to the same audience with a substandard second instalment of a presentation can ruin the fond memories of the first and damage your reputation - which it may not be great for your confidence either! Look for new audiences and don't return to any previous one until you are really confident about your additional material.

No problems at Chandlers Ford, in fact I received this email from their Joint Speaker Secretary Ann:

"Thank you very much from Monks Brook U3A for your funny and interesting presentation to us on 4th July. It was most enjoyable and we wish you luck in your continuing work as a comedy writer and presenter".

Daryl Hall quote

Singer-songwriter Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates gave an interview in the Sunday Express. What really stood out for me was where he spoke about the passing of his fellow musician and great friend, the bassist Tom 'T-Bone' Wolk. He always used to describe him as "the ampersand in Hall & Oates".

I thought this was a beautiful way of summing up what he meant to him. This type of description would enrich any eulogy as it's almost an obituary in a single phrase. But such a tribute could also be a perfect addition to many other types of speeches.

Public Speaking Tip #493: Could you summarise your feelings about a person in one moving phrase? Think of what a terrific contribution that could make to a birthday, wedding, anniversary or retirement speech or, of course, a eulogy.

Bramley Women's Institute Birthday Meeting, Hampshire

I had one further booking in July, once again for My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer. The audience this time were Bramley WI who meet at Bramley Village Hall. This was their birthday meeting and there were guests present from other local WIs.

Before the talk, I met Jane, their publicity officer, and, as my talk involves stories about writing and, indeed, clubs' press officers, I made occasional references to her. You have to be careful with this - I don't always feel entirely comfortable with the way that some comedians pick on audience members to make fun of them - but gentle references to personalities at a speaking engagement can help to tailor your content. Of course, there are some after dinner speaking gigs where jokes about committee members are expected - even if the speaker has never met them! And then there are wedding speeches...

But my inclusion of Jane was to emphasise my points about writing, in particular reports about speakers, and she was a good sport.

Public Speaking Tip #494: Unless you are delivering an after dinner or best man's speech where jokes about certain audience members are de rigeur, you should always keep any references to personalities present at your talk fleeting and any humour about them gentle.

Since this talk, the Hampshire County Federation of Women's Institutes Chairman Brenda Fletcher who was present that night has already recommended me to another group. My thanks to her and to the lady who drove me back to the station. I have to say, though, that I wonder how many motorists ever manage to drive in or out of Bramley - I don't think I have ever seen a level crossing that gets so much use!

Public Speaking lessons from the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, media coverage, Paralympics Closing Ceremony and Olympics and Paralympics Victory Parade

I was interested to hear the speeches by Lord Coe and Jacques Rogge, President of IOC at the brilliant Olympics Opening Ceremony. Can you imagine speaking in a venue in front of around 82,000 people while being broadcast live to possibly four billion worldwide?

Lord Coe delivered a very good speech but then I would guess that his presentation in Singapore in 2005, possibly the greatest British sales pitch of the past decade, the one which secured the Games for London, may have been more nerve-wracking!

Jacques Rogge's speech in a second language was also impressive. It seemed a shame that all the positive comments about sport had to be accompanied by a warning to athletes to reject doping but when a competitor was disqualified on the very first day it was proof that this plea had been necessary. 

I wondered how both must have felt speaking to such a huge crowd in that stadium. Probably very few audience members were visible to them due to distance and lighting so they would probably have had very little visual feedback from facial expressions but would have avoiding the pressure of seeing the entire crowd!

The Olympics coverage itself produced some points to mention here. The Games started on the Saturday and on the Monday morning I watched the then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt being interviewed on TV about ticket allocations. Then, right at the end of the interview, came a question about whether it was disappointing that Great Britain had not won any gold medals yet (remember, this was after just two days!)

With hindsight, the question seems ridiculous in view of Team GB's performance (I actually thought it to be a bit daft at the time as well) but interviewees, especially politicians, are often subject to these 'curved ball' last-minute questions, often about different topics from the ones they had agreed to be interviewed about.

This can sometimes happen in a Q&A at a speaking engagement as well - you can get some strangely off-topic questions (after a talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer in 2000 I was asked afterwards whether the BBC was going to broadcast the Queen Mother's 100th Birthday Celebrations!)

Public Speaking Tip #495: Always be prepared for the possibility of off-topic questions, whatever subject you have been speaking on. Unless you are a politician, it is quite acceptable for you to say you don't know the answer or even (with charm) that this is not what you are there to talk about!

A great resource for tips on handling media interviews is the free weekly Media Coach ezine from Alan Stevens. It's one of the few newsletters that I open the moment it arrives and I would urge any speaker to subscribe.

The word 'legacy' was flying around everywhere long before the Games ended. One of the most amusing interviews (or non-interviews) I saw was an early morning report about children taking up sport. A reporter had been sent along to a gym where a 9 year-old boxer was practising. The girl was obviously far more keen to carry on thumping nine bells out of a punchbag than to talk to the hapless interviewer. Every question was met with silence. 'What do you like about boxing?' No reply. In the end, the reporter was suggesting answers himself: 'Is it because...?' Still nothing. He gave up and handed back to the studio where the laughing anchor wished him luck for the rest of the day. His next report an hour later featured an older and rather more enthusiastic interviewee.

Not everyone wants to - or has to - be a public speaker. It's a great thing to learn (and more schools really should teach it) but here was a case of someone who was at a club for a particular purpose and being expected to take time away from it for a non-essential speech. I'm sure that if little Brooke's boxing career progresses then she may see the need to be interviewed at some stage but the fact that a more willing speaker was found for the later interview made me wonder why the programme ever chose to bother her in the first place. Presumably the novelty of her age.

Public Speaking Tip #496: If your organisation is asked to provide a subject for a media piece then choose the person who will enjoy it the most and give the best interview. In an ideal world, everybody would be a competent public speaker; in the real one, some are more suitable than others!

At the Paralympics Closing Ceremony, Lord Coe summarised the seismic shift that they had produced, his description made all the more effective by its use of repetition:

"I don't think people will ever see sport the same way again, I don't think they will ever see disability in the same way again".

Public Speaking Tip #497: Experienced speakers often use lists of three for maximum effect but a pairing can sometimes work very well.

I must comment on Boris Johnson's great speech at the Olympics and Paralympics Victory Parade in London last week. Three sections really stood out.

"You brought this country together in a way we never expected. You routed the doubters and you scattered the gloomsters.

That bit was great - rather poetic, in fact!

"And for the first time in living memory you caused Tube passengers to break into spontaneous conversation with their neighbours on subjects other than trod-on toes."

Humour perfectly tailored for London. The reference to spontaneous conversation drew such a laugh that it rather drowned out the bit about trod-on toes!

And then came this killer line:

"Speaking as a spectator you produced such paroxysms of tears and joy on the sofas of Britain that you probably not only inspired a generation, but helped to create one as well."

As Boris pointed out, he could get away with that!

Public Speaking Tip #498: Risque humour can often be perfectly acceptable at a celebratory event - as long as it's used sparingly and the speaker is absulutely sure of their audience.

Finally, do take a look at this post on Lisa Braithwaite's always-excellent blog Speak Schmeak where she compares the regular wasted opportunities of public speakers to be their very best with the way in which many Olympians only have a window every four years.

I had been a public speaker for almost a decade before I encountered a group having a really heated business meeting just before I was due to speak to them. It was a men's luncheon club and it took me by surprise. That evening I had another booking, this time for a women's institute, and their discussions also turned out to be very argumentative!

