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From Humph: this year's quotation.
2008-06-08 07:31:00
A wonderful final quotation from Humphrey LyttletonOne of the radio programmes which was mentioned in the questions and discussion after my talk at Locks Heath Rotary was I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, a show which had been hosted by the hugely popular jazz musician, radio presenter (and after dinner speaker) Humphrey Lyttleton until his death at the age of 86 a few days earlier.In an article in the Observer, ISIHAC panellist Barry Cryer spoke about Humph and mentioned a fantastic saying which he'd come out with before going into hospital, one of those quotations which should go straight into the commonplace books which I hope you have all been keeping since I mentioned how essential they are for public speakers!Humphrey Lyttleton said:"If all goes well, this year's drama is next year's anecdote".Sadly, all didn't go well but what a great saying, what a great philosophy - and what a great piece of advice for any speaker!I doubt whether I will hear many better quotations this year...
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Presentations are about checklists as well as cheques!
2008-06-07 00:27:00
The Rotary Club of Locks HeathOn 29 April I spoke about My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to a mixed audience of around 45 at the Rotary Club of Locks Heath who met at the Holiday Inn atTitchfield in Hampshire.There was a little bit of comedy before I even got there. When I met their Speaker Secretary John Hopwood at Swanwick station I intended to greet him with 'Mr Hopwood?' but as I extended my hand, I stepped off a kerb that I hadn't realised was there so it actually came out as 'Mr Hop-whoops!' It's the sort of thing that happens to me but if he noticed, he was too polite to mention it.It was a good dinner and they were an excellent, attentive audience. I spoke for around 50 minutes and there was a very good question and answer session afterwards. A bonus was that my ear problem was clearing up so I could actually hear myself again!Booklet sales were very good and one member who bought one told me that he had been to the folk festival at Cropredy. I had certainly heard ...
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Good or bad influence? Ability v credibility in public speaking
2008-06-06 20:28:00
The London Book FairAn event which was going on at the same time that I was speaking in Hereford and Kent was the annual London Book Fair. I attended this trade show in 2004 with the intention of joining a screenwriting workshop but actually spent the day attending a number of other events and presentations. I think I may have gained more in the long term and the freebies, such as books, helped to offset some of the expense of travelling there!Public Speaking Tip #207: Trade fairs/shows/exhibitions can be a very good opportunity to hear a wide variety of speakers.I went to a fun quiz called Have I Got Publishing News For You?, based on the popular UK topical comedy show but featuring a panel of (apparently) big names from the book world and with an audience which included the Children's Laureate Dame Jacqueline Wilson. I can't claim to have understood too many of the in-jokes but the event was very slickly chaired by a PR man from the publishing world.I also observed a very energe...
More About: Good , Influence , Public Speaking

I am a speechwriter; I am not a mindreader!
2008-06-02 00:23:00
Personalised speechwriting commissions There was no sitting back and relaxing after the Hereford and Kent talks as I had two speechwriting commissions to complete over the weekend. I am delighted that this website and blog are producing this kind of work and these two speeches, one for a golf captain and one for a Best Man, added a couple more to the list of countries where speeches I have written have been delivered, although the speakers themselves were from the UK.  My approach differs from that of some other speechwriters and I make no apology for this. They compile speeches consisting of wall-to-wall one-liners which certainly get laughs but seem hollow and lacking in personalisation or meaning. There is also the likelihood that many of those present will have heard at least some of these gags before which further detracts from the feeling of a tailored speech. I prefer to write speeches which are similar to those I deliver myself i.e. co...

Malling it over!
2008-05-30 01:28:00
Kings Hill Active Retirement Association (KINARA)Two days after speaking in Hereford, I was off on my travels again, this time back to Kent. My talk was for the Kings Hill Active Retirement Association (KINARA) which is part of the KentARA.There are more than 80 of these Active Retirement Associations in the county and they all have names made up of their location followed by the letters ARA, for example, the first one I ever spoke to was at Bearsted near Maidstone (BEARA) in November 2001 - a great crowd! -  and I have been booked by a number of others since then. I have found that they are always extremely well-attended and, like all Kent audiences, highly responsive to humorous talks.I travelled by rail to Victoria then changed for West Malling from where I had been asked to take a taxi out to the Kings Hill Community Centre. The event was their Annual General Meeting and I was due to speak afer the tea break following the business. I arrived in good time and quietly entered...

