The Speaking Club: Mastering the Art of Public Speaking

Gail Gibson grew up in Australia before getting itchy feet and setting up home in the UK. Feeling at cross roads in her career, she decided to leave her corporate job to pursue a new career as an entrepreneur. She founded and ran two businesses and discovered her passion for coaching. Her 'Can Do' programs have been helping business owners discover and conquer what has been holding them back. She has written a book on networking and spoken internationally and in this show she is sharing tips for improving our mindset and our speaking. Enjoy! What you'll learn: The difference between mastery of self and mindset. Why any success is linked to self-belief. What is charisma and why it's so critical to develop. Why we need to let go of conditioned thinking and beliefs. Three top tips for developing charisma. How it's important to understand your relationship to money and how it affects your self-worth. Why discounts can often do you a dis-service. Top three tips for building a strong network. What a super connector is and how to become one. The power of reciprocity in business How Gail prepares for her seminars and workshops Ideas for using interaction with the audience in your speaking Why it's so important to do your due diligence before an engagement. The power of focusing on one thing. Resources* All things Gail https://www.gailmgibson.com @gailgibson Other Resources: The One Thing by Gary Keller Thanks for listening! To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. *(please note if you use my link I get a small commission, but this does not affect your payment)

We all think we set big goals… but in this episode I got a little perspective on what big goals really are! Devin Thorpe spent many years in a corporate career within the finance function, but he never forgot a promise he made to himself at the age of 11. When he lost the job of his dreams that promise led him to re-evaluate his life purpose and set him on the path to what he does today. Devin has spoken at the UN and all over the world sharing his mission and training companies on crowd funding and corporate social responsibility. He is also a regular writer for Forbes magazine and a podcast host. In this episode he shares how he got into paid speaking, how it enables him to fulfil his mission and what he does to put his talks together. We also consider how Devin uses humour in his writing and speaking to increase the impact of his message. Enjoy! What you'll learn: How losing something you care about can be a catalyst for a bigger life. Why it's important to be conscious of our bias in life. How Corporate Social Responsibility can increase profitability. Why it's good to be polarising to increase the impact of your message and reach the right people. How Devin transitioned from Finance to paid speaking. Devin's process for creating his talks. Why it's important to watch yourself back as a speaker to improve your craft. How you can tell if you're a good speaker. Why you should always make it easy for people to give you money. Resources* All things Devin: https://www.devinthorpe.com Barry Manilow Blog @devindthorpe Books by Devin: 925 Ideas to Help You Save Money, Get Out of Debt and Retire A Millionaire: So You Can Leave Your Mark on the World Adding Profit by Adding Purpose: The Corporate Social Responsibility Handbook Crowdfunding for Social Good. Financing Your Mark on the World Building Wealth for Building the Kingdom: A Financial Planning Guide for Latter Day Saint Families Don't Just Build a Network, Build a Movement Your Mark on the World Thanks for listening! To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. *(please note if you use my link I get a small commission, but this does not affect your payment)

Joy Marsden left the corporate world of marketing and trade relations helping brands like Dolmio and Uncle Ben and became known as a motivational speaker, because that's what her audiences kept calling her. Her messages resonate because they are real and relatable. She blends story, with song, humour and practical ideas to engage and inspire audiences across the globe. She doesn't have a big 'sob story' but many little ones from everyday life that move audiences and connect with hearts and minds to inspire change and help people take action. She has worked all over the world helping individuals and organisations manage new challenges through her ethos of 'Keep Stepping'. She is also a coach and author and uses simple, practical methods to help her clients achieve their goals. At the time of writing she is also just about to take over as President of the Professional Speaking Association of the UK and Ireland and gives real insight into being a member and the benefits of spending time with other speakers. Enjoy! What you'll learn One of the ways to help you identify what type of speaker you are is to pay attention to what your clients are saying about you. Why it's critical to know yourself as a speaker and how your clients relate to you. What makes the most powerful speakers. Why it's imperative as a speaker for you to know where you are going and where you want to end up. The importance of self-belief in selling yourself as a speaker. Why branding your business and yourself as a speaker can take things to the next level. The distinctions between self-management, self-mastery and self-leadership. Joy's three top tips for being successful in life. The steps Joy goes through to prepare her talks. Why you should sell first and write your speech or workshop after. How important it is to have tools in your pocket that can change the energy in a room when you're speaking. The important of developing your ability to read an audience for success as a Speaker. The benefits and realities of belonging to a Speaking Organisation. Joy's three tips for getting more paid gigs. Why you must explicitly ask for what you want. What Joy learned from Zig Ziglar. Resources* All things Joy: https://joymarsden.com Keep Stepping by Joy Marsden @joymarsden Books mentioned in the Show with Amazon Link: From Faith to Faith by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland How to Get What You Want by Zig Ziglar Master Successful Personal Habits by Zig Ziglar Thanks for listening! To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. *(please note if you use my link I get a small commission, but this does not affect your payment)