In both cases my talks to them afterwards went well, perhaps because they offered some light relief, but it was certainly an interesting day. The hundreds of gigs since then have been at groups where the vast majority of members have appeared to get on well with each other and I wasn't expecting my first talk in June to be any different, especially as I had spoken to this particular group twice before many years earlier and on both occasions I had really enjoyed the humour at their business meetings.

Back then they had nearly two hundred attending. The numbers have dropped over the years but there were still around 90 present that morning. The business meeting started and there was plenty of humour flying around once again until they started discussing a change in the group's name and membership criteria in a bid to prevent their numbers dropping further. This led to a number of objections from the floor and the sort of heated disagreements that I had not seen since that day in 2005. I was sitting listening to this and thinking 'I have to follow this soon and make them laugh'. My talk was The Power of Humour in Everyday Life and its credibility was certainly going to be tested! Actually, I was confident but it certainly wasn't an ideal warm-up for me!

But I needn't have worried. Large organisations often have reports from the smaller groups within them (theatre trips, bowling, etc) and the next speaker was a gentleman from their walks section. I wondered if his report would seem trivial to everybody following the row about the changes to their constitution but with his laid-back style and some gentle humour he quickly got everyone laughing. I was very impressed.

I then delivered my talk and it went brilliantly. There was a part where I had planned to include a story about the last time I spoke there and this did involve mentioning the higher audience numbers back then. I decided to press on with it  but dealing with that detail in as few words as possible, certainly without referring back to the content of their meeting, and the anecdote itself got a big laugh. 

I received this testimonial after my talk:

"Thanks for your talk on 1st June. Your humour was very well received".

Public Speaking Tip #485: You may find yourself as a guest speaker at a meeting that turns out to be acrimonious. You are not a member of their organisation and the audience will sympathise with the situation you find yourself in. Take their minds off their earlier arguments with a decent presentation and they will certainly thank you for it.

 The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert

When I watched the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert on TV I thought the comedians who performed there had a near-impossible task. The performers, who ranged from the brilliant Lee Mack to others who, as far as I was concerned, fell into the categories of tolerable, OK-but-fast-becoming-overexposed and never-could-stand-them, were delivering comedy to a huge audience that was mostly there for the music, stretching out for a massive distance in front of them and in the open air! They had to perform very short pieces with no time to build, and with the added pressure of appearing on live TV with phenomenal worldwide viewing figures. In the circumstances I think they did very well. I later read that they had all been supporting each other backstage, offering advice on material, etc, which must have taken some of them back to their earliest days starting out in comedy clubs.

As far as the musical acts were concerned, as a speaker who is constantly blogging about tailoring content, it was interesting for me to see who chose to perform material that was actually appropriate. I was rather baffled by the stabbing theme with Mack The Knife and Delilah and by the young singer-songwriter who thought a song about a girl with a drug habit was the most fitting! On the other hand, Shirley Bassey's Diamonds Are Forever was the perfect choice and Stevie Wonder's rewriting of some his lyrics to be about the occasion was a breath of fresh air.

Public Speaking Tip #486: Just as tailored material makes a big impact, totally inappropriate content can stand out like a sore thumb!

One other thing about the singers. In July 2008 I blogged about attending the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards and about the terrific performance there by a then-unsigned new singer-songwriter simply called Jessie. Four years later, it was interesting to see her performing at this event, her name now one letter longer, her audience about one billion bigger!

Spirit of Wyke Women's Institute, Dorset

My next booking was to speak on The Power of Humour in Everyday Life to the Spirit of Wyke WI in Weymouth. In recent years, a huge number of 'new generation' WIs (or WI-lites as they are sometimes known) have started up, greatly boosting the organisation's national membership and replacing the many institutes that have closed down or been forced to merge. They tend to have a lower average age than more traditional WIs and, it must be said, have in some cases attracted negative publicity due to their rather tacky talks and theme nights and I have been rather wary of them overall but the ladies of Wyke were a lovely group to visit and the only real difference I noticed was that they are slightly less formal and meet in a pub, the Smugglers, rather than at a hall.

Before my talk they heard from speakers representing Julia's House, the Dorset Children's Hospice, and watched a moving video presented by Martin Clunes, one of a large number of Dorset-based celebrities who support it.

Speaking after this was less of a challenge than speaking after the acrimonious meeting at my previous talk that month. The main concern was to avoid any material that might seem inappropriate so a quick review of my content was called for.

Public Speaking Tip #487: A speaker sometimes has to follow a sad announcement or charity appeal. Sticking to your prepared material - especially humour - can lift the mood but do check that there is no content which could come across as an insensitive gaffe.

The talk went very well. My thanks for the transport from the station and this testimonial:

Shrewton Women's Institute, Wiltshire

Two nights later I had another WI talk from a recommendation, this time on Patrick 'Call My Bluff' Campbell for Shrewton WI in Wiltshire. They meet at the Methodist Hall and were a great audience, picking up on all the nuances in the humour.

There have some terr sificpeakers among their members, including a lady in her nineties who has given nearly 1,000 talks and, as the meeting followed the Jubilee celbrations, another lady who gave a funny impromptu talk about meeting the Queen on two separate occasions.

My thanks to Jo for the transport from Salisbury station and back again.

Test Valley Retired Staff Association, Romsey

When a group only has 4 meetings a year - and only 2 of those feature speakers - you feel fortunate to be booked by them, especially when they turn out to be a great audience. This was certainly the case when I spoke to the Test Valley Retired Staff Association at the Crosfield Hall in Romsey about My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer and I really must thank them for the buffet afterwards, the lift to the station and one of the most, er, unusual raffle prizes I have ever won at a talk!

The passing of a great raconteur

I was saddened to learn of the death of one of Britain's greatest raconteurs, Victor Spinetti. My partner Val and I were lucky enough to catch his one man show at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton in 2001.

I remember the energy of the performance he gave in a theatre maybe only half-full on that Sunday evening.

I remember how he conjured up the images of the people he had met, for example, Salvador Dali. He drew an imaginary moustache extending several inches above either side of his upper lip and we could picture it there for the rest of the anecdote.

And I particularly remember how, when he came out on stage, he had a big stack of showbusiness biographies and he mentioned how he was a footnote in them because of his associations with stars like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and, of course, the Beatles. Later in the show, he poured himself a drink and managed to spill it over the books. He gave a mock cry of anguish 'Oh no, the books!', a stage hand came on and wiped up, he asked for a round of applause for him and then, with total professionalism, continued as if nothing had happened.

Public Speaking Tip #488: If something goes amusingly wrong during a presentation, have a bit of fun with it - and then get back down to business.

He was in demand for his storytelling right until the end of his life, in fact, on the day that his death was announced, he could be heard on a BBC Radio 2 documentary reminiscing about London's clubland.

His obituary appeared in all the broadsheets. Here is the one from the Daily Telegraph.

Overton U3A, Hampshire

I had a double booking the next day, first of all to speak on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for Overton U3A in St Mary's Hall. I got a great response and I was hugely grateful to their Speaker Co-ordinator Lesley for running me all the way back to Basingstoke which made it so much easier to get to my next booking in good time. 

She also sent me this lovely email:

"We have had a lot of positive feedback on your talk today! It was lovely to meet you and hear about your life in comedy writing. I have been smiling all day and spent ages telling my husband all about you".

Woodley and Crampmoor Friendship Club, Hampshire

I was then met at Romsey station and driven to Woodley Village Hall ready to speak to  Woodley and Crampmoor Friendship Club on the same topic. I met the lady who formed this club 25 years ago and she rightly proud that it is still going strong. An enjoyable afternoon. My thanks for the transport.

Clive James quote

Suzanne Moore in the Mail on Sunday on 24 June drew attention to a quote from Clive James, who said of Addenbrooke's Hospital: "It may not be as beautiful, perhaps, as the Taj Mahal, but it can save a life. It has been quietly busy saving mine". She wrote; "Yes, it's his brilliance in being able to say so much, so simply, that means we don't want him to go quiet yet".

