Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog

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Thanks for a Proper Vote of Thanks!
2008-01-27 02:38:00
Milford-on-Sea ProbusOn Tuesday, I made a return visit to Milford-on-Sea Probus, this time to deliver my talk about Patrick Campbell. I was greeted at the South Lawns Hotel by the club's very friendly Programme Secretary Stan Kirtley and, after coffee and their short business meeting, I spoke to 35 appreciative members and guests for 50 minutes and then took questions. Then Mr Richard Mallory, who had been making notes throughout my presentation, proposed the vote of thanks.And it was a good one.It turned out that Mr Mallory is himself a fan of Patrick Campbell's writing and he had even brought along a copy of a Campbell book, one of several which he has collected over the years.He mentioned what my talk had meant to him personally.He added material from the notes he had made to the content he had prepared beforehand.He provided some extra information about Campbell without in any way trying to 'top' what I had said.What he said was warm and sincere and long enough to have some ...
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Speak now
2008-01-23 20:26:00
Prince Charles speaks - as a hologram!The Prince of Wales gave a powerful six-minute speech about the environment to 2,500 delegates at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Except that he didn't. His content may certainly have been powerful but it was actually pre-recorded in the drawing room at Clarence House last November and then projected as a hologram. The 3D HRH didn't want to leave a massive carbon footprint by flying with his entourage to the United Arab Emirates so he chose an alternative and very newsworthy method of getting his message across:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ma in.jhtml;jsessionid=IGBN3MROPAYVRQFIQMFCF FOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/22/ncharles 122.xmlFascinating and environmentally friendly - but also perhaps a little worrying.And it's not just the wonders of modern technology such as holograms, videoconferencing and podcasts which me make wonder about the future of speakers actually giving live presentations in the same room as their aud...
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Public Speaking? I was driven to it!
2008-01-23 07:03:00
Durlston WII had a great deal to do last Monday before I set off to give an afternoon talk in Swanage: I proof-read the 250 items of original observational humour that I was sending to a radio presenter and then I wrote my fortnightly 600-word article for the Radio Magazine. I then made notes from the online versions of most of that day's papers so that on the 65-minute bus ride over to the Purbecks I could use these as inspiration to write a minimum of half a dozen topical gags and observations for another radio presenter and a similar number for a further comedy client! I thought I was going to miss the the Wilts and Dorset service150 thanks to a connecting bus which was being driven so slowly that it would have been faster if we'd all got out and pushed but I did manage to catch it and by the time I arrived at Swanage, the material had all been written and emailed from my Blackberry in time for the respective deadlines so I made my way to the Mowlem Theatre for the WI.Public Sp...
More About: Speaking , Public Speaking

Just doing a bit of window stopping
2008-01-20 01:51:00
Emsworth WII was back in Emsworth last Friday morning for a return visit to their Women's Institute who I had last spoken to a year before. I arrived in good time and began my talk about Patrick Campbell for the 55 ladies present.About halfway through, their President got a signal from a member in the second row that the room was too cold (they had heaters on but a skylight was open) so she stood up a few feet off to the side of me and started pulling the cords to try and close it. I was halfway through a story at the time and immediately most heads had turned to watch her, with the result that I was now seemingly talking to myself!To have just stopped dead would have looked tetchy so I abbreviated that part of my presentation as best I could and waited for the matter to be sorted out. I got a laugh from the audience by saying that I expected the President to go shooting up into the ceiling on the end of the cord (it reminded me of the classic Gerard Hoffnung 'Barrel of Bricks' ...
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TG Tips
2008-01-16 23:00:00
Swanmore and Southbourne Townswomen's GuildsI had two talks last Wednesday, both for Townswomen's Guilds here in Bournemouth. In the afternoon, I made a return visit to the Swanmore Guild where I last spoke 15 months ago. This time I spoke about 'The Power of Humour in Everyday Life' and this talk lasted just over 40 minutes as I was trying to save my voice as I had a further engagement that evening. There were about 25 present and it seemed to go ok.The last time I spoke there, the afternoon was spoiled when, just as I was leaving, a member came up and moaned for several minutes about how unhappy she had been about the reply she had received when she wrote to a certain celebrity who I have supplied scripts for in the past - as if this was anything to do with me! It was rather like somebody complaining to a self-employed shopkeeper about the actions of one his customers!I don't know if this lady was absent on my return visit but I was relieved that I wasn't accosted by her aga...