Sophie Devonshire is a business leader, entrepreneur, brand specialist and author who has worked around the globe including roles with Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola GB, Leo Burnett and Interbrand. She is much in demand as a speaker on contemporary leadership topics, business acceleration, brand transformation, the relationship between work and family life and the role of diversity at work and is constantly curious about how to speed up success. She has also written a new book, 'Superfast – Lead at Speed' to help us navigate change when it is happening around us today at lightning speed. In this episode she is sharing tips and insight from her own experience and from over 100 senior leaders from some of the biggest and some of the fastest growing companies that she interviewed whilst researching the book. If you want to stay relevant and ready to take advantage of opportunity when it knocks, then you'll enjoy this show. Enjoy! What you'll learn The definition of brand and why understanding it is so difficult. The difference between organisational and personality brands. Why we should think about our personal brand, whether you're an employee or an entrepreneur. Why you should identify the environment in which you perform best. Why having a sense of fun in business can make a huge difference to your success. Why it's important to get the pace of change right for your business. The quickest way to move faster. Why it's so important to move past imposter syndrome to focus on the message you are giving. How audacity is a great tool to add to your business tool kit. Why energy management is more important than time management and what tips for doing it. Why you and Elon Musk should embrace the power of the pause. How strategic laziness can fast-track your success. Why micro-learning can be more effective than traditional courses. The three ingredients for a great speech by Dan Pink. Why you should edit your life and your goals. Resources* All things Sophie: http://www.thisiscaffeine.com Twitter @s_devonshire LinkedIn https://www.Linkedin.com/in/sophiedevonshiresuperfast/ Superfast – Lead at Speed by Sophie Devonshire Books mentioned in the Show with Amazon Link: How to Win Friends and Influence People with Dale Carnegie Thanks for listening! To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. *(please note if you use my link I get a small commission, but this does not affect your payment)

One of my previous guests said that dull people should try something other than public speaking, and I have a slightly different view. I believe that being dull doesn't have to be a permanent thing, I believe that you can learn and do things that will make you more engaging, entertaining and interesting as a speaker, and in life. One of the things that plays a big part in achieving that is how you use your voice when you are speaking…and the tools that you can use to make you sound better are pitch, pace, tone and volume. That being said, I thought I would do an episode on what those things actually are and how you can use them, not just to become less boring, but to make you a high impact speaker that gets results. I hope you enjoy the show! What you'll discover: How you can tell if you're a dull speaker. What your options are if you are a dull speaker. How you can influence the emotional state of your audience Why pitch is important The impact of a high pitch or low pitch voice Things that can affect the pitch of your voice as a public speaker Tips for getting more pitch variation Why varying your pace is so powerful What normal conversational speed is Suggestions for varying your pace The importance of congruence in body, message and tone What our tone tells the audience Things that can negatively impact our tone How you can positively impact your tone The magic of silence When to use silence in your public speaking Why energy is critical in your presentations The Q&A conundrum The influence of language in better voice work How it all comes together in one of the greatest speeches of all time! Thanks for listening! Resources: Leaving a review: http://www.saraharcher.co.uk/itunes http://www.saraharcher.co.uk/stitcher https://www.imore.com/how-rate-or-review-podcast-your-iphone-or-ipad The consonant scale warm up: Ba ba ba bee, ba ba ba baa, ba ba ba, bee, bee, bee, baa, baa, baa, boo, boo, boo Ca ca ca cee, ca ca ca caa, ca ca ca cee, cee, cee caa, caa, caa, coo, coo, coo And so on! To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. See you next time.

