For people like me, who fail to be funny and original at the same time, here’s a set of great quotes from the UK’s ‘Total Politics’ blog. You’ll find political quotes, anecdotes and one-liners from around the Western world that the ethical among you will quote, and the rest of us will simply errr- recycle….
In all of the blah blah blan about Mr Starkey’s appearance on ‘Newsnight’ to discuss the riots and their causes, there’s one point that both sides miss. It’s Starkey’s lack of courtesy, generosity and charm that makes him easy to dislike and difficult to listen to. On ‘Newsnight’ last week he was pretty well behaved…
I once bought a book by Edward de Bono, called ‘How to be Interesting’. It wasn’t. But it’s a great title isn’t it? Why might someone as fascinating as me buy a book like that? Well, it’s simple, I was seeking an answer to all of the questions I’d been asked around ‘how do you…
One of the key skills in developing ‘Flair‘ as a speechwriter and presenter, is learning to use the ‘tricks of the trades’ from all branches of the performing arts. Poetry, drama, creative writing, music and songwriting all offer useful lessons, for even the most experienced of us. Adding flair requires that you do 3 things…
President Barack Obama is used so often as an example of a great speaker by ‘experts’ that he’s almost become a cliche. There’s no doubt that he can be a great speaker, on occasions, as many of us can be, to friendly crowds, with a well crafted speech, when everyone is listening and no one…
Most corporate presentations lack that little bit of ‘story structure’ that is the foundation of making sense to, and being remembered by, the audience. A simple, 3-act story requires that your presentation has- A definite beginning- That sets the context, introduces the characters (the presenter and the subject of the presentation), and sets the question to…
It’s all about knowing your audience isn’t it? If you don’t know what will ‘fit’ for them, you’re almost always forced into a detailed presentation- or an overview presentation as Olivia Mitchell has usefully labelled such a thing. It’s a real dilemma for presenters, illustrated by the following example. I was working with a UK based…
Here’s a great clip from YouTube with Michelle Pfeiffer explaining how she got the most important role in her life- Elvira, in ‘Scarface’ with Al Pacino- It reminded me that- Acting is a very tough business. Constant rejection, sometimes hundreds of auditions without success and often with no feedback on why you didn’t get the…
England was humiliated yesterday. Not by its football (soccer) team, or football ‘fans’, for once, but at the FIFA held unveiling of the countries chosen to host the football world cups for 2018 and 2022. England pulled out all of the ‘big guns’ to help. The shiny new Prime Minister, a squeaky clean sporting royal in the perfect…