Saying a great deal in very few words can be very effective on paper but it can also make a great impact in a speech. I can remember speaking at a lunch in Dorset in 1997. This was just a few weeks after the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997 and the subject came up in conversation after my talk. Earl Spencer's eulogy had been the headline-grabber but one of the members of the club told me that he had been so struck by the very short poem by Henry Van Dyke, 'For Katrina's Sun Dial', read by the Princess's sister Lady Jane Fellowes, that he had immediately felt moved to write it down.

Public Speaking Tip #489: Public speaking may often seem rather wordy compared to everyday conversation but sometimes a short, simple paragraph can be remarkably effective.

My first talk in May was back here in Bournemouth, a presentation about Patrick Campbell for the Bournemouth and District Group of the Civil Service Pensioners Alliance, who meet at St Michael's Church Hall. My last booking for them had been in March 2006 and they were a very good audience on both occasions. Afterwards I had enquiries about speaking to other organisations, including one some distance away which I would be delighted to do

Public Speaking Tip #478: You might be surprised at how far some audience members will travel to an event. A successful presentation may lead to enquiries about speaking in other areas.

Among the audience was Jim Kerr AKA comedy writer Frank E Tennis. It was good to finally meet him after being aware of his name and work for so many years. My best wishes to him.

Surrey County Council Staff Retirement Association AGM, Woking

My next booking was in Woking for a group of retired Surrey County Council staff following their AGM at the town's Trinity Methodist Church. I was met at the station by two members who acted as human sat-navs to walk me to the venue (something of a first!)

The group very kindly treated me to lunch and then I waited for their AGM to finish. In the end it ran for longer than expected and I adjusted the duration of My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to allow for this.

Public Speaking Tip #479: Any presentation following a business meeting may have to be shortened if the items on the organisation's agenda involve more discussion than anticipated. This is especially likely to happen when it's an annual meeting.

The talk went really well and I was asked for my details to pass on to half a dozen further groups despite there only being around 35 in the audience for this talk!

Public Speaking Tip #480: A successful presentation for a small audience may still produce a surprisingly high number of enquiries about speaking to other organisations.

This continues what I am now calling the 'Staines snowball', a large number of ongoing speaking engagements, all from recommendations, that started with my talk for Staines and District Probus Club in July 2010! This Woking booking soon led to two further talks.

Newspaper interviews as a source of quotations for speeches

On the way to my next booking, I picked up a copy of the free paper Metro on the train. It's a good source of quirky news stories for topical gags but I often read the features as well. This edition had an excellent interview with the actor Eddie Marsan and as I read it, I was struck by how many of his answers would make great contemporary quotations to include in various types of speech (always crediting the source, of course).

Since last year I have opened the talk My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer with a quote from an interview Griff Rhys Jones gave about...comedy writing. It fits perfectly but sometimes I find quotes from interviewees from seemingly unrelated fields who have said something that is still very apt for one of my presentations.

Public Speaking Tip #481: Speakers often use sayings from books of quotations, motivational speakers (frequently over-used!) or other obvious sources. Don't overlook the contemporary, including newspaper interviews. Fewer audience members will be familiar with them and an unexpected source adds further interest.

This demonstrates what I said in my December 2011 post about reading widely and quoting from a broad range of sources.

Marlow and District U3A, Buckinghamshire

I was reading the interview mentioned above during a journey on a boiling hot day to give an afternoon talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to Marlow and District U3A. After changing trains at Reading I found myself on a delightful single-track rural route to this most attractive town. One of the stations I passed through was at Bourne End, a place which was for many years home to the subject of one of my other talks, Patrick Campbell. I was able to mention this during my extremely well received presentation. People are always asking me who my humour heroes are and I so I was able to list one with a very local connection. (Of course, it also acted as a naturally-introduced plug for another of my presentations!)

Public Speaking Tip #482: Tailored local references in presentations can also include somewhere nearby that you passed through on the way, not just the location of the venue itself.

A really super audience in a beautiful area. I was most grateful for the lift from the Liston Hall to the station as I didn't fancy walking back in that heat, especially as my day's work wasn't over...

Coaching for another Mayor-making

The same council that booked me for script-editing and coaching for Mayor-making ceremonies in 2010 and 2011 made it a hat-trick this year! The final session was booked for the evening following my talk in Marlow, with the ceremony due to take place the next day, so I travelled to this particular council's offices after my talk had finished. I got there at the appointed time only to discover that due to some administrative problem there was no room available where we could work so the Mayor-Elect and myself found ourselves in a nearby cafe!

Now I have found cafes to be fantastic places to write in over the years but they are perhaps not the most suitable venues for presentation skills training! 

Fortunately it wasn't too busy and we were able to achieve some further progress through discussion and my passing on advice but obviously these preparations could not involve standing and projecting, especially as the script was a speech intended to be heard for the first time at the council meeting the next day in which the ceremony was included. It was a good job we had worked together on the Mayor's delivery during a long meeting two days earlier which had included a proper rehearsal in the Council Chamber.

Public Speaking Tip #483: Sometimes it may be impossible to find the ideal environment for the most complete last-minute rehearsal for a public speaking event but even if there is no setting where you can 'stand and deliver', you should still practise in whatever way you can, whether it's working on the script, a whispered run-through or just going over the whole speech in your mind.

I attended the ceremony the next day. I have mentioned before that the audiences for these events are never the warmest but the new Mayor didn't appear to be intimidated by them. One of my Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers is:

"Before you say anything, spend a few seconds looking around at your audience, smiling if possible. This makes you look confident, friendly and unhurried".

That is exactly what the Mayor did, in a way that really impressed me, and the speech was delivered in a clear and personable style.

Public Speaking Tip #484: Pausing to look around at your audience before you speak buys you great credibility in terms of appearing authoritative and unfazed by the occasion.

My best wishes to the new Mayor.

Magna Carta Country Winemakers, Wraysbury

The month ended with a second visit to the Magna Carta Country Winemakers in the Village Halls in Wraysbury, just eight months after my previous booking. Once again I was treated to refreshments before my talk, once again they were a great audience and once again I received a great testimonial:

"Thank you so much for coming to Wraysbury to speak at our meeting yesterday evening. Our members found your talk very interesting and I had lots of very favourable comments during the break. It was lovely to see you again and I shall definitely be in touch to book you again in the future. Many thanks Nick". 

And thank you for the hospitality and lift to the station. A really enjoyable public speaking experience to round off the month.

April was fairly busy for talks, beginning with an evening booking speaking about The Power of Humour in Everyday Life for the Ringwood Tuesday Club at the town's Conservative Club. I had actually spoken to this group twice before but back then they were the town's RAF Association before becoming a more-inclusive group to ensure their continued existence.

The talk was in two 45-minute sections which is rather longer than this one usually lasts. There has always been some overlap with My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer so I included material from that talk as well while avoiding too much that had been delivered on my first visit years earlier when a shorter presentation had been requested.

An enjoyable evening with a friendly and responsive group.

Cosham Club 55, Hampshire

The next week I was back in one my favourite towns, Cosham, speaking to Club 55 who meet in Cosham Conservative Club, the topic: The Power of Humour in Everyday Life. Whereas the room in the Con Club in Ringwood where I had spoken the previous week was brightly-lit, the bar-room this club uses is rather less so and I had to make sure that I was speaking from a position under a light where I could see my notes (as well as being a little more visible to the audience). Over the years I have spoken in various social clubs where the lighting is a consideration.

