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?

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It’s a funny old world particularly when speaking

It’s a funny old world and using humour is a great way of connecting with your audience when speaking, but where do you find this humour?

Where can you find your inspiration for your speeches, talks or presentations?

Well, of course you can do your research and find jokes and funny stories from many sources.

When your plan is to do a prepared talk, presentation or speech this research can be invaluable in weaving in your humour.

However, you can also find humorous inspiration when you are at the very event in which you will be speaking …….. How?

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The Speaking Well & Memory Mapping visits the oldest speaking and debating club in the world – Cogers

I was invited to a meeting of the oldest speaking and debating club in Britain and indeed the world, Cogers, pronounced Koh-jers. Cogers was founded in 1755 and the meeting was held in the beautiful setting of the original Bank of England in central London just next to the Royal Courts of Justice.

The wood panelled walls and marble clad columns made a wonderful backdrop to the Memory Map speaking method’s first outing to the club.

The topics spoke about that night by the other speakers ranged through all the current events, politics and news of the last month and then it came to my turn to speak. It was here that I used a Memory Map to create an impromtu speech to great effect. I had previously  used Mapping to create impromtu speeches at Toastmasters for the purposes of speech evaluations.

Using a Memory Map I prepared in the meeting itself and I then gave a six minute impromptu talk that I entitled ‘Has Britain got oomph?’

How was I able to do this so easily?

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The National Campaign for Public Speaking and my view on Toastmasters

The Department of Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) has an exciting initiate called The Learning Revolution aimed at enhancing adult education. The National Campaign for Public Speaking recently received funding from the department to enable a series of events to take place across the country to attract people who have little or no experience of public speaking.

In this regard the Citizenship Foundation, The Speakers Trust, Speakers Bank, Arc Theatre, Toastmasters, The Association of Speaking Clubs and The Speaking Well have taken part in a number of these activities.

One such event was an open taster session of Watford Speakers, part of Toastmasters International, at which experienced members encouraged first timers and newer members to become involved in speaking and all Toastmaster activities at an open taster session on the 27^th October 2009.

At that session I spoke and highlighted that Toastmasters was one of the few places in my life where I have literally “witnessed and experienced miracles” and I encouraged everyone to join and experience the miracle that is Toastmasters.

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Corporate Speaking Challenge Winners – Extract from The London Speaker

“What a great night and some brilliant speaking by all. Well done to all the finalists.” – Alan McMahon 

Facing up to the challenge of speaking in the reverberating space of St Mary le Bow, Cheapside ten speakers competed last night in the final of the second annual Corporate Challenge. London Toastmasters were well represented among the finalists.