Splitting my trousers on stage in Johannesburg

I’m smiling in the picture above, but a few hours earlier I wasn’t feeling as comfortable. I was in Johannesburg at the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa’s international convention. It was held at the very swanky Emperors Palace, so swanky it doesn’t have an apostrophe. I was honoured to be the only European to […]

Public speaking shouldn’t be scary

Public speaking shouldn’t be scary. It’s just talking out loud, which most of us do every day. If it’s on a subject you know about and  have prepared for, it should be no harder than talking to a group of friends or colleagues.  Unfortunately for many people that is not the case. It is one […]

Write your own introduction

As well as speaking for a living, I often act as the MC or compere at an event. It’s not rocket science. I  tell people where the fire exits and toilets are located and glare at them until they switch their mobile phones to silent. Then I pop up in between speakers, make a few […]

Get back on the stage

You’re brilliant. You should be on the stage. And there’s another one leaving in fifteen minutes. This is an old joke from the days of the Wild West, as told by members of the National Speakers Association of Dodge City. Of course, stage coaches are long since gone. They would have been gone a lot […]

Speaking in South Africa

I’ve just arrived in Cape Town after a brilliant three days at the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa (PSASA) in Johannesburg. I was the only European speaking on  the main stage at the event at Emperors Palace. It was a brilliant convention and I met some lovely and inspiring fellow speakers.  I’ll post some […]

Sound decision

I’ve just missed out on a speaking job for a bizarre reason. It was to compere the end of season dinner for a well known English football club. (Not West Ham, but not one of our rivals, so stop looking at me like that, it was a paid gig!) They contacted me. I gave them […]

Too mean to pay to hear me talk? Here’s some free speech.

One of my most popular talks is ‘Putting the U in Humour’. It’s aimed at business people who want to get their message across more effectively by keeping their audience entertained. Its a 30 minute keynote or a 60 minute interactive workshop. The main message is to forget telling old jokes and concentrate on using […]

Phillip Van Hooser interview

[ti_audio media=”444″ autoplay=”1″] Picture courtesy www.vanhooser.com It was a great to meet the National Speakers Association President Phillip Van Hooser. I interviewed Phil at the Professional Speakers Association convention in November 2009 in the UK. He was the only American at my talk ‘Putting the ‘U’ in Humour’. Afterwards I was worried that I might […]

Tim Gard with me

[ti_audio media=”428″ autoplay=”1″] Picture courtesy of www.timgard.com Here’s my interview with Tim Gard, the brilliant American speaker.  He’d just come off stage at the PSA 2009 convention in Marlow. His after dinner set was hilarious.  For me it was extra special because it was my birthday, and Tim invited eight fellow speakers onto the stage […]