Public Speaking Tip #467: If you are speaking in a bar at a venue such as a Conservative club, do bear in mind that the lighting may be quite dim so you will need to speak from the best spot you can find under a light.

The talk was very successful and I have already been invited back later in the year.

Bramshott Women's Institute, Hampshire

The following afternoon I was back in Liphook for the second time this year. The talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer was for Bramshott WI in the hall of the Liphook Methodist Church. This group usually meets on a Monday but had arranged a Thursday meeting that week due to the Easter Bank Holiday. This often happens, in fact there has only been one occasion in around 900 talks when I have spoken to an organisation that has decided to press on and have their meeting on a Bank Holiday.

Public Speaking Tip #468: Groups that book speakers sometimes arrange to meet on a different day of the week if their usual meeting turns out to be on a Bank Holiday. Speaker Secretaries do not always realise that the date will have to be changed, especially when booking for the following year (or the one after that - some bookings are made up to two years in advance!) so arrangements have to be altered. If you are agreeing a date for a speaking engagement and you notice from your calendar or diary that the date is a holiday then mention it to the person booking you - it will save time for everybody later!

A great afternoon with a small but very appreciative group.

South Wessex Archaeological Society, Bournemouth

In my post about my December 2011 talks I blogged about speaking at short notice to help out the South Wessex Archaeological Society at Kinson Community Centre in Bournemouth and how they were so pleased that they decided to still keep me as their speaker for April 2012 - the date that had originally been arranged before the switch. Having delivered my Patrick Campbell talk for the emergency booking it was agreed that my replacement topic for April would be The One, the Only...Groucho Marx!

This is another group that has presentations in two 45-minute sessions and I have never delivered a 90-minute version of that talk. I had the option of extending it but it would have meant that at least 30 minutes would have been material that I had never delivered before. The other option open to me was to speak about Groucho for the first session and then, for the second, talk on a related topic with some overlap: Dorothy Parker and the Wits of the Algonquin Round Table. It's New York-based, covers much of the same era, the Marx Brothers had connections to the Algonquin set and some of them feature in the Marx Brothers' story. I chose to do this.

Public Speaking Tip #469: If you are asked to fill a longer-than-usual time slot for your presentation you could consider whether there is a separate but heavily-connected second topic that you could work into it.

It worked extremely well - I just about manged to fit Groucho into the first half and the Algonquins fitted the second part perfectly. I wasn't able to deliver an archaeological story as I had done with the Patrick Campbell talk but I did at least find a humorous quotation involving Pompeii!

Combining these talks was very well-received but I had been reluctant to do so because the Algonquin presentation is another historical one that I had thought about keeping back in case they wanted to book me again! In the end I decided to concentrate on the existing gig rather than any potential future booking and give them the best talk I could.

Public Speaking Tip #470: It may be tempting to hold back strong material from a presentation in the belief that you can save it for when the organisation rebooks you. That is never guaranteed and the best policy is to deliver the best talk you can on the day. That makes you far more likely to be rebooked for a future date, by which time you should have developed and honed further topics and content anyway.

Woodfalls Talkabout, Wiltshire

On the Thursday of that week I had two bookings, the first being my third visit to the Woodfalls Talkabout group. They're always a great audience and my Patrick Campbell talk was really well received.

I was struck by the fact that, despite being such a small place, the Woodfalls area actually has at least three different venues where groups can meet. Even in a village there may be a number of possible meeting places: church halls, a village hall or community centre, a school, a library (if it hasn't been shut down)...

Public Speaking Tip #471: Even if you are speaking in a small village, the venue may not always be as obvious as the village hall. Always make doubly sure that you know where the event is being held.

My thanks for the lift back to Downton from where I travelled back to Bournemouth and then out to Lymington for my next talk...

Lymington Ladies Friendship Club

My second talk that day was a short-notice booking in the afternoon for the Ladies Friendship Club at Lymington's very busy Community Centre.

This group was formerly a Women's Institute. It's sometimes the case that a WI cannot find members to fill all the necessary committee positions so it leaves the organisation but carries on as an independent women's club. I believe this also has been the case with the Woodley and Crampmoor branch where I spoke in 2009 and 2010.

Public Speaking Tip #472: An individual branch leaving an organisation does not necessarily mean the end of it as a market for public speakers. As an example, a Women's Institute may continue as a ladies' group.

My topic, as with the morning talk, was Patrick Campbell. This lecture now has a great deal of material that really works well - as demonstrated by my being able to fill slots of up to 90 minutes with it. This spot was for the usual 50 minutes-or-so but I varied some of the content just to give myself a little variety.

The talk was still a complete story of his life but with some different stories from those told in the morning version.

Public Speaking Tip #473: If you are delivering the same presentation to different audiences twice in quick succession and you have a fair amount of content to choose from, why not vary it a little? The most important parts will have to stay (although you can even vary the wording you use for these) but you may be able to 'pick and mix' some of the anecdotes. It's a good way to maintain your interest and enthusiasm when delivering your material.

That is exactly what I did here and it worked very well: I was immediately rebooked for next year and I received a lovely testimonial from Susan:

"Firstly, a very big thank you for coming to our meeting at such short notice, it was really appreciated, especially as you had another engagement in the morning which involved much travelling to and fro.

 Secondly, for giving such a delightful presentation which was enjoyed by all the members. It was very humorous and gave us warm recollections of a talented performer and also much interesting information about the life and literature of Patrick Campbell".

My thanks for those kind words and the tea and cakes afterwards.

A talk in a retirement home

Over the years I have spoken in a number of retirement homes, some run by housing associations, others by large companies, such as McCarthy & Stone. These have been pretty successful overall, really no different from speaking in other types of venues.

In late April I had a booking to speak after a dinner at a home which is part of another major chain. The fee was a little higher than usual for this sort of engagement and, noting just how many branches this organisation has within easy travelling distance of my home town, it seemed that a quite a large new market was opening up for me, especially with repeat bookings.

I looked at their website and noticed that their homes cater some residents with dementia. There have sometimes been audience members with Alzheimer's Disease at my talks but only one or two at a minority of bookings.

The dinner was rounding off a week of events with a cruise-liner theme and was scheduled for very early in the evening. When I arrived at the venue, I discovered that they had gone to a huge amount of trouble. Staff and residents were dressed in black tie (as I was) or fancy dress. One staff member had an amazing full Pirates of the Caribbean Captain Jack Sparrow costume. Imitation cruise-line tickets had been printed especially for the occasion.

But what I also noticed was what a high percentage of the residents - I would say quite a majority - appeared to be dementia sufferers. For some reason I assumed that they would not be present for my talk. Thinking about it afterwards, it was totally wrong to imagine that some sort of appalling 'lucidity apartheid' would apply. Those residents pay to live there the same as everyone else!

The dinner started in the area where I would be speaking afterwards. It was a large room with many of the tables some distance from me and it was open-plan with a main hallway running alongside it with rooms the other side and no separating wall. The bar area further back was also not divided off. 

Although some residents did remain around the corner in the bar area during the meal, there were around 50 others along with staff in the dining area. Some residents looked very confused or distressed to be there.

In the past I have delivered stand-up comedy in the middle of a pub (not a separate room designated as a comedy club, I'm talking about in the pub itself) to a bemused audience, many of whom were drinkers who didn't even know that a comedy gig was scheduled for their regular watering-hole; I have delivered humorous talks for groups that have just had members arguing during really acrimonious business meetings; I have spoken at clubs where it has just been announced that this will be their last-ever meeting because they could not find any more committee members or where the bombshell news of the sudden death of a much-loved organiser has just been delivered; I have faced really cynical-looking young students during the first lessons of courses in comedy writing or public speaking that I was teaching. None of these have been easy but I can honestly say that I have never felt more like running away from a venue than I did at this place! Ok, that's an exaggeration - but I really did feel like saying 'Look, I'm afraid this just isn't going to work'.

