Edinburgh Talk
I’m off to Edinburgh next week for the festival. On Wednesday night I’ll be giving a talk on how to keep an audience’s attention using comedy. Forget jokes, I’m a big believer in telling true stories that have happened to you. It’s called ‘Putting the U in Humour’ . It’s a talk I’ve done many […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Assisted suicide
Earlier this week I was making a cup of tea in the BBC Nottingham kitchen, while a wild haired man with very red cheeks was holding court with a couple of producers. He was Ray Gosling, a veteran TV presenter, well loved in the East Midlands. He has a great style and a fantastically rich […]
Union Jack
I’m greatly enjoying Chris Evans on breakfast on Radio 2. He’s quickly established the programme as a feelgood way to start the day that appeals to the whole family. Much as I loved Terry Wogan, he’d handed his show over to his contributors, and it had begun to show. One feature I particularly enjoy is […]
