Giving a manuscript speech – those commonly known ‘Check against delivery’ - can be a huge challenge, even for the most experienced presenters. The key to such a speech is that every word must be read. Many, if not most public speakers with a manuscript to read, can be described as bobbing heads, desperate to get to the end of their speech. Quite often, they will even pick up pace half way through as they race for the finish.

To all of you who were present at Brussels’ ultimate ‘inside the Beltway’ insiders event on Saturday night, the Journalists Review – count yourselves lucky. The show sells out weeks in advance and tickets are like proverbial gold dust. 

I’ve been rediscovering the ‘EBS’ – Europe by Satellite online, which “consists of a mix of live events, news items, stockshots on EU policies and issues.” It really is both awful and wonderful. I’ve always sort of wondered about the small talk made by politicians when they greet each other before they get out their public speaking voice and carefully crafted scripts.

Hoops to jump through, hurdles to jump over, walls to scale – whatever physical activity they are compared to, problems and crises are bound to be encountered in every business.  They are accepted as part of the natural cycle of operations, but the ways in which companies approach them are not always effectual and rarely take into account contemporary developments.