Improve Your Public Speaking

London, UK

Want to be a funny speaker? Then pop along to a workshop being organised by Toastmasters International in West London this Tuesday. Here's a link to the London Speaker blog which has all the details:

Speakers Corner

What an afternoon! Two Toastmaster Clubs organised a special "open meeting" at the world-famous Speakers Corner in central London. And, the weather was kind to us!

Yours truly was "Toastmaster" or MC for today's proceedings. As usual the meeting started with Table Topics. This is where members of the audience are given a minute and a half to speak about a topic. (One is given about 5 seconds notice). Later, and taking a special role was Andrew Klimaytis of Riverside Communicators. He answered questions from the audience, who by the way, including several professional hecklers! Then Jonathan Palmer from London Corinthians gave a rendition of his speech called "Odyssey". He'll be given that speech at the Toastmaster Divisional Contest next weekend in Harrogate.

If you've never been to a Toastmasters meeting, then do go along. It's free and fun.

How to win at your Toastmasters International club.

Earlier I collected another "Best Evaluator" award at London Corinthians.

The "secret" to evaluating someone's speech is to remain focused on how the speaker could have altered the overall theme or strategy. There's no point rambling on about minutiae like certain aspects of eye contact, vocal variety, hand-clasping and so on.

Also, it's never good to give people a huge emotional lift by saying your were inspired by their speech when you weren't. Be honest in your appraisal.

Publicly Speaking

I've just posted this

Over at the other place

As you all know by now, I'm very passionate about public speaking and how it can help individuals achieve a higher sense of self-expression, confidence and achievement. Also, I'm a advocat of my Victoria-based speaking club, London Corinthians and the organization it's part of, Toastmasters International.

If you fear public speaking or worried about that presentation you have to deliver at work, you may like to consider joining your local Toastmasters Club.

Ellee a Blog Bore - Never

My new friend and colleague in cyberspace Ellee Seymour has left a comment on my November 1st post below. Her family accuse her, quite unfairly in my view, of being a Blog bore. Whilst I understand their point, they ought to realise the importance of "alternative news & discussion groups".

In a free society like Britain, (I mention that grittng my teeth) it's essential we promote and foster free speech and democracy. Both given scant regard by certain bad broadcasting organizations. I'm certain other "cyberspace peeps " like the Devil, Guido, SP, Eastcliffe Richard et al will all agree.

YouTube

A fellow London Corinthian sent me an e-mail yesterday imploring me to join YouTube. Jenny Cutler is a real star. Brilliant at public-speaking and story-telling, she's a stalwart of Toastmasters International.

Why, I asked myself. Will there be some global catastrophe if I don't?

I'm already (or rather my showreel is) on Google Video so why bother with these other types of self-promoting video sites?

What can we ban next?

I totally agree with Alan Stevens comments below. How pathetic can you get? Have we sunk to such depths that a TV company has to change it's output to ensure that "old" Tom & Jerry cartoons don't depict smoking. What's going to be banned next?

TV Presenters with green ties?

Drinking?

Corporate golf days in Surrey?


After a tough decision-making process, I have decided to award the MediaMug trophy this week to Ofcom. They have upheld a complaint from a viewer about Tom And Jerry cartoons on the TV Channel Boomerang. The complainant did not like the fact that Tom (the cat) was seen smoking. The regulator said : "We recognise that these are historic cartoons, mostly produced in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, at a time when smoking was more generally accepted. The smoking usually appears in a stylised manner and it is frequently not condoned, but the level for editorial justification required for the inclusion of smoking in such cartoons is necessarily high." So there you are. We all know smoking is bad for you, and that kids should be discouraged from taking it up. However, images of cartoom characters beating each other senseless with clubs and baseball bats and blowing each other up is acceptable, but smoking isn't. Hmm.


"This information originally appeared in "The MediaCoach", a free ezine produced by Alan Stevens, and available at http://www.mediacoach.co.uk"