Plus Ca Change
An audience with Simon Phillips from the Change Maker Group … Simon explores how we best overcome resistance to constant change, when we feel stuck and don’t know what to […]
Pathways – Step by Step
Introduction “Having spent 10 years enjoying the old Toastmasters educational system and being fairly fluent with the content, Laura was keen to embark on the new Pathways Programme. She signed […]
LinkedIn Made Easy with Linda Parkinson-Hardman
An audience with Linda Parkinson-Hardman author of LinkedIn Made Easy and Microsoft Office 365 Engagement specialist, Linda explains why she is still a big fan of LinkedIn after all these […]
It’s Poet’s Day
Today is Poet’s day. Let’s celebrate it. Much of what we deliver in our prepared speeches is poetic prose. It is a form of writing that uses the aesthetic and […]
The Whispering Gallery
I went to see my dear old Dad last week. He is 99 years of age. He remembers things from the dim and distant past much better than whatever went […]
Productivity Boost? – Just Add Tech with Jon Jenkins
An audience with Jon Jenkins from Just Add Tech … Jon explains why productivity doesn’t seem to go up when we add technology that’s supposed to make life simple … […]
Awesome Radio Advertising with Rick Simmonds
An audience with Rick Simmonds of Wessex FM who shares with us the remarkable PR opportunities now available from local radio broadcasting … at so little cost. Another podcast from: […]
The Water Boatman’s Willy
The things you learn, listening to podcasts on a Sunday morning. The Blue Whale the largest mammal is the loudest creature on earth, no great surprise there. But this little […]
Battle of the Sexes
Introduction “Laura has been fascinated by the study of communications or rather miscommunications, since 2007, when she picked up a copy of John Gray’s book entitled Men are from Mars, […]
5-Star Social Proof with Chris Odell
An audience with Chris Odell from Schtore and Zon Coupons who discusses what he does to build trust in his online business models with star ratings and reviews to encourage […]
The Accountability Dichotomy with Debbie Cohen
An audience with Debbie Cohen from Streetwise HR … Debbie explores the accountability dichotomy, the need to delegate responsibilities without creating a blame and shame culture. She explains how we need to our […]
Screaming!
I’m screaming silently to be heard, Whenever I pause to collect my thoughts, You fill the silence with buts and oughts, In your opinion or in your word, Too many […]
“Everything changes, but nothing changes.”
New Parenting Model for the 21st Century – I don’t think so Fellow Toastmasters I am not a biological parent, I have three step children, a sibling, a nephew and […]
Making Tax Digital with Stephanie Pettitt
An audience with Stephanie Pettitt from Equation Accountancy … Stephanie explains the what, the why, the who, the when and (more importantly) the how around the three letter acronym MTD. […]
Escaping the Storm
This is Peter John Cooper’s remarkable play about the life and times of Marie Stopes. A highly opinionated, yet educated woman so demonly depicted by two actors, Jane McKell and […]
Sowing Seeds for Impromptu Speaking
The level three Pathways ‘Active Listening’ project asks the Table Topics Master to really ‘listen’ to the table topic responses. Then to make an appropriate comment on the talk as […]
Marketing Fruition …
Four years ago, Boyfriend and two of his kids went to watch England play one of their rugby world cup matches at Trafalgar Square on a wide screen in London. […]
The Rest of the Story
“Our next speaker, Laura McHarrie’s maiden name was Richardson. On the 21st November 1984 (almost 34 years ago), Ray Dukes, a Debenham’s employee wrote … ‘In response to your request […]
A Sound Bath – What’s that then?
Last month, Laura McHarrie our next speaker, had the pleasure of a relaxing Sound Bath for a second time in her life. This time, she’d just come back after her […]
How to be Heard
Introduction “Here at Toastmasters, we live and die by our presentation successes and failures. The intros can have a massive impact how the audience reacts to the speech. I’m so […]
I’m Not Deaf – You Know …
“Our next speaker is Laura McHarrie. This speech was inspired by Rachel Knowles. When Rachel answered Julia Martineau’s table topic question – what invention could you not live without, she […]
Why do you care?
WHY do you care? Why DO you care? Why do YOU care? Why do you CARE? Amazing how the tonality of this small question can have so many nuances … […]
Listen to Learn..
Introduction “The first three months of any Toastmaster year is called the Golden Quarter. The more that is planned and actioned in the first three months, the smoother the club […]
The Problem with the Pause.
“Laura McHarrie is a master of the strategically placed pause. She has been involved with Toastmasters for 10 years and has completed both the old communication and leadership programme resulting […]
Four Crushing Complacencies
In this book Sur/petition, Edward de Bono asserts that complacency sets in when things seem normal to you because you are used to them. In business there are four types. Comfortable […]
Distinguished Toastmasters Indeed!
In April 2008, 7.15pm for a strict 7.30 kick off, Steve Graham, Jan Thorpe with much bugging and instance from yours truly, Casterbridge Speakers was launched. That day, I started […]
The Real Reason to Believe!
I spent half a day working through a client’s marketing collateral last week. We were looking for the proof that their business did what they claimed. It was a great […]
Earworms?
And what are they … exactly? They are the songs that you cannot get out of your head. Recently Kylie did it again to me. This time with “when I […]
Money Can’t Buy Me Love
The Beatles, pop group of the 1960s swooned …. “I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright. I’ll get you anything my friend if it makes […]
Petrol Heads – thanks Mark
There are people that like their cars and there are people that lurve their cars. These are the so called petrol heads. At first glance at tonight’s meeting theme, I thought […]
