The Bakewell Show
The Bakewell Show Here’s some pictures of Thursday’s BBC East Midlands Today roadshow at the Bakewell Show in Derbyshire. I smiled a lot at people and if they looked short sighted, I signed photos that weren’t of me. Viewers had a chance to read the news. The vicar of Bakewell was a star at doing […]
My stadium gig
I So we’re up and running again. It was great to be at the Boleyn for the pre-season friendly against Deportivo La Coruna for the SBOBet Cup. Even better to win it on penalties.Avram Grant has won silverware in his first home game. It was a hot day. I could have done without wearing the […]
Meeting the viewers
I’ve spent the day meeting the public in the centre of Leicester. I pulled on a large red BBC East Midlands Today tee shirt and an even larger smile and joined up with my colleagues to meet real people. That may not sound scary to you, but trust me it is. In general I really […]
Speaking oop north
It’s good to be back in the land of the long vowel sounds. I’ve just spent the week on the road oop north where baths and paths are much shorter than I’m used to. On Tuesday I was in Nottingham reporting on the British Open Wheelchair tennis for BBC TV.It’s just the same as abled […]
A free chapter from my book
I’ve co-written a book called MediaMasters with my good friend Alan Stevens. The aim of the book is to learn how top sports stars, performers, business people, politicans and others in the public eye, use the media to best effect. Below is a free chapter about one of my footballing heroes, Brian Clough. We didn’t […]
Putting the ‘U’ in Humour
One of my most popular talks is on how to use humour effectively when you are speaking in public. As a professional speaker I use humour a lot. It helps keep the audience engaged. If they are being entertained, they are less likely to switch off and stop listening. It’s so much easier to put […]
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 […]
