By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.

With January having finally passed, 17 souls braved the continuing winter weather to make it to Wimbledon Library to continue or start their speaking journey.

More first timers courageously took to the stage for the icebreaker and then later to delivery a pre prepared speech. There was a choice of – a fun speech such as a toast or a wedding speech, a professional presentation (business update) or the delivery of a presentation of a specific topic.

The idea behind a delivering a pre prepared speech (type out on paper) is to take away the stress of thinking about what to say and to let the speaker focus on the other aspects of speaking.

The power of the exercise shone through where nerves dissipated and speakers relaxed into their speeches and all aspects improved.

Paul’s speech had us wondering if he’s a real life meditation guru, as he relaxed the audience with a short meditation practice. There’s a chance he helper the later speakers with any nerves! Feedback on his body language was difficult as our eyes were closed for much of the speech.

Feedback on voice and delivery, body language and audience engagement was provided by Ben, Iain and newcomer Jon who jumped straight in on his first visit and provided excellent feedback.

It was great to see so many people in attendance working on improving such a useful skill. We’ll be back at Wimbledon Library for the next session on Monday 24th February 2025, at 6.45pm.