- Location: London, UK (UTC+0)
- Expertise: Career Advice, IT Recruitment, Coaching
- Contact: Twitter | LinkedIn
I have been working in the IT Recruitment space for more than 18 years, and have been speaking and training people for most of that time. I have a Bachelors Degree in Drama and can be found frequenting a large number of User Groups up and down the UK.
In 2017 I coached a long-time friend Simon Bucknall on some of his content and the performance elements of his Toastmasters speech, which he went on to deliver in the USA at the World Public Speaking Championships. Simon placed 2nd globally out of more than 32,000 people.
My first speaking experience was as a Best Man at the tender age of 18-years old. I was standing in front of a crowd of over 100 people; I was terrified, my palms were sweating and suddenly the ‘humorous’ anecdotes about my brother and a near miss with ‘trouser crustaceans’ did not seem quite so funny as they had in the mirror that morning.
Needless to say, I made it through with only an occasional stumble which nobody noticed mostly due to the alcohol and the fact my Mother nearly passed out at one point due to embarrassment.
Since then I have given 4 other Best Man speeches, trained hundreds of Recruiters (the toughest of Tough Crowds) in groups of up to 30, and am currently speaking at a number of User Groups in 2018 on the themes of a book I wrote last year.
No matter how many times I speak I still get nervous, and more so when it is my own content.
What I cannot do:
- Advise on what code should go in your presentation
- Make the Demo Gods listen!!
What I can do:
- Help you with your delivery and the performance elements of a presentation, including adding humour and making a presentation enjoyable.
- I understand how nerve-wracking it can be to speak publicly, and have a few ideas on what works for me (NOTE: do NOT imagine the audience all naked. It really gets you in trouble…)