Humour for Hundreds in Hereford! Part 2: Blake, a barnstormer, a Baroness a
2008-05-28 00:57:00
Speaking at Herefordshire Federation of Women's Institutes Annual Council MeetingI was greeted at the Courtyard, Herefordshire's Centre for the Arts, by Maggie Pridgeon who was my Speaker Hostess for the day. I have mentioned before that at some engagements, the person assigned to look after the speaker sometimes acts more like a guard (usually the males, I have to say!) but Maggie was excellent, doing everything to make the day run smoothly for me and delivering a super vote of thanks after my talk. I was introduced to the Federation Chairman Mrs Angela Southwell and the outgoing Federation Secretary Joanne Skelton who had booked me to speak at this event. Although the meeting wasn't due to begin for about half an hour, the venue was already very busy with WI members ordering coffee.The meeting was being held in the Main House at the centre and I went in to set up early. I would be speaking from behind a lectern on the stage to an audience of around 235, including many up in the...
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Humour for Hundreds in Hereford! Part 1: Accommodating a Public Speaker
2008-05-14 22:54:00
Preparing to speak at Herefordshire Federation of Women's Institutes Annual Council MeetingMuch of the week following the New Milton talk was spent in preparation for my next engagement: speaking at the HFWI Annual Council Meeting on 15 April (all of which had to be fitted around my daily scriptwriting for radio presenters, some speechwriting commissions, and dealing with the usual emails, phone calls, etc). For a start, it was now very urgent that I should  see my GP and get some treatment for the persistent ear infection. I also had to deliver and collect dry cleaning, buy some other clothes, research and purchase the cheapest rail tickets in advance and order and collect enough booklets to sell and leaflets to give away to an audience which I was told could number up to 300.Public Speaking Tip #192: Although you will find that when you have a certain amount of experience you will be able to cope with pretty much any size of audience, there are numerous additional reasons fo...
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Speak up - you never know who might be listening!
2008-05-03 19:20:00
Milton Green Women's InstituteI mentioned New Milton Community Centre in my last post and I was back there on 7 April when I spoke to Milton Green WI about Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Wits, a talk which was followed by a good question and answer session about comedy and humour generally. This was the first time I had spoken to them since July 2001 and they told me that in recent times, one of the other afternoon WIs in the town had folded so I was pleased to see that this Institute still met.Afterwards, I was talking to one of their members who turned out to be involved with the National Executive and we had a very useful discussion about possible opportunities for teaching on training courses for WI members. What is interesting about this is that there were only 17 at the meeting and yet they included someone with this connection. I have written before about how rewarding small audiences can be and this was another example.I once read that early on in their careers, the Briti...
More About: Speak , Listening

Lend me your ear (or how I became Disgusting of Tunbridge Wells!)
2008-05-01 22:11:00
Tunbridge Wells Luncheon ClubMy first speaking engagement last month was on 3 April for a ladies' luncheon club in Tunbridge Wells. I got the 05.20 coach from Bournemouth to Victoria (so much cheaper than the train!) and our very well-spoken driver announced that no-one should drink alcohol, smoke, eat hot food or pee with loo seat down. He then told us to enjoy our trip. That will be difficult, I thought; he's just banned every pleasure known to Man! Seriously, I wouldn't do any of the above but I did marvel at how fresh he made an announcement which he must have made so many times sound.Something else I don't do (well, not very often and certainly not at this time of year) is swimming but, nevertheless, I had managed to develop a condition called Swimmer's Ear which causes muffled hearing and a runny discharge but I was more worried about the latter as far as the upcoming talk was concerned.There have been times in the past when my ears have been blocked (listening to music, ...
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Audience Appreciation
2008-04-28 09:12:00
My apologies for the lack of blogging recently; I have been pretty busy with talks and speechwriting over the past few weeks so I now have quite a few posts to add, each, as always, containing at least one useful presentation skills tip...New Forest Veterans of NormandyOn 28 March, I spoke on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer to the Normandy Veterans Association New Forest Branch in Ringwood.There were around 60 there for this morning meeting, including a number of women who, I assumed, were wives, widows or daughters of veterans. Many members travel considerable distances to attend, for example, Mr Ball, their Speaker Secretary, comes in all the way from Yeovil.They were a very good audience and I received a number of compliments afterwards.I mentioned last year that I had collected all the DVDs of the World at War TV series given away with the Daily Mail. The night before this talk, I made a point of once again watching the programme devoted to the Normandy Landings, not becaus...
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So where do public speakers find their public? (Part 3)
2008-04-28 07:02:00
Who books speakers?In my last two posts, I mentioned how Sarah Rourke could use public speaking to promote her podcasting company, not only by addressing business clubs but also by giving a more general presentation about her radio production career to a wider range of organisations.I am now going to list some of the types of groups I speak to on a regular basis (I have a feeling that this will be one of those posts where I keep thinking of further information to add afterwards so it might be worthwhile to revisit it from time to time!) Please note that although I have given links to the national websites of many of these organisations so that you can find out more about them, you should contact individual local branches if you want to be considered as a speaker, not their national HQs.Probus: I have given more talks for Probus than any other organisation. These clubs hold monthly meetings for retired professional and business people (hence the name Pro-bus). There are thousands of ...
More About: Public , Find , Speakers , Part , Part 3