Simon Fanshawe is funny, authentic and passionate about making the world a better place. He trained as a lawyer and promptly abandoned a career in law and became a comedian. Simon was doing stand-up comedy from 1982 to 1992, when it began to transition from safe jokes about your mother-in-law performed in men's clubs to the diverse, political, anything goes stand-up that gets performed in stadiums today. He won the Perrier Award for comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1989, but comedy wasn't to be where he made his mark. From 1992, Simon focused on writing and broadcasting, alongside a growing involvement in charity work and advocacy. He was a founding member of Stonewall and one of the architects of bringing equal rights to the forefront of the diversity debate. Today, Simon has an OBE and is in demand as a speaker on diversity, and as a consultant helping businesses use inclusion and diversity as tools to create business advantage. There are some massive value bombs in this show, particularly around the importance of persona and the relationship with your audience, as well as tactics for making your talk relevant and engaging to increase your impact and bookings. Enjoy! What you'll learn What it was like to be a stand-up comic at the birth of alternative comedy in the UK. How important it is to find your persona and understand your relationship with audience. Why advocacy and public speaking need similar skills and objectives. How you can adapt your talk at short notice. Why passion can be your worst enemy in speaking. How diversity can help meet so many business challenges Why good design is more important for achieving equality than good intentions. The cardinal rule of public speaking. Why having a story is so critical to speaking success. Resources* All things Simon: http:/www.diversitybydesign.co.uk simon@diversitybydesign.co.uk @Simonfanshawe Books mentioned in the Show with Amazon Link: What Works – Gender Equality by Design by Iris Bohnet Germinal by Emile Zola Thanks for listening! To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. *(please note if you use my link I get a small commission, but this does not affect your payment)

Paul Coleman is a down to earth guy that spends lots of time taking a helicopter view of business and entertainment. He helps big companies come up with new ideas for products from washing powder to snack foods. With a career that has spanned the different disciplines of marketing, innovation, broadcasting and writing, he has a rich vein of experience to tap into whilst working with some of the biggest household brands today. Paul also writes comedy and you will have seen his work on Channel 4, BBC, and Comic Relief, amongst others. He has also created some of the funniest and most watched shows for years, including 'Britain's Got the Pop Factor… and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice', which was the highest rated show on Channel 4 in 2008, and more recently, the BAFTA winning 'Car Share', which he wrote, and which starred Peter Kay. This show contains some marketing gold around product development, it also has tips for unlocking creativity, alongside speaking and writing nuggets, which will help you continue on your journey to speaking and business success. Enjoy! What you'll learn How important feedback loops are to show people the value they've added and to keep them motivated and engaged. The Key things to consider when you want to launch a product that consumers will love. Why your neighbour may be better than a social media 'Influence' for selling your product or service. Why curiosity is an important quality to develop for innovation and success. Top tips for unlocking creativity for business and writing. How there are certain words and phrases that you can use in your speaking and content generation that can instantly transport people to a place you want them to go. Why conflict is an essential ingredient of storytelling. Why it is important to keep your content fresh. Why you should ditch the artificial speaker persona to reveal the authentic you. All things Paul: http://www.humanisehq.com @PColemanchester Books mentioned in the Show with Amazon Link: New Power – How it's Changing the 21stCentury and Why You Need to Know by Jeremy Jeimanns and Henry Timms By Jack Rosenthal – An Autobiography in Six Acts Resources* Jack Rosenthal at the BBC Collection - DVD Three Salons at the Seaside - YouTube Thanks for listening! To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. *(please note if you use my link I get a small commission, but this does not affect your payment

This month has been loosely themed around performance, and I've had an idea for months of doing an episode on 'Framing'. This concept is used in many art forms, and is basically another story, situation or structure that allows the original story to be told, or better understood by the audience. You will have come across 'framing' in various forms within the arts, from Shakespeare plays to Hamilton the musical, from the movie Forrest Gump to the book 1001 Nights. It's so important to be able to keep your content fresh, engaging and relevant, and 'framing' is a tool that I use in my own talks and one that I teach when I'm coaching clients to achieve this. It allows you to keep your core content but frame it in a way that makes your presentation more accessible and relatable for different groups of people. I hope you enjoy the show! What you'll discover: Why speakers should use framing. What 'framing' is and where it is most commonly used. Examples of framing across theatre, TV, film and literature. How you can use framing in your talks without starting from scratch. Examples of different frames you could apply using one of my talks as an example. Thanks for listening! Resources: Storytelling Template for Success To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. See you next time.