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It's me again, doctor
2008-01-16 02:19:00
Lilliput WII felt better by 8 January when I was due to speak to Lilliput Afternoon Women's Institute but Wilts & Dorset bus drivers were on strike that day so I had to catch a Bournemouth Yellow into Poole and then walk from Longfleet to the Holy Angels Church in Lilliput which took about 45 minutes! By the time I reached the venue, I was very hot and sweaty, coughing and feeling generally rough as I sat through the last 30 minutes of the ladies' business meeting but there is a concept known as 'Dr Theatre' where performers may feel better the moment they get up in front of an audience. It would obviously not apply if a speaker was suffering from the ghastly Norovirus which is sweeping the UK at the moment but as far as colds and the recovery period after the flu are concerned, it obviously works,Public Speaking Tip #110: Even if you don't feel at your best before a presentation, once you start speaking, you may find that doing so gives you a boost, not least of all becaus...
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I'm on a little list (actually, rather a large one)
2008-01-13 23:00:00
A remarkable list of public speaking blogsAndrew Dlugan has compiled a list of no less than 77 blogs connected with public speaking and presentation skills tips (including, I am very pleased to say, this one): http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/2008/01/04/p ublic-speaking-blogosphere/ They cover so many styles and aspects of public speaking that there is bound to be something to help you improve your presentations and you can subscribe to all of them in seconds!Public Speaking Tip #109: The blogosphere has a wide range of constantly updated sites with tips from working speakers. Read at least some of these to add to to the knowledge already available to you from public speaking books/classes/clubs.I really must recommend one blog in particular, Lisa Braithwaite's excellent Speak Schmeak:http://coachlisab.blogspot.com/20 06/10/about-speak-schmeak.htmlLisa's views on public speaking echo so many of my own and her (very) regularly updated blog is always a lively, interesting and useful read.
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But I know a man who can...
2008-01-13 21:42:00
Cancelling my first booking of the yearIt wasn't exactly the best Festive Season I've ever had - I spent nearly a week in bed with the flu! I'd had the persistent cough I've been mentioning since early December but by Christmas, it was even worse and I eventually developed a temperature of 103. Then I passed it on to my partner Val who doesn't normally catch these things. It was the New Year before we eventually opened our Christmas gifts!My first booking of 2008 was for 3 January but there was no way I was going to be up to it so I had to cancel but I was at least pleased to be able to recommend a replacement, a new-ish speaker who had a coaching session with me last year. He is a wood carver who has some stunning examples of his work as visual aids and, as the talk was for a gardening club, he was perhaps rather more relevant to that audience than I would have been anyway.Public Speaking Tip #108: I have mentioned before about networking with other speakers so you can recomme...

The end justifies the moans
2008-01-03 19:42:00
Suggested New Year's resolutions for anyone booking a speaker in 2008: 1. If you leave a message for a speaker you would like to book, bear in mind that there is a very good reason why they may not return your call immediately: they're busy speaking somewhere! 2. Do not get the speaker to agree a fee and expenses and then drop a bombshell, such as 'Oh, and you'll have to get a taxi from the station. It's only about twenty minutes!' 3. If you leave a reminder message as the date of the booking approaches, such as 'Don't bother to call me back unless there's a problem', do not then ring again in a panic saying 'You never returned my call!' Sometimes a speaker just can't conjure up a problem at such short notice! 4. Although you may think you're being terribly hospitable by greeting the speaker with 'Let me get you a drink and introduce our President, last year's President, the chap who sweeps the floors, the great-nephew of the architect who designed the venue', etc, ...

The Twelve Public Speaking Tips of Christmas
2007-12-24 20:57:00
Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers! web pageConsidering the fact that the first post on this blog only appeared in mid-August, I have been delighted with the impact it is already making in terms of traffic, enquiries about work and compliments received about its usefulness to public speakers.As a Christmas gift to readers who have never picked up a copy at one of my speaking engagements, I am posting my very popular leaflet 'Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers!' on this site.Rather than make this a sticky post which would be confusing when included with the other numbered Public Speaking Tips in the blog, I have decided to put it with the other web pages over on the left as a separate 'crash course!'Thank you for reading Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog in 2007 - I hope it has helped you.Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.Nick.