So where do public speakers find their public? (Part 2)
2008-04-07 01:30:00
Cross-promotion between presentationsLast time, I wrote about how a reader of this blog, Sarah Rourke, could promote her podcasting business by speaking to business networking and arts-based events and clubs. Now I'm going to suggest some other speaking engagements which she might also consider.Although Sarah is mainly interested in speaking about podcasting, I notice from her CV that she has worked as a BBC radio journalist and producer. I am going to suggest that she develops another presentation all about her experiences of this, perhaps entitled 'My Life as a Radio Producer', 'A Day in the Life of a BBC Reporter' or even (depending upon which part of the Beeb she worked in) 'Behind the Scenes at BBC Radio'. The talk should be up to 50 minutes long and include interesting/amusing facts and stories, with at least some involving famous people (although audiences don't want to hear a catalogue of name-dropping, they will appreciate - and expect - the odd tale involving well-...
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So where do public speakers find their public? (Part 1)
2008-03-26 14:48:00
Finding the right audience for your presentationNot for the first time, a reader has contacted me with a query (and if anyone else wants to use me as a 'public speaking agony uncle' then please feel free to do so. I'll help if I can - but it may sometimes take a while, depending upon my commitments!).Sarah Rourke, The Audio Pod Artist, is a former BBC journalist and producer who is therefore not nervous about public speaking but wants suggestions for finding the right organisations to speak to in order to promote her podcasting, audio resources production and training business. First of all, here are the more obvious suggestions. Let's start with business networking clubs. Now Sarah could certainly join some and get to speak at their meetings, ranging from one minute per week to say what sort of business referrals she'd like from other members at some clubs, to a six-minute presentation about her business at others. Some will cost hundreds of pounds a year in membership fees, o...
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Even politicians sometimes have their uses...
2008-03-25 21:38:00
Political  BiographiesLast weekend, the top UK blogger Iain Dale published a list of his Top 75 Political Books.Political biographies often include a great deal about the preparation, delivery and impact of their subjects' speeches. A favourite audio book which I am just listening to yet again is A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan by Michael Deaver. Throughout the 4 cassettes, there are constant references to Reagan's public speaking.Oratory obviously also features heavily in political fiction, as viewers of the superb drama The West Wing are aware; some of the most interesting and entertaining characters are the speechwriters.Public Speaking Tip #181: We may never wish to go into politics but we can still pick up some excellent public speaking pointers from political biographies and fiction (although, admittedly, the two are sometimes difficult to distinguish!)
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An underrated technique for controlling public speaking nerves!
2008-03-25 20:41:00
Controlling panic attacksIn a recent interview, Madonna revealed that she still gets panic attacks on stage.Now, you might be thinking that if even a performer with her experience still panics after a quarter of a century of superstardom, then what hope is there for me?But then we are not performing as part of a multi-million pound tour where we are expected to remember and deliver outstanding songs and dance routines while knowing that every second we are up there, the world's critics are scrutinising us for any sign of weakness as we grow older.Madonna has her own techniques for dealing with her panic. I am now going to enlarge on one of the suggestions on my Thomas's Twelve Tips for Terrified Speakers web page which can help you if you get really nervous at a speaking engagement. I was delighted when  Liz Fuller recently referred to this list - and this tip in particular - in her highly-acclaimed blog for women entrepreneurs, More Than WE Know.Between the ages of 15 and 23...
More About: Public , Technique , Underrated , Speaking , Public Speaking

