| By: Vince Stevenson - College of Public Speaking (response 1 to Graham Davies) | Date: Apr 25, 2009 | |
| Hello Graham, thanks for your comments. Why were they chosen as mentors? Well, I accept that your observations do raise issues, but we do not know the full context of those sessions nor how and why they were edited like that. The folded arms could be construed as negative body language in certain contexts, however, it may well have been freezing in that hall in January/February. |
| By: Graham Davies | Date: Apr 25, 2009 | |
Just watched the Speaker on BBC iplayer. Alistair Campbell starts off talking to the youngsters with his arms folded. Bad body language. The barrister starts talking to the youngsters half-perched on a table. Why were they chosen as mentors?
Graham |
| By: Vince Stevenson - College of Public Speaking | Date: Apr 18, 2009 | |
| Hello Roger, many thanks for your comments. Yes, we are doing our best to stay on the theme of public speaking and trying to create a useful resource of blog answers, speaking related articles and transcripts of famous speeches. I hope that you'll stay with us. Please drop me an email should we stray off course. Regards Vince |
| By: Roger White | Date: Apr 18, 2009 | |
Hello College of Public Speaking, many thanks for your questions and answers blog. I find too many company's blogs rather self-indulgent and unhelpful. There are so many other opportunities to waste peoples' time online these days with all the social networks. Thanks for keeping it on the theme of speaking.
Regards Roger - Glasgow |
| By: Vince Stevenson - College of Public Speaking | Date: Apr 17, 2009 | |
Hello Rene, I have worked with lots of people who have strong accents and it is possible in most cases to make significant improvements in softening the voice. However, there's lots of hard work involved and it can take some time to reap the vocal rewards. If you give me a call, we can meet up and I'll be able to demonstrate the initial exercises to you.
Regards Vince |
| By: Rene Vogel | Date: Apr 17, 2009 | |
Hello Vince, German is my first language but now I live in London I often have to make presentations to my colleagues. The feedback that I often receive is that my accent is so strong and not pleasant on the ear.
Do you have any suggestions? Regards Rene |
| By: Vince Stevenson - College of Public Speaking | Date: Apr 15, 2009 | |
| Hello Anthony, humour is a difficult subject because it appeals to most people, but not all. Humour is a tremendous medium for making important points, preferably through case studies and anecdotes, try never to use out and out jokes in a speech or presentation. Always keep your eye on the audience and if the humour is not working with a praticular group, it's wise to have a plan b available. I used to do a great deal of IT training and some of the material was so grey and technical, it needed humour to inject some light and shade. Good luck - please let me know how you get on. |
| By: Anthony Marks | Date: Apr 12, 2009 | |
| Hello, I really like to do humour in my speeches and presentations and I've generally been successul. However, recently I've noticed that the humour is not working as well as it used to. Any suggestions please? |
| By: Vince Stevenson - College of Public Speaking | Date: Apr 9, 2009 | |
| Hello Ellie, I share your frustration. Personally, I like drama, acting, poetry and rap, but I tuned in to watch speaking. It is a great shame that the judges and contestants were not given clear criteria. Lots of youngsters who have worked hard on their presentations will go home disappointed and confused about the results. I hope that in future episodes the judges will agree a coherent way forward. Otherwise the show will lose its target audience and we'll probably not see a second series. |
| By: Ellie Bunton | Date: Apr 9, 2009 | |
| I watched the BBC2 Programme called The Speaker on Tuesday evening. Last year my teenage daughter indicated that she would be interested in participating, but while she is still young enough I discouraged her because I wanted to see the entire first series and then adopt a strategy for her success. Having watched the first few episodes, I am disappointed that the judges do not have clear success criteria so it's all very subjective. What do you think? |
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