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The Royal 'I'
2007-12-24 01:23:00
The Queen watches her speech aloneAn ITV documentary on 25 December celebrating 50 years of televising the Queen's Christmas Day message reveals that she sometimes leaves the room at Sandringham when her pre-recorded speech is being broadcast so she can watch it away from her family and see whether it has come across in the right way.It is certainly much easier to concentrate alone on watching a film of yourself speaking. Many famous actors hate to watch their performances, even with loved ones; some never watch them at all!When I started teaching public speaking classes, I was asked by one of my bosses why I didn't video students' presentations and then show these films for the whole class to watch and comment on. My reply was simple: because I wanted them to come back the following week! I know there are presentation skills training firms offering intensive courses which involve using video in this way but I always found that gentler alternatives achieved excellent results - wi...
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Wellow, it's me again!
2007-12-20 17:25:00
Chandler's Ford Civil Service Retirement FellowshipOn Tuesday, I completed my last speaking engagement of 2007 and it was for one of my favourite clubs - Chandler's Ford Civil Service Retirement Fellowship. I had spoken there on three previous occasions since 2004 and at my last talk on Good Friday, they booked me for their Christmas lunch at the golf club at Wellow near Romsey. I decided that my new comedy quiz would be the best choice for this event.This club is always well attended and there were about 60 members and guests there. After enjoying my fourth turkey meal this month(!), the quiz got under way. I had added some more questions since I tried this out for the first time a few weeks ago, bringing the total to 16, and, with the inclusion of anecdotes, it filled the allotted time perfectly.Quiz questions have to be chosen carefully; include too many easy ones and the whole exercise becomes pointless, make them all too difficult and people get stroppy! You have to strike th...

Simply Remembering
2007-12-19 00:58:00
My MotherFive years ago today, on 18 December 2002, my mother Jenny Walker died aged 61.Like me, Mum was a writer and speaker. As a writer, she produced very funny comic verse as well as more serious poetry. She was also a great anecdotalist. As a speaker (unlike me) she needed no presentation skills training before she started getting up in front of audiences. She had a very friendly, natural manner which drew people to her, combined with a phenomenal ability to find the humour in any situation - despite having had such a very difficult life (a popular talk of hers was called At Least My Smile's Not Broken!) It's true that she was self-conscious about her numerous disabilities, especially as many of her talks in her final years were delivered from a wheelchair, but she loved public speaking so much that even when she was extremely ill, she would frequently discharge herself from hospital for a couple of hours to honour a booking!As part of the eulogy I delivered at her funeral, I...
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A nice bit of splutter!
2007-12-19 00:12:00
Three Legged Cross WI Christmas MeetingI thought I was doing so well avoiding the cough that most of the country seems to have come down with in recent weeks but it caught up with me a couple of days after my last talk. I expected that I would at least be getting better as my booking to speak to Three Legged Cross Women's Institute last Wednesday approached but the cough hadn't loosened at all. I mentioned in one of the first posts in this blog about cancelling a booking through ill-health earlier in the year but I decided that in the case of this one, I would go ahead with it. The reason was that this was a special meeting: a Christmas party with guests, a meal and then the WI putting on some entertainment of their own as well. My talk, being humorous, was an important part of the schedule and had been advertised for months. I also figured that many of the members would have the bug, or would be getting over it, so I would not be alone!Public Speaking Tip #97: If you have been bo...
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If it ain't broke you could still improve it!
2007-12-16 07:30:00
Hythe ProbusOn Wednesday 5 December, I set off to speak to the Probus Club of Hythe near Southampton. I always seem to have travel problems when they book me. Last June, I arrived in Southampton very early and, as it was a lovely, sunny morning, I had planned to travel across to Hythe by ferry. Unfortunately, it was such a lovely, hot day that by 9.30am the boat had seized up in the heat and wasn't running! The Speaker Secretary drove all the way around to fetch me and still managed to get me there for the start of the meeting - much to the relief of their new President.This time around, there was no chance of me wanting to go by ferry because the weather, as forecast, was terrible, so I was being picked up from Southampton station but my lift was delayed by 25 minutes due to traffic problems. Clive, the new Speaker Secretary, and Joe, the Treasurer, eventually arrived and turned out to be great characters.We reached the golf club in good time and I set up ready for the Groucho Mar...