You're a public speaker? Hang on a minute...
2008-03-24 02:53:00
Royal Air Force Yacht Club Ladies' Luncheon, HambleOn 14 March I spoke to around 50 ladies at the Hamble Royal Air Force Yacht Club in Hampshire.They were a very good audience and, despite the talk being scheduled for after the (very good) lunch, attentive enough for me to speak for the best part of an hour on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer (often a presentation following a meal has to be somewhat shorter!)Afterwards, as always, I chatted to members, gave out my Twelve Tips for Terrified Speaker s! leaflets and sold and signed booklets. Even back in the days before I gave people handouts or did any merchandising after my talks, I would still be available to chat with audience members. It is only on the rare occasions that I have to get away quickly to travel on to another engagement miles away that I make a quick exit and even then I cut it fine by spending at least some time with the people who have just given me their attention, laughter and applause.Years ago, a Women's In...
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A presentation and a pasty - an unbeatable combination!
2008-03-20 23:56:00
Bournemouth Cornish AssociationMy second speaking engagement last Wednesday was a talk, once again My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer, for one of my home town's oldest clubs: Bournemouth Cornish Association (founded 1921).They were all extremely friendly and I decided to speak from up on the stage in the Charminster Moose Hall. Once again, I was asked to use a microphone. This was a good one, detachable from its stand and not battery operated - for once!The agenda for their meeting is a little different from other clubs, in that I was asked to do a spot of about 30 minutes and then stop as the food would be ready by then. There would be a raffle after the meal and, if there was time, I could speak for a few minutes more and take the odd question - but they had to be out by ten o'clock!I have often done 'two-parters', especially at literary festivals, but for those bookings, I have known that there will definitely be a second section of my talk. In the end, I did about 35 minut...
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A charity appeal - and the appeal of repetition in a presentation
2008-03-19 22:55:00
NSPCC Bournemouth Branch Ladies DayLast Wednesday morning, I gave an hour-long talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer as part of the annual NSPCC Bournemouth Branch Ladies Day at Canford Magna Golf Club,a popular local venue where I had actually never spoken before.This was a very well-organised and well-attended event with around 110 women there. As well as the guest speaker's talk and the lunch afterwards, there were stalls, raffles and donated artworks to be auctioned.As far as my talk was concerned, there were one or two challenges. It was a large, wide room and I was asked to use a microphone, a battery-powered, hand-held model. I had to choose a spot to speak from in quite a cramped area, allowing for the fact that the room had a sloping ceiling (low ceilings can cause problems with this type of mic). Another thing I had to bear in mind was the fact that the members of the audience furthest away were on a lower floor level than the ones straight in front me (normally ti...
More About: Charity , Presentation , Appeal

A title, a talk and a toad in the hole!
2008-03-17 23:51:00
Another talk for Hythe and District ProbusRepeat bookings can sometimes be for very soon after a speaker's last visit and on 6 March I was back at Hythe Probus near Southampton. My talk just before Christmas had been for the members and their partners but this one was for the men only. I have slightly altered the title of the talk I delivered. I used to call it The Wits of the Algonquin Round Table but found that some people thought that the 'Round Table' part referred to King Arthur's Knights while others thought it was something to do with the hard-drinking, charity fund-raising group which goes by that name! I have also decided to include Dorothy Parker's name, not only to make this talk more appealing to women's groups but also because, as perhaps the most famous female wit of the 20th century, hers is a name that more people will have heard of so the subject seems less obscure;the title of this presentation is therefore now Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Wits.Neverthele...
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Speaking to church groups, a £5 overpayment and early retirement!
2008-03-16 18:04:00
All Saints Church Mudeford Women's FellowshipOn 4 March I spoke for the third time to the Women's Fellowship at All Saints Church in Mudeford, just outside Christchurch. There were 26 there (including one gentleman who helps out with transport for their members) and I delivered my new-ish talk I Must Write That Down! (A Commonplace Book) which went well with this friendly bunch.The last time I had spoken there, I noticed later on that they had slightly overpaid me (£5 over the amount we had agreed). They were appreciative of the fact that I had pointed this out to them and we adjusted my fee this time to allow for this. Clubs and societies mainly derive their income from subscriptions, raffles, etc, and, as new members are not always easy to attract, every penny counts. I always stick to the fees and expenses that I have quoted.Years ago, a speaker in my area told me that he had just passed an audition for inclusion in a nearby county's WI Speakers List and had submitted details...
More About: Retirement , Early , Early retirement , Speaking

