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First Networking Hub of 2018 Huge Success

Newhaven

Yesterday we held our first networking hub of 2018 and it was a huge success. Our guest speaker was the wonderfully amusing and best-selling author, Gerry Thompson of Positive Comedy with his topic of choice – “How to become a better speaker/presenter, learning from what stand-up comedians know”.

The afternoon started at 12pm with guests arriving to the aroma of coffee and the natter of networking, before taking their seats in hot anticipation for Gerry’s talk. As Gerry took to the floor it was obvious he knew his stuff, you could feel the empathy in his voice, as a young lad Gerry had too experienced the same fear the majority of us mere mortals feel when taking to the stage/floor/boardroom or any other scenario where public speaking is involved. But not today, today Gerry gave a thought provoking, amusing and engaging talk and showed us all exactly how it should be done.

So, what did we learn? Gerry taught us how to engage with our audience, how to use humour in our talks/presentations and, most importantly, to be yourself. Being a nervous public speaker myself, the top tips I will be taking away from the afternoon will be:

• Be well prepared – practice makes perfect, don’t just wing it
• Recognise the silence – pause and take your time, don’t rush it
• Have access to your material – keep notes handy to refer to if needed
• Breathe – take a few deep breaths and compose yourself
• Focus on a person in the audience who is smiling/engaging, it will help with confidence
• Don’t look at yourself, look at the audience – they want you to succeed 
• And most importantly, try to enjoy yourself!

Gerry’s talk was followed by a rather delicious light buffet lunch, plenty or networking and the very important business card prize draw. This month’s winner was Ian Jenkins of Swindells Accounting, who you can see pictured here with guest speaker Gerry Thompson and Centre Manager Abbi Burgess.

Thank you to Gerry and everyone who attended, we’re looking forward to seeing you all again in April.

To find out how you can be involved in the networking hub, be a guest speaker or would just like to attend then contact Abbi or Lucie today via newhaven@basepoint.co.uk