More About: Improve , Prove

Any requests?
2007-12-09 20:56:00
Waterford Probus Last Monday, I made a return visit to Waterford Probus near Christchurch to give a talk entitled Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer Part 2 (Part 1 having been delivered back in March 1999!) I arrived in good time and my setting up included testing the tape player which I would be using to play a recording of a comedy sketch. I familiarised myself with the volume, controls, etc. Public Speaking Tip #85: Before you are introduced, thoroughly familiarise yourself with any equipment which you will be using as part of your presentation, especially if someone else is supplying it; they may be on hand to give you any help you might need. When this was done, I chatted over coffee with some members of the club. One gentleman mentioned that he had always been interested in the concept of humour in business. Now, I do have a presentation called The Power of Humour in Business which I normally deliver for corporate audiences but this wasn't my subject today....
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The wrong way to close
2007-12-07 23:28:00
Credible contentLast Sunday afternoon, I was shopping in my local supermarket (oh, it's an exciting life!). It was packed but I was pleased to note that the announcements requesting shoppers to make their way to the checkouts didn't start until 3.45pm. On one occasion last year. once again on a Sunday, this announcement came just after 3.30 - and this was in mid-summer, not the crowded run-up to Christmas. Two things struck me at the time; firstly, how relieved I was not to be a shareholder in a company whose staff were not even telling their customers to complete their final purchases but actually trying to drive them to the tills nearly half an hour before closing time! And secondly, how all of us in the store simply ignored what we knew to be a quite ridiculous announcement and just carried on with our shopping!Public Speaking Tip #84: The message and the messenger must have some credibility if they are to make any impact.The best example I can think of regarding somebody distr...
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The Duke of Welly!
2007-11-30 18:00:00
The Duke of Edinburgh as a speakerThere has been a great deal of media coverage over the past couple of weeks of the 60th wedding anniversary celebrations of the Queen and Prince Philip. In the late 40s, the Duke of Edinburgh suddenly found himself being required to speak at a huge number of high-profile events (within a short time, he was the patron of several hundred societies!) He became so proficient at this that books of his speeches were published; I own a copy of one. (It is only when he speaks off the cuff without preparation that he tends to make verbal gaffes - rather like George W Bush!)In an interview in the early 60s, he described after dinner speaking as 'a kind of erudite music hall'. This is very true - there has to be a performance element, however good the material.I have always told students that it can take much longer to master injecting life into the delivery of speeches than it does to learn techniques for overcoming nerves. Sometimes a novice speaker can be...

Mr Watson made it look elementary!
2007-11-30 01:23:00
Slide Presentation by Eric Watson I stayed on at Southbourne Literary Society for the second half of last week's programme: a presentation with slides on 'The History of the Bournemouth Fire Brigade' by Mr Eric Watson, one of this area's most respected speakers. Now, the mere mention of any kind of slide show can produce negative feelings in many people! Perhaps they have found themselves sitting through a neighbour's proud projection of seemingly endless, boring holiday snaps or some dry lecture interrupted by a series of technical hitches with the visual aids. They may even have been subject to a spectacular but ultimately baffling/pointless modern power point presentation which added nothing to a training day. All I can say is that Eric Watson's slide shows are extremely well-received, in fact next year will see his 1,000th speaking engagement since 1993! He started his presentation by telling the audience that although they may have seen a well-known bo...
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A memorable memorial
2007-11-29 12:22:00
EulogiesThe President of Southbourne Literary Society who introduced me and gave the vote of thanks was Mr Bonsor who was at LAMDA with my public speaking tutor Angela Brennan and delivered a superb eulogy at her memorial service. Although this was back in February 2000, I remember it very well and as I have noticed that a number of readers are discovering this blog and website while searching the net for guidance for speaking at funerals, I thought I would mention a few of the elements which made that speech so appropriate.There must have been at least 100 people in the church and Mr Bonsor told us about how Angela was the best student at poetry readings when he studied with her. Anyone who had her as their teacher would have noticed how, even in her 60s, poetry was still important to her, both in the lessons she taught and in performances she still gave locally until her failing health meant she had to give up. By contrast, he then went on to mention some of Angela's early profes...