They'll let you know: lessons from public speakers' auditions (pa
2008-03-12 01:48:00
In my previous post, I wrote about Women's Institutes but in October 2005, the month of my most recent WI Speaker Selection Day (East Sussex Federation), I also took part in two other, very different auditions. The results varied enormously but I gained something from both experiences.An entertainment agency's showcase auditionThere is a highly successful entertainment agent in Devon who I've known for many years. I mentioned to her that I was wondering about the possibility of doing stand-up in some of the hotels in a major national chain she supplies acts for, hotels where the guests belong, almost exclusively, to the age group that I deliver many of my humorous talks to. She told me that she was soon holding one of her regular, Sunday afternoon auditions for cabaret acts in one of her hotels in front of a small audience.I said that I was used to delivering sober-suited talks so I didn't have any of the sometimes rather loud costumes associated with cabaret acts. She said she...
More About: Public , Speakers , Lessons , Auditions

They'll let you know: lessons from public speakers' auditions (pa
2008-03-01 06:13:00
Women's Institute Speaker Selection DaysIt's around this time of year that forms start arriving through the post inviting me to submit my details to the Yearbooks containing details of speakers circulated to their members by Women's Institute County Federations.These lists are useful because not only are they sent out to every WI in a county (and my home county of Dorset has around 145 individual branches, while neighbouring Hampshire has 203 - all of them booking up to 11 speakers per year) but some County Federations also ask if you would like to go on a further list (where fees are left negotiable) to be sold to other organisations. In theory, a WI can book any speaker they can like but the Yearbook usually plays a big part in drawing up the programme for the year ahead.Furthermore, all individual WIs belong to Groups which have two further meetings per year with representatives going along from up to 10 individual Institutes. These obviously pay a little more.Then, for the mo...
More About: Public , Speakers , Lessons , Auditions

Four speaking engagements, ranging from a festive February to a torchlit TG
2008-02-25 09:13:00
North Baddesley Women's Institute Annual Dinner My February speaking engagements finished with four talks in seven days.On 15 February, I spoke at the annual dinner of the North Baddesley Women's Institute. This is, in effect, their Christmas dinner but it works out better for them to hold it at this time of year!When I was sent the menu so I could confirm my choices last month, I discovered that we were having a starter, soup, main course (turkey, cranberry sauce, etc!), a dessert, cheeseboard and coffee and mince pies! I therefore suggested that it might be be an idea to cut the length of the talk from the proposed 40 minutes to 30! The dinner was actually starting at 6.30 so there was little chance of it running late but audiences do not generally want to sit through a long speech after a large meal.Public Speaking Tip #150: If you are speaking after a  dinner consisting of several courses, your speech should not be too long. This is not just because the dinner itself may ...

I'm sure I speak (in public) for the majority
2008-02-24 06:45:00
Ignoring the negative minorityI recently met up again with Mel Mellers, a very successful cabaret entertainer who I have known since the mid 90s. Throughout my speaking career, he has been very helpful in giving me advice but nowadays he spends much of his time working on luxury cruise liners so I don't get to see him too often. He told me that on one recent trip he had heard an excellent presentation by Jack Canfield, originator of the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul inspirational books. Canfield had mentioned how, even if we have plenty of approval from people, it's always the discouraging minority who seem to make the most impression on us, even define us, and that we need to stop associating with them!This got me thinking about how, even if a speaker's presentation is going really well, there can still be the odd person scowling, yawning, looking at their watch or even sleeping and, if you do that proper 'lighthouse effect' thing of sweeping around the room making eye cont...
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I told them about public speakers' notes (what a card!)
2008-02-23 23:21:00
Wessex Women's NetworkThere are some bookings that a speaker really looks forward to and I was delighted to be asked to speak once again at the Wessex Women's Network in Brockenhurst. My last presentation for them was in October 2004, when The Power of Humour in Business was very well received.This time the topic was Public Speaking = the Triumph of Technique Over Terror!So, on Tuesday evening of last week, I made my way from Brockenhurst station to the Cloud Hotel, which is on the outskirts of this New Forest village. The lanes had no pavements in places and were also unlit, convincing me that a larger torch might be an essential for future evening engagements!Public Speaking Tip #143: When choosing what to take along with you to a speaking engagement, don't just consider items that you will need for the presentation itself but also anything that might be needed for the journey. It all helps to make the occasion run more smoothly.The format for these meetings has changed since I...
More About: Card , Notes , Speakers , Told