But everyone had gone to a massive amount of effort and expense, I had made a commitment to be involved and my talk had been advertised. There were a minority of people there who would appreciate it fully and perhaps the remainder might get something from at least parts of it. And I have always told nervous speakers that 'it's only a few minutes out of your lifetime'. There were far more important considerations than the ego of a humorous speaker wanting an audience that picks up on every witty reference.

Public Speaking Tip #474: If you have committed yourself to a speaking engagement then you should go ahead with it, even if it turns out not to be what you were expecting. You have made a contract and the organisers and audience are expecting you. The only exceptions are, for example, if you or a close relative are very ill, transport suddenly becomes impossible or the audience is rowdy to the point where you feel unsafe.

Research about the type of audience can be useful - but you can still find yourself in some unexpected situations. You just have to do your best.

I chatted to some lovely people at my table during the superb dinner but I knew that the talk afterwards was going to be a 'tumbleweed' job at best. I took myself off to the cloakrooms to psyche myself up then returned to await my introduction.

There's no fairytale ending here - the response was predictably sporadic and never unanimous. There was also noise from the kitchen, the bar area, people in the gangway and a nearby telephone throughout my talk. At least it broke the near-silence from the audience!

All the time I was acutely aware that sitting through my presentation could be highly distressing to some of the residents as there were stuck there. There were no slides and I wasn't demonstrating, say, brightly-coloured costumes like some speakers do. No visuals - just my voice delivering the talk that I had been booked for, My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer. All I could do was try and make it a bit less formal than usual, more lively, more chatty. I was just relieved that it wasn't one of my more literary ones!

After 30 minutes I asked the organiser how we were 'doing for time', hoping she would say that it was time to conclude the talk. No, apparently it was alright for me to do another ten minutes!

Well, I stuck to my side of the contract, stayed and did it. The organiser is a really lovely lady and I must thank her and her husband for running me back to the station but obviously my hopes of potentially dozens of talks at various branches of this chain completely disappeared. Then again, I hadn't been aware that they even booked speakers until a few weeks earlier, I'd had a night's paid work, a great dinner, met some super people, marvelled at the kindness of the carers (there's a very high staff-to-residents ratio) and counted my blessings.

On the journey back, the organiser assured me that the residents are more aware than they might appear and would have gained more from the talk than I thought. 

Public Speaking Tip #475: Even the most seemingly-disastrous speaking engagements can still be appreciated - at least in part - by some audience members. With a humorous talk, for example, there is always an instructional element as well as the jokes,

I sent the organiser details of another speaker in my area who has great experience of, and a range of talks for this type of audience. 

Public Speaking Tip #476: If you turn out not to be the right speaker for an organisation you could help them out (and try to make up for it) by passing on details of someone who is a much better fit. 

David Hilliam RIP

I was very sad to read about the death of one of the teachers at the grammar school I attended, Mr David Hilliam, who was a prolific author and a very popular speaker. I was never taught by him but he was one of the masters of the choir in which I used to lip-sync as a first-former (the full story is in Nick R's in a Twist!)

He was also heavily involved with the Southbourne Literary Society and they really do seem to have had a difficult time lately, what with losing him and the passing of Mr Tom Hall. I thought about the lovely, warm vote of thanks I had received from Mr Hilliam after my last talk to them.

Reading his obituary in the Bournemouth Daily Echo, I noticed that when he died he had been working on a book about the First World War to be published in 2014. It's very shrewd to plan projects that tie in with anniversaries (when I was doing documentary work for BBC Radio 2, they were always looking for these).

This sort of planning could also work with talks if you start thinking about them enough in advance and bear in mind that Speaker Secretaries are, at this time, booking speakers for this year, 2013 and 2014. You may get more interest in a new title if you can premiere it during a particular anniversary year.

And if it's a good presentation you should still pick up plenty of engagements for the years after that!

Public Speaking Tip #477: A new historical  presentation may have a bigger initial take-up if it can be based around the anniversary of an event. Do bear in mind, however, that due to the 'lead time' for bookings, you will need to be offering it a couple of years in advance.

In early February I travelled to Surrey to speak to Redhill and Reigate U3A at Reigate Park Church about My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer.

Surrey audiences can be fantastic and these folks were brilliant. Everything went well, including the more subtle humour, which they were very quick to pick up on. There was a good question and answer session afterwards, I really enjoyed chatting to members during the refreshments and I sold out of copies of Nick R's in a Twist!

Mind you, there was a slight problem during my talk: this is a modern church with plenty of high windows and, on this very sunny afternoon, myself and large sections of the audience were shrouded in light! I realised that they would be dazzled by sunlight looking at me, the same as I was looking at them, but I could see that there was nowhere else that I could move to where it would make much difference. Afterwards I was told that this often happens and it's something they're used to, rather like the aircraft noise in Berkshire that I blogged about here.

A really great gig to look back on. My thanks to Christine for the lift from the station and to their press officer for this super write-up:

"Report of February 2012 Monthly meeting 

On a cold and sunny Friday afternoon in February, gales of laughter could be heard in Reigate Park Church. Over 160 members were being entertained by Nick Thomas giving a talk on his life as a comedy writer. He punctuated his talk about the life of a free-lance comedy writer, or comedians’ labourers as they have been called, with jokes and anecdotes delivered with impeccable timing. His talk covered his career starting with entering and sometimes winning caption competitions, through sending in jokes to the BBC radio for comedy shows, to his time as a regular writer in the long running radio show The News Huddlines. Members learnt about the precarious nature of the work, the very tight deadlines required when working on a topical comedy show and the way that a good cast of presenters can bring the material to life... The heartfelt appreciation of U3A members was made quite clear in the applause at the end of the session".

And I must also thank the couple who so kindly left a message on my voicemail the next morning about an article they had just read in the paper that day about comedy that they thought might be useful to me for future talks. Unfortunately they didn't leave a name or number but I will certainly be able to quote from it and I am very grateful.

Public Speaking Tip #461: Audience members can often contribute towards a speaker's next talks, whether by drawing your attention to useful resources, personal information or anecdotes about your subject matter or simply correcting facts or pronunciation. Never overlook this potential extra content.

The journey home wasn't great, what with long waits on a freezing platform at Clapham Junction only to find that trains were too crowded to squeeze into, then eventually boarding one where it was standing room-only all the way to Southampton - but I wouldn't have missed that talk for the world!

Camberley & District U3A, Surrey

My other booking in February was when I spoke about Patrick Campbell to Camberley and District U3A  who meet at Camberley Theatre. 

A talk in a theatre or large hall often involves a choice of whether to speak from up on the stage or from the floor. The stage gives high visibility and a real feeling of theatricality, the floor is closer to the audience and more intimate. When faced with these choices I always ask where the majority of their other speakers have worked from.

Public Speaking Tip #462: If you are uncertain about whereabouts in a room you should speak from, ask the organisers what has worked well with others. This is important as it what the audience is used to.

There may be some circumstances, however, where you have to speak from a certain spot, for example, because this is where electrical sockets are located or perhaps pillars block the view of you for some audience members if you stand anywhere else.

In this case, there was quite high tiered seating plus the lighting was above the stage so that is where I spoke from. One of the great advantages of working in venues like this is that you will have the assistance of the theatre's technical crew and I must thank Elgan Howells for sorting out the lighting for where I would be on stage at various points during the talk and ensuring excellent sound.

Public Speaking Tip #463: If you are speaking in a theatre, let the technicians know your requirements - this isn't a luxury that will be available in most other venues!