Steve Cross began his career as a scientist, but soon left the lab to pursue his calling of making science more engaging. He shifted into communications, which led him to start the Bright Club, a project to make scientists funny. Today, alongside his more serious work with Universities and other institutions, who he helps with communication and engagement policy, he is also regarded as a Prince amongst Nerds! He has created a geeky comedy empire teaching all sorts of clever people how to make themselves and their content more engaging. In this show Steve gives us some brilliant tips for making our content funny, whether we're a speaker looking to up our audience engagement, or a business owner looking for ways to build our brand and business. Steve is also keen to share why we should let go of the concept of a 'great speaker' and follow our own path in business. Enjoy! What you'll learn Why learning comedy is one of the quickest things to learn to make your content more engaging. The power of comedy and humour in improving your public speaking, raising your confidence, and growing your career. How to moderate your style for your audience. What an ethnographer is. How emotionally engaging with your own work makes it funnier. Why being funny is a learned, rather than natural skill. How comedy comes from detail and specificity. Ways in which you can make your content engaging across various communication channels. Why the tools and techniques of comedy are effective in building your social media profile and following. The importance of designing your own visual identity as a speaker. Why we should let go of the concept of a 'great speaker' How critical it is to adapt your style for the audience you're speaking to and what they need. Why doing stand-up comedy is the most effective tool for teaching you to read an audience. The benefits of trying new things rather than sticking with the same talk. How to handle difficult questions. Why it's important to choose the way you run your own business, rather than trying to keep up with the latest trends. All things Steve: Clever Make Funny Website – https://clevermakefunny.com Chaotic Adequate Podcast - https://chaoticadequate.wordpress.com Steve's Own Website - https://drstevecross.wordpress.com Steve's FB Page - https://www.facebook.com/SteveCrossComedy Science Showoff – http://www.scienceshowoff.org Books mentioned in the Show with Amazon Link: Impro by Keith Johnstone Teach Yourself Stand Up Comedy by Logan Murray Resources* The Museum of Rural Life in Reading Twitter Account Titter Comedy Course - Online: Sarah has been running comedy courses for a number of years, and she is now taking her flagship live course 'Titter' online. If you would be interested in learning how to make your presentations or content Funnier – then you join the Titter online waiting list here. Thanks for listening! To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. *(please note if you use my link I get a small commission, but this does not affect your payment)

I've done hour long stand-up comedy shows, acted in plays, and spoken in front of big audiences, but despite all that, I've been avoiding doing Facebook Live. I recognise that getting comfortable with doing live video is important for my brand and growing my business. So, I decided to ask Brooke Hender, a cognitive hypnotherapist, to take a look at this issue with me, and I'm sharing what happened in this episode. I need to let you know that some unexpected things came up for me as we worked through what I thought was the fairly superficial issue of finding Facebook Live a challenge. There were deeper, more significant issues that I hadn't been aware were driving my feelings, thoughts and behaviour in this area, and I want to say that although I believe that you will find what comes out of this positive, at times it gets quite emotional, and you may find listening to parts of the episode a challenge if you have recently experienced a loss. I did struggle as to whether to share this episode, both from the perspective of whether it would be useful and interesting to you, but also from the perspective of the personal things that surfaced, and how much of myself I was sharing. In the end I felt it was important to put it out there because I know I'm not alone in struggling with this stuff, and if one person gets some reassurance or insight into their own challenges around public speaking or other areas of their business or life, then it will have been worth it. What you'll discover: That many people have doubts and challenges around public speaking and other areas of business, even if they don't show it. When you use the word 'should' in relation to something that you are doing, it's worth taking a deeper look at what is motivating you in this area. How we can tie up our self-worth with the baggage of others. That we sometimes need to examine whether the things that drive us, and the goals we are aiming for, are actually going to make us happy. How we need to look at what success really means for us, rather than adopting other people's definitions of success. Why 90% of our behaviour is unconscious, and it's not necessarily driven by what we think, but more by what we feel and believe. How intellectualising problems is a great defence mechanism. Thanks for listening! Resources: Brooke Hender Website – http://www.brookehender.com To share your thoughts: leave a comment below. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To help the show out: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and review really help get the word out and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. See you next time.