Speaking Blog

Lord Peter Mandelson – The Third Man – Effective Speaking – Lessons to be learned from a Master Communicator

Hi – Whatever you think of Peter Mandelson, there is no denying the role he played in shaping the Labour Party and politics in the UK over the last 15 years. 

Peter is a  Master communicator with clear abilities in effective speaking and communication fully commensurate with the positions and roles that he undertook. As you can see below I went to see him speak.

Mandelson has just published his memoirs in his book The Third Man and not surprisingly they have created some controversy.

The book is described as Mandelson’s;  “personal story of a life played out in the backroom, and then on the frontline, of the Labour party.”

I went to see Peter Mandelson at an event in London run by The Times newspaper and Foyles which took the form of an interview on stage by Times columnist James Harding.

Putting aside the politics, and even the personal issues covered, it was a MasterClass in how to have an audience eating out of your hand and contained lessons in speaking and communication for us all.

It is said that when you want to know how to do something you simply need to find someone who is good at it and role model or copy them.

So what did Peter do, how did he do it, and what can you learn from him regarding speaking to an audience and dealing with interviewer and audience questions?

More »

PowerPoint or Flip Chart – Visual presentation has high impact and high understanding and only gets better when you tell a story

Having a high visual content in your presentations has a huge and positive impact on how well your audiance receive and understand your message.

If you can combine this visual content with a story then your points will be remembered long after you have given your presentation.

All this was reinforced for me when once upon a time ……….. 

More »

Questions are the Answer – Did you communicate? How can I improve?

The Speaking Well advocates taking particular Paths to achieve speaking success. One these Paths is focused on enabling the audience to clearly identify the purpose of your speech, talk or presentation. 

 In fact there is a really important question to ask with respect to the purpose of your speaking which is:

More »

Voice when speaking to an audience

Another of ‘The Speaking Well’ paths to speaking well is focused on voice and how can you draw your voice from The Speaking Well?

I have set out in this Blog article some of the secrets of using your voice to express yourself that will really make the difference to your speeches, talks and presentations in all those important work situations, social settings as well as at your local Toastmasters Club.

1) Amplified conversation

The vast majority of speaking to an audience is not acting and it is not oratory it is simply having a conversation with your audience rather than with one or two people.

You already have the skill of speaking in a conversation and if you think of speaking to an audience as having a conversation with them, then there are not a lot of additional speaking skills to learn, are there?

More »

Use of body and movement when speaking

For public speaking people very often spend a great deal of time ‘learning’ what they should do and should not do with their bodies, including moving around the stage, and making gestures. 

It is worth noting that once you do have the confidence to speak, how you use your body and how you move your body largely take care of themselves.

Even if you are nervous there are some simple things you can do to project confidence and become more confident.

A great deal of time can be spent focusing on body and movement, particularly on speaking courses and of course as part of the manual speeches that you will find at your local Toastmasters Club.

In fact in the first manual of speeches that you do at Toastmasters Clubs there is a particular speech whose primary aim is to help you with your body language. This is speech number 5 from the Competent Communicator manual entitled – ‘Your body Speaks’.

By following a few simple steps, even if you feel nervous your audience will not know. Here is what to do.

More »