This talk involves letting the audience look at various props afterwards and take free leaflets. Also, as with most of my talks, there is merchandising of my booklet. The table with these items was down on the floor.

The talk went very well and it was good to deliver it in this setting. I made sure I wasn't squinting under the lights like I did during my five stand-up spots on cable TV years ago but in that studio the lights were at floor level.

Public Speaking Tip #464: If you are speaking in a TV studio or theatre, try and get used to the glare of the bright lights so you're not squinting!

The room was certainly warm; at one point the audience asked for the heating to be turned down but it still felt hot. Afterwards, despite the success of the talk, merchandising was almost non-existent and I could see that there were a number of reasons for this. Firstly, the room had been so warm that the audience wanted to get away! Secondly, there were two exits: one leading back through to the main entrance to the venue , the other leading directly out onto the street. Many of the audience did not have to pass my table on the way out and I took me a little while to get down to it from the stage anyway.

But I believe the main reason - and, amazingly, this was something that I had never thought about too much before - was that the audience had their coffees, etc, before the meeting. A great deal of my sales are made after my talks as refreshments are served.

Public Speaking Tip #465: Many factors will affect your merchandising and time spent mixing with your audience after a presentation: the location of the exits in relation to your table, whether the room has been uncomfortable and if refreshments have been taken before you spoke. These matters may often be beyond your control.

Nevertheless, an enjoyable gig for me.

Solent (Fareham) U3A and Highcliffe on Sea Probus

I spoke again in March to the Solent (Fareham) U3A in Hampshire. My previous bookings were in April 2006 and September 2008. Each time has involved a different venue as they keep adding to their membership and they now meet at Wallington Village Hall in Broadcut. The talk on Patrick Campbell was very well received by the 100-or-so present. My thanks for the transport from the station.

The following week I gave a talk to Highcliffe on Sea Probus who have also changed their meeting place since I last spoke to them, this time to a venue that I have often blogged about as so many clubs use it, the Hoburne Naish Holiday Park. This was my fourth booking for them but the first since 2007 and my topic was Groucho Marx. It went well and I enjoyed the very good lunch and conversation with the members.

New Forest Players Club Night

My last engagement in March was to speak about Patrick Campbell at a Club Night for the long-established and respected New Forest Players. Amateur dramatics societies hold these events as an entertainment for themselves and guests. Typically they might involve a speaker and then a short drama production. I have spoken at these Club Nights for this society in March 2000 and May 2003 and this is another group that has moved to a different venue, this time the excellent small theatre at New Milton's Ballard School.

There were around 60 present and they looked after me very well in terms of lighting, table space, etc, although this time I was not speaking from a raised stage.

It was good to see Gillian Pitt again. Gill is a speech and drama coach and over the years I have met and worked with some of her students, either as a performer or writer. She had directed the production that was to follow my talk and told the audience that the evening had a theme. I was intrigued!

I enjoyed delivering the talk; speaking in front of so many people involved in acting encouraged me to give some extra 'welly' to some of the more animated parts of the presentation. It went very well.

After the break, Gill introduced the play One Season's King by the late George MacEwan Green, who once said of his work: "In my plays I am mainly pre-occupied with attempting to explore certain moments when ritualised structure breaks down and there is an escape of pent up humanity resulting sometimes in enlightenment - sometimes in tragedy".

The piece is a four-hander about three men of different social standing all wooing the same woman. One character was upper-class, had a stammer and became a TV celebrity on a show with David Frost so apart from the wooing bit and the fact that he was English, he was plainly based on Patrick Campbell! The actor playing him actually used a perfect impression of another TV personality of the same era, Derek Nimmo. 

I learned afterwards that they had had remarkably few rehearsals. Some cast members had memorised their lines, others were reading, but the quality of the writing and of each performance was so high that after a while I barely noticed the scripts. Besides, I spent years attending BBC radio recordings of shows I had written for where the cast were always working from scripts and making a fantastic job of it after just one sight-reading and one rehearsal.

From a public speaking perspective, these actors were a great example of how much performance value can be injected while reading from a script.

Public Speaking Tip #466: It is possible to read a speech or lecture and still inject some personality, drama, comic timing, etc. Go to a recording of - or listen to - a radio programme, or attend a rehearsed reading of a play and you will see what I mean. 

I had a really enjoyable evening and I must thank one of the cast for getting me back to New Milton station in time to hop on a train back to Bournemouth.

On 4 January I spoke about Patrick 'Call My Bluff' Campbell for the Salisbury and District U3A at the city's Salavation Army Hall. Around 150 members attended and their very good response got my speaking year off to a flying start.

Haslemere U3A

The following Monday I delivered the same talk at an afternoon engagement for Haslemere U3A at a lovely old venue, Haslemere Hall. My talk was well-received and the turnout was very good - but an even bigger crowd was expected for their meeting a couple of months later when they had a talk by the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament!

My thanks for the lift from Haslemere station.

Bramshott Place Village Lunch Club, Hampshire

A week later I had a short-notice booking to speak on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to the monthly lunch club in the Clubhouse at Bramshott Place Village near Liphook in Hampshire. 

The train was delayed at Bournemouth station which meant some rearranging of my lift in from Liphook (many thanks to the gentleman who collected me) but I managed to arrive in time to enjoy an excellent lunch.

When it was time to begin my talk, I couldn't resist opening by telling them that I was waiting to set off from Bournemouth...and waiting...and waiting...when an announcement came over the tannoy that the delay was due to 'a fault that cannot be rectified. Yes, I said: it's called South West Trains.

The talk went down well and afterwards I was given a guided tour of the very attractive village before being driven back to Liphook.

Christchurch and New Forest National Trust Association

I had been reluctant to accept an afternoon booking for 25 January because I had an evening talk in Oxfordshire and had to arrive there in time to change into black tie but Christchurch and New Forest National Trust Association very much wanted me for that date and so they went out of their way to ensure that everything went smoothly by arranging and advertising an early start to their meeting at Highcliffe Methodist Hall and providing transport to Brockenhurst station straight afterwards.

Public Speaking Tip #458: If an organisation is very keen to book a public speaker for a particular date - perhaps because they need one at short notice - they will often go out of their way to overcome any logistical problems.

It all worked out perfectly and I must thank the appropriately-named Mr Ride for getting me to Brockenhurst in very good time.

So how did the talk go? Well, this was the report in the New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times:

"The Christchurch and New Forest National Trust Association's first talk of the year after the Christmas festivities drew well over 100 members to the Methodist Hall, Highcliffe, to be entertained by Nick Thomas telling tales of his life as a comedy writer. In fact most of the stories were of amusing real life events during his career.

Nick had been writing for BBC radio programmes such as 'Huddlines' and he explained that the cast would ad-lib and change the script as the show progressed. Then the journey from Bournemouth to London became tedious with the crowded trains and once with a coach ride where a wheel fell off on the motorway , and these trifles made Nick think about working from home and perhaps a change of direction.

He advertised in 'The Stage' and was commissioned to write for a wide variety of artistes including a ventriloquist, a mind-reading goose and a teenage girl who bent iron bars and tore up telephone directories. Then came the opportunity to train as a public speaker and Nick soon realised that telling anecdotes about comedy writing was fine but that the incidents that occurred at his talks were far more entertaining.

He revealed he spends a lot of time scanning the papers and magazines for amusing misprints and how embarrassing incidents can become funny stories when told in the right way. He certainly had plenty to tell. He tested the audience for the type of stories that would gain the response he wanted without causing offence. The members of the association responded well and had a really good laugh. It was a talk to lighten a dreary winter's afternoon and is to be recommended to other organisations looking for speakers. What he did not say was whether this meeting had provided materail for future lectures".