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Giving a good presentation then being presented with a very good gift!
2007-11-28 23:01:00
Southbourne Literary SocietyLast Wednesday, 21 November, I delivered my new presentation, 'I Must Write That Down: A Commonplace Book', for around 35 members of Southbourne Literary Society here in Bournemouth.This was my seventh appearance there so I know the drill pretty well! They have two talks, slide presentations or musical entertainments at each of their monthly meetings, the first starting at just after 7.30pm and lasting for nearly an hour.As this was a new presentation for me, it might be useful if I explain how I prepared my material to fit the allotted time.My talk was all about commonplace books, i.e. what they are, how they originated, examples of famous commonplacers through the centuries and how many of today's blogs continue their tradition but the lion's share of the material consisted of quotations, readings and anecdotes from my own commonplace book (if you are don't know what a commonplace book is, see my previous post. As I have said, they are a fantastic ...
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Here's why commonplacing should be common practice!
2007-11-22 21:52:00
Keeping a Common place BookLast night, I delivered my new presentation 'I Must Write That Down: A Commonplace Book' for Southbourne Literary Society. I'll write about that engagement in my next post but I'm going to use this one to talk about commonplace books and their extraordinary value for public speakers.A commonplace book is where you copy anything that makes you think 'I must write that down before I forget it!' It may be something you read or hear or perhaps even some words of your own. Quotations, short verse or prose, observations, anecdotes, jokes, facts...anything that strikes you as inspiring, moving, amusing or fascinating - would your audience think the same if you included any of them in a future presentation?They could be inscriptions from monuments dating back centuries or statements from interviewees in today's tabloid press but whatever they are, write them down because many of them will be useful for your public speaking - sometimes much sooner than you co...
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I knew that mike would be a troublemaker!
2007-11-17 17:05:00
Emsworth U3AI had an early start yesterday: I was on the train by 07.30 to travel to Emsworth in Hampshire to speak to their U3A on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer. Despite major delays to most trains when I changed at Southampton, I still managed to arrive early which is always a major relief to anyone who books a speaker - especially one who uses public transport!Public Speaking Tip #68: Most people who regularly organise speakers have been let down at one time or another so they will be delighted to see you turn up. Very few will complain if you arrive early!Public Speaking Tip #69: Arriving early at a booking may sometimes involve sitting through a business meeting/other speakers before it is your turn to address the audience but it is amazing how often listening to others can inspire a relevant addition to your own presentation. If this happens, be prepared to make a quick, brief note and mentally rehearse this additional tailored material.There were 90 in the audience (a ...
More About: Mike

Now some visual aids
2007-11-14 21:10:00
More Public Speaking Tips in the Photos section of this blogClick on each of the Photos on this site and you will find a short article which includes, like all my blog posts, a useful Public Speaking Tip.
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To be a good visiting speaker you need to visit good speakers!
2007-11-14 14:13:00
Boscombe and Southbourne ProbusMy third booking last week was a talk for Boscombe and Southbourne Probus on Thursday. I have a great fondness for this club because my first talk there ten years ago led to a couple of amusing incidents which have been extremely popular in talks ever since, as well as being published in 'Nick R's in a Twist!'This was my fourth visit and I was pleased to see that a successful recruiting campaign was paying off for them so there were 45 present for my talk about Groucho Marx. It went very well and there was a good question and answer session afterwards - always a bonus!Among the members was Mr Tom Hall, Honorary Secretary of the Southbourne Literary Society where I will be delivering another brand new talk, 'I Must Write That Down: A Commonplace Book', on 21 November. It's always a double bill there, a literary speaker usually followed by a slide show, and I was pleased to learn that my talk will be followed by a presentation from Eric Watson, not...
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Question 1: If I'm not happy with my presentation, can I take it back?