ANY questions?
2008-02-21 04:34:00
Hengistbury Head Townswomen's GuildOn 5 October, I gave my fourth talk to Hengistbury Head Townswomen's Guild here in Bournemouth. The title this time was The Comedy of Life - Part 2 and I was a little concerned about filling the allotted time as they have heard many of my tried and tested anecdotes already in Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer and The Comedy of Life - Part 1 and although it's been years since those two bookings, I make a point of trying avoid repetition of material I have delivered before (although a certain amount is unavoidable due to recapping, etc).I therefore decided that if I under-ran a bit then after the talk I would invite questions about comedy generally including on TV and radio, not just the humour in everyday life which I was booked to speak about. Sure enough, I was a bit under but doing this led to a lengthy discussion taking in great comics and shows of the past and the generation gap which now exists in humour (like so many of the mature groups I...
More About: Questions

BBC RSVP Part 3: Handling a radio interview
2008-02-17 06:25:00
My live interview on BBC Radio Solent(This is a long posting but it takes you through every stage of a live, 18-minute radio interview).The BBC building in Southampton is home to both Radio Solent and BBC TV South but it's a bit of a 'ghost town' on Sundays when only one radio studio is working, with a team consisting of the presenter, the production staff and a newsreader and traffic reporter. I had a brief chat with Lewis (the producer) about radio and comedy courses at universities (he had noticed that in the past I have been a guest lecturer on the MA course in Radio Production at Bournemouth Uni). He got me a coffee from the machine and led me in to the studios where Alina Jenkins waved to me from her booth as she introduced Honky Tonk Women by the Rolling Stones. Our interview was due to start after that record finished. I chatted with Alina and she warned me that the plastic headphones were a bit of a loose fit (she wasn't joking!), Lewis adjusted the mic to the right lev...
More About: Interview , Part , Part 3

Revising for a radio interview?
2008-02-10 04:12:00
Preparing for my latest interview on BBC Radio SolentHaving agreed to go on Radio Solent, the first thing I did was find out about the presenter who would be interviewing me as I hadn't been a very regular listener to the station recently.This is so much easier nowadays than when I did my first 'radios' as so many stations have 'Listen Again' facilities on their websites as well as short biographies of their broadcasters.Alina Jenkins has her own website and I noted from it that she has appeared as an actress in series such as Preston Front and Red Dwarf so she has experience of comedy - the subject of our discussion.And can you imagine giving presentations using highly sophisticated visual aids to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people five days a week for four years? Alina did this as a weather presenter on BBC TV's South Today so she certainly has wide experience of public speaking!Public Speaking Tip #129: If you know who will be interviewing you on radio or TV, tr...
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BBC RSVP: an invitation to give a live radio interview
2008-02-07 07:35:00
Live interview on BBC Radio SolentAfter posting about speaking to so many clubs and societies in recent months, I can now tell you about a different kind of engagement which I accepted last week: a live interview on a BBC local radio station.This is an important topic so I am going to write about it in several posts, starting with my previous radio experiences and then how I prepared for this latest interview. Finally, I will tell you how the broadcast went.Over the years, I have been featured on the radio a number of times:(1). 1993: 2CR FM. A 15-second sound bite for a minute-long feature about turning a hobby (i.e. writing) into a business. This was years before I enrolled in an evening class in public speaking and even though the piece was pre-recorded, I was still so nervous in those days that my voice was quavering!(2), (3). 1994: Radio Bedside. I was a guest twice on two-hour shows broadcast live to six hospitals in the Bournemouth area and presented by a local comedian/speak...
More About: Interview , Live , Invitation , Give

Short notice speaking around Swanage a speciality!
2008-01-29 23:32:00
Harman's Cross Village ClubI was back in the Swanage area last Thursday afternoon, this time speaking at the AGM of the Village Club in Harman's Cross, a hamlet a little way outside the town. This was a short-notice booking which came in when I got back home from my previous Swanage talk. I was asked to stand in due to a speaker from the Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre having to cancel as he was busy giving 24-hour care to a baby woolly monkey so the villagers of Harman's Cross had to make do with a grown-up hirsute comedy writer instead!Fortunately they had all been informed of the change in the programme at the business meeting before I arrived. There were nearly 50 there, I did about 55 minutes (Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer) and got a great response and a large number came up and chatted afterwards. I had never actually been down into Harman's Cross before, either as a speaker or on any of my Purbeck coastal walks. Like Kington Magna in North Dorset, where I spoke last Oc...
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