(The answer is no; only a very small percentage of bookings provide anecdotes for my talks - but I was very happy to repeat here the story of a most enjoyable afternoon with a super audience)

Inner Wheel of Banbury and Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell Burns Night Charity Dinner, Oxfordshire

From Brockenhurst I caught a train through to Banbury for what was not only my first black tie engagement for quite some time (I had actually purchased a new suit - just as well as another formal dress gig came in a few weeks later) but also my first-ever Burns Night engagement, a charity dinner for 90 organised by the Inner Wheel Club of Banbury and the Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell, with guests from the Rotary Club of Banbury and held at the Whateley Hall Hotel, who very kindly provided a room where I could change.

I was met at the station by the Inner Wheel President Carole Humphris, a brilliant and energetic organiser. The evening began with the haggis being piped in by the very impressive  Richard Jasper and then the traditional address to the haggis was delivered by toastmaster Bob Kellock. Then the meal started and I have to say that haggis tasted wonderful!

After various graces and toasts it was my turn to speak. Despite the many activities involved, I was still able to begin speaking well before 10pm so this was a well-organised dinner!

The introduction to me even included some quotes from this blog!

The talk was My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer and I had spent some time wondering how to link these to Robert Burns, even buying books about the man and these types of gatherings. But this was an event in England with very few Scottish people among the audience of 90 and I am a speaker from England with no great knowledge of Burns. I therefore decided to do the usual version of my talk but with a couple of references to him worked in. The evening had featured many other touches, right down to the 'hint of tartan' dress code, and I was mainly there to entertain so I chose my strongest material rather than trying out much that was new. If it had been a Burns Supper in Scotland it would have been a different matter - but then a Scottish speaker would probably have been booked!

Public Speaking Tip #459: Sometimes you may be booked as a guest speaker for a themed event, perhaps despite having little knowledge of the topic. A balance has to struck between acknowledging the theme and being informative/entertaining

It worked very well and afterwards Carole gave me a very warm and sincere vote of thanks.

Then Phil Page, President of the Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell, gave a vote of thanks for the whole event and I have to say it was superb - one of the best short speeches of this type that I have ever heard.

The picture shows Carole, myself and Phil Page.

There was no way that I would ever have caught the (relatively early) last train home after the event so Carole and her husband Martin had offered in advance to put me up overnight at their lovely home. In a blog post years ago I wrote about how an unfortunate experience with accommodation after I spoke at a festival had put me off the idea of ever staying anywhere other than a hotel after an engagement. Carole and Martin's hospitality certainly laid that ghost to rest and my thanks go to them.  

Public Speaking Tip #460: It is worth bearing in mind that an event, such as a Burns Supper, which involves a number of ceremonies and speeches can run until quite late so it may be necessary to arrange accommodation as there may be no trains still running afterwards, or to avoid a late drive home.                                    

Photos and a write-up about the dinner appeared in the Four Shires magazine. My thanks to Carole for sending me a copy and also an email saying:

"Great feedback from the Burns and speaker evening. £1,262 made from the evening and divided equally between two charities".

This was great to hear. The charities are the Berks/Oxon/Bucks Air Ambulance and Seesaw (Grief Support for Children and Young Adults in Oxfordshire)

One of the most famous Robert Burns quotes is:“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley.” I can only say that this event was extremely well-planned  and very successful. Congratulations, Carole.  

I was originally booked to deliver my Patrick Campbell talk for the South Wesses Archaeological Society at Bournemouth's Kinson Community Centre on 16 April 2012 but they found themselves needing a short-notice speaker for 5 December 2011.

Their meetings involve a talk in two parts, lasting around 90 minutes in total. I posted previously about when I delivered this talk for Haywards Heath U3A and how it works very well in this form. But although this Society books some non-archaeological topics (although something historical is preferred, which is why we settled on this talk), I wanted at least some part of it to be relevant to them.

Fortunately one of Patrick Campbell's anecdotes was about being sent to the library by his editor to research a local archaeological dig. It's a very funny tale but usually  too long to include. However, with the time slot here it was ideal and it was great to be able to include this apt content.

The talk went well and what was really pleasing was that they kept the 16th April booking with me in their programme for 2012 - just with a replacement topic.

Public Speaking Tip #455: If you are asked to switch a booking for an organisation to an earlier date in order to help them out then it is always worth mentioning that you have additional talks that you could still offer for the original date. Of course they may well offer that slot to the speaker you replaced at short notice or might simply decide that they don't want the same speaker twice in quick succession but, nothing ventured...!

I received a very nice letter from their Speaker's Secretary Rosemary:

"Again thank you for helping us out at the last moment last Monday night. Everyone enjoyed the talk, what an interesting gentleman Patrick Campbell was. I've had a smile on my face all this week".

Bedford U3A

Two days later I had a (very) early start to arrive at Bedford U3A for a morning talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer. This was a Christmas meeting with an audience of a couple of hundred in the Bedford Athletic Rugby Club.

I love delivering this talk to a large crowd, especially at happy Christmas meetings. Here I managed to work in a couple of references to newspapers and celebrities from the area.

Petersfield U3A

The following Monday I delivered the same talk for Petersfield U3A who meet at the town's Community Centre. A very good reception for a version of the talk that, once again, included topical humour.

Old Basing U3A Christmas Party, Hampshire

Two days later I had a double booking, the first being to speak to Old Basing U3A again, just ten months after my previous presentation. This time the topic was Patrick Campbell, with some Christmas content included.

Before  we went to the Elizabeth Hall, their Speaker Secretary Angela and some of the other ladies from the U3A treated me to a lovely lunch at the Raven Hotel in Hook - much appreciated.

Hop and Grape Amateur Wine and Beermakers, Hampshire

I remained in the Basingstoke area because that evening I had a booking to speak on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for the Hop and Grape Amateur Wine and Beermakers at Monk Sherborne, Hampshire.

There were about 20 members there and they were a fantastic audience. My thanks for the transport from Basingstoke.

The passing of a famous speaker 

A big news story the following day was the death of the journalist Christopher Hitchens. Whether you agreed with his views or not, I think anyone must acknowledge that he was a hell of a public speaker (not that hell was a concept he would have recognised!)

One of the numerous tributes to him described him as being extremely well-read and able to quote from a very wide range of references. That sounds like something all public speakers can aim for - even without being anything like as well-educated as Professor Hitchens.

Public Speaking Tip #456: Adding facts and observations based on your own reading and general knowledge can really add unexpected content and a personal touch to a presentation, especially if this information is drawn from seemingly unrelated fields but turns out to be a good fit.

Merley Evening TG, Dorset

On Wednesday 21 December I delivered my last talk of the year at a third visit to Merley Townswomen's Guild. It was a 'premiere' for a new talk entitled Christmas Humour, a collection of seasonal gags, topical jokes from the past year, observational humour abour Christmas and New Year, readings, anecdotes and some of my late mother's verse.

Hmm... Not a total Christmas turkey but it definitely a curate's egg! It needs work. Some parts went over very well, some will get a better response after tweaking, others need to be replaced altogether. Sometimes with new talks it is a case of trial and error; my Patrick Campbell talk was pretty disastrous to start with and had to have a major reworking to become the success it is now. Even My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer, which was pretty well-received right from the start, has evolved almost beyond recognition. The trouble with a Christmas talk is that there are so few opportunities to hone it! There are some titles that I have tried out over the years and felt compelled to abandon but I already have another booking for this one in December 2012 so I am going to have to give this title a lot of attention; it will be worth it as I think this has potential.