2007-11-09 18:17:00
Last Tuesday, I delivered two talks: a brand new quiz for Bournemouth Central Probus followed by Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for a large group of retired Marks and Spencer staff.Bournemouth Central Probus ClubOn Tuesday 6 November, I was the speaker at the Bournemouth Central Probus Club. This was my fourth visit, but the first time I had ever been booked for one of their Coffee Mornings. It was also the 'première' of my new Great Comedy Quiz.I was sorry to learn that the Speaker Secretary who had booked me, Frank Marsh, had passed away. You meet some memorable characters at speaking engagements and he was someone I had enjoyed speaking to at previous bookings.There were about 45 people at the Belvedere Hotel (including members' wives) and I think they were used to talks rather than quizzes at this type of meeting but fortunately this new title combines both as I deliver anecdotes about the comics or shows revealed to be the correct answers (it makes it seem less like an e...
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All I can say is I just wish I'd brought forget-me-nots
2007-11-08 09:02:00
Bourne Valley Horticultural Society, Winterbourne EarlsLast Thursday (November 1st), I set off to speak on 'The Comedy of Life' at the Bourne Valley Horticultural Society, Winterbourne Earls, near Salisbury. I caught a Virgin train from Bournemouth and changed at Southampton. Before, I write about the talk itself, I must give a special mention to the Train Manager (I think we used to call these people guards or conductors!), a man whose announcements managed to turn this straightforward 30-minute journey into a grim experience.He told us as we set off that the shop on board would soon be open. Unfortunately, that was the last positive thing he said. He asked that all luggage be removed from seats. Now, I can fully appreciate from personal experience how annoying it is when you're trying to find a spare seat on a crowded train and the few available are covered with bags by someone who's obviously keen not to share their own little (double) space. It probably isn't too hygienic e...

And now the small talk
2007-10-27 18:20:00
Why I Speak to Small er OrganisationsRegular readers of this blog will notice that many of my speaking engagements are for smaller clubs and societies (although I'm not sure that the audience of 200 at Romsey U3A last month falls into that category!) but, over the years, I have certainly had a decent number of corporate bookings, whether from speaker bureaus and entertainment agencies or booked directly by the organisations themselves. Some have involved provided training for others, such as the Home Office, ICL Fujitsu, Christchurch Borough Council and many more, while others have been purely for entertainment, for example, at the Glass NTO, the Marsh Business Breakfast Club and various others.Some people think that public speaking is only about big-money motivational workshops or after dinner speaking but these are just one, highly competitive element of the business of giving presentations. The huge fees generally only go to celebrities - and the number of them competing for the ...
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If you would now like to look at your papers
2007-10-24 00:14:00
There have been a couple of interesting news stories relating to public speaking in the past couple of days. Gerald Ratner AutobiographyThe Sunday Times printed an extract from The Rise and Fall...And Rise Again, the autobiography of Gerald Ratner, which is published next week by John Wiley. Ratner is easily one of the best (or worst!) examples of the damage that can be done by including inappropriate material in a speech. In April 1991, he addressed the annual conference of the Institute of Directors and (having been advised to include humour) told his audience that his company was able to sell a sherry decanter for less than a tenner because it was 'total crap' (a line which, remarkably, he had also used a week earlier at another function in the presence of Princess Anne) and that a pair of their earrings were cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks and Spencer.He got laughs and a standing ovation but the longer term outcome of his speech was a billion-pound turnover slashed ov...
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Next, we come to the category for Best Small Audience of 2007
2007-10-16 11:42:00
Kington Magna WIAfter updating this blog last Thursday, I set off for a talk in North Dorset. The Wilts and Dorset X3 service was being driven so slowly up the Spur Road from Bournemouth that I began to wonder whether I'd reach my destination by the following day, let alone that one, but at Ringwood our driver seemed to transmogrify into a Lewis Hamilton wannabe who took sharp bends on country lanes at what felt like quite alarming speeds for a double decker. Nothing seemed to be happening quickly in Salisbury, where I walked out of the bank without transacting any business after wasting several minutes in a seemingly stationary queue and then had to wait ages to buy a ticket at the station where only one of the three ticket windows was open and that was busy with a passenger's long and complicated enquiry. But none of these factors were allowed to affect my forthcoming talk.Public Speaking Tip #43: A professional should not let personal frustrations or difficulties affect the qua...
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