Personal development takes centre stage

Recently I practised what I regularly preach by stepping into my client’s shoes to speak at the Mirfield Rotary Charter dinner.

I gave the key-note address on my charitable work to 140 people, just days after running my ‘Stage Fright’ programme to a select group of delegates.

I usually teach others how to present with ease and confidence but this time I was in the spotlight and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Rotary event was held earlier this month at Bertie’s Banqueting Rooms, Elland, to celebrate the Mirfield group’s 76th-anniversary charter dinner and to raise awareness of the work carried out for local and overseas charities.

Mirfield Rotary President Sue Charlesworth commented:

“We initially asked Martin if he might know of a keynote speaker to provide the after-dinner speech on Corporate Social Responsibility.  It was during this phone call and afterwards when Martin sent me his own speaker profile that I realised actually Martin himself was the perfect person to speak, having raised so much awareness, and funds, for Working Wonders apprentice charity, amongst others.”

Just a week prior, I had once again held my open one-day programme, Stage Fright at Holdsworth House, which saw eight of the region’s business leaders attend in order to learn and develop valuable public speaking skills.

Two representatives from Brighouse-based firm Severn Unival attended and I am delighted to have received the following feedback from Joe Appleyard, Engineer at the company:

“The Stage Fright programme aided my understanding of the importance of projecting myself when presenting.  This was initially out of my comfort zone, but throughout the day became more comfortable and in turn helped to increase my confidence.”

Joe continued:

“It