Public Speaking Tip #457: Presentations that are designed to be delivered regularly will evolve over time, whether they are successful on first delivery or not. Even the parts that seem to work best can still be edited or expanded; other content which got a lukewarm response can be rewritten and tried out again (but be prepared to discard it if it still doesn't work after a few attempts); material which totally bombed can be replaced by other ideas you are keen to try out;  the order of much of the script can be re-jigged to make the structure more logical or to balance information, humour, etc.

As always, my thanks to Mary for the lift all the way back to Bournemouth.

Probus Club of the Sussex Weald and Verwood U3A, Dorset

The first was for a Ladies' Invitation lunch for the Probus Club of the Sussex Weald in Crawley, held at the Hawth Theatre. Well-attended and a good response.

The first of two bookings the following week was at the AGM of Verwood U3A. There were around 45 members at the Memorial Hall and my talk went down really well. Verwood is an area that has seen a massive surge in its population in recent years and I hope this friendly new group will see a growth in its attendance.

Crawley U3A, West Sussex

I was back in Crawley again three days later, this time to speak to the town's U3A at the Friary Hall. If I quote from a piece written by Douglas Mayne for their Newsletter, you might get some idea of what a barnstormer this was:

"Friday Mirthquake

Our monthly meeting at the Friary on October 14th .was entertained, informed and treated to an insight into comedy writing by Nick Thomas that secured our rapt attention, interrupted only by spasms of laughter as he recounted the many and varied hilarious incidents that comprised his long and fascinating career as a comedy writer. His career with the BBC Light Entertainment programmes spans two decades, and notably includes  his contributions to 'The News Huddlines'.

His speaking career began in the nineties, and he has, to date, completed more than five hundred engagements. How fortunate we were to have booked him. Jean Kirby, who recently completed nine years as our speaker organiser, deserves special praise for this inspired choice.

Because there are several Nick Thomases in the  media, Nick writes as Nick R. Thomas to avoid confusion. On stating his name whilst applying for a BBC pass he was asked: 'How do you spell Nickar?' Just one of the many gems he recounted during his fascinating talk.

It was striking how precarious a career like Nick's  has been. He frequently did not know when and how much he would be paid for his efforts. To carry on  writing in these circumstances required exceptional drive and determination.

BBC Radio Comedy, enjoyed by so many of us over the years, is down to writers like Nick. Without the quality material provided by them, there would be no Radio Comedy. A truly memorable afternoon for us all".

Thank you, Douglas, for those lovely comments. It raises a useful point about written testimonials for speakers. We receive letters, emails and write-ups in local newspapers and parish magazines but there are also mentions in the newsletters, company magazines, etc, of organisations that book us. Some of these may be published online, others might only be available within the organisation but it is worth asking if they can send you a copy.

Public Speaking Tip #451: Testimonials for speakers can be found in organisations' own internal publications as well as in correspondence, newspapers and magazines.

Keep Ladies Luncheon Club, Kempston, Bedford

My next talk was at an interesting venue, the Keep at Kempston in Bedford, for the Keep Ladies Luncheon Club. A great response, including for some topical humour.

And I must thank the very kind lady who not only ran me back to the station but even offered to wait on the way there while I went in the bank!

Monday Group, Kenley, Surrey

Over the years I have probably only delivered about half a dozen talks for groups who meet in members' homes (I blogged about the last one here). With the exception of the first, a rather snooty writers' group in the Home Counties back in the nineties, they have all been very enjoyable.

I would suggest that this is one type of booking where it's best not to make fun of the venue! (Not that I wanted to anyway - my evening talk for the Monday Group in Kenley in Surrey was in a very nice home where, even with around 15 ladies present, it didn't feel cramped). Looking at a row of ladies of different heights looking at me over the back of the sofa they were sitting behind, I couldn't resist pointing out that they looked a bit like meerkats. They laughed.

Some speakers might find the proximity of the audiences at talks in homes a little overwhelming but, as I have written before, I really welcome the refreshing change of this type of setting which is great for storytelling.

Public Speaking Tip #452: Speaking in smaller, intimate venues, such as in private homes, represents an opportunity for a speaker to connect more with an audience. It is especially suitable for raconteurs.

A very enjoyable evening; my thanks for the refreshments, transport from the station and this testimonial:

"Thank you very much for coming and giving your very funny talk, I think you know we all enjoyed it".

North Hampshire Federation of Townswomen's Guilds residential, Bournemouth

My first talk of November was a repeat booking for the North Hampshire Federation of TGs, who I had spoken to at their AGM in Camberley back in April - only this time they came to me!

Townswomen's Guilds run 'residentials' where members stay in a hotel in a popular location (in this case the Cumberland in Bournemouth) and, in addition to enjoying a short break, they take courses and hear a number of speakers.

Public Speaking Tip #453: Many large organisations that book speakers have a wide range of events/meetings. It is useful to familiarise yourself with these: the nature of them and requirements for speakers, the typical numbers attending, level of fee, etc.

I had never actually spoken at this hotel before but, if what I observed was anything to go by, they seem to look after their conference guests very well.

This was a morning talk on Patrick Campbell that went very well and I still sold a decent number of copies of Nick R's in a Twist! afterwards as a fair proportion of the audience had not been at the April event. It was also good to chat briefly to a lady who had known one of the people mentioned in my talk, the very funny Arthur Marshall.

Ferndown and District 41 Club, Dorset

After an excellent dinner in a private dining room at the Oakdene Forest Park holiday centre, I spoke on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer at a meeting of the 41 Club of Ferndown.

One of the great things about speaking to groups like this is that many members are still some way off retirement and it is a great opportunity to learn about various kinds of businesses, In this case, the chap sitting next to me was heavily involved in a particular business networking group and gave me some great insights into its workings - very useful if I ever want to market myself in this way.

I got this booking on a recommendation after speaking at Fordingbridge U3A in March. This one also went well; my thanks for the lift from Ringwood to the venue - and then all the way back to Bournemouth!

Bournemouth Video Club

My last talk for November was Write Funny for the Bournemouth Video Club at Kinson Community Centre.

This is the same 'how-to' talk that I delivered to Orpington Video and Film Makers in May and the Essex Audio Visual Group in June. I posted in June about the You Tube clip of my 1994 interview with BBC TV. After ascertaining that there would be internet access in the room, I was able to take this audience through it, step by step - useful for a video club, especially as it was filmed here in Bournemouth. This was my first-ever talk with any sort of video accompaniment!

I was really able to personalise parts of this talk as I have 'form' with them - albeit many years ago. One of my copywriting commissions back in 1995 was to write the script for a video which formed part of Bournemouth's entry to the International Entente Florale horticultural competition. I worked with a retired TV cameraman-turned-corporate videographer, Derek Smith, who was, at that time, Chairman of the club.

I remember Val and I going along as guests to a club meeting (at the old Durley Hall Hotel back then) to watch the 'premiere' of the video. Just for the record, Bournemouth won the award.

Mr Smith is no longer involved with the club but is certainly well-remembered by many of them. It was good to be able to pass on my information with so much of a local emphasis.

As I left the venue, I soon discovered that I would be speaking there again five nights later. I had a message from a group that had originally booked me for April 2012 but who now needed a speaker at short notice. Despite it being just after 10pm I returned the call as their Speaker Secretary had sounded anxious and I wanted to set her mind at rest. She was very relieved that I was able to help them out.

Public Speaking Tip #454: Where an enquiry about an emergency booking is concerned, it may be acceptable to return a call much later at night than you might usually phone; it might even spare a speaker organiser a sleepless night!

So, 8 talks in: a theatre, a memorial hall, a church room, a masonic lodge, a house, a hotel, a holiday park and a community centre - and that's just a small sample of the venues where public speakers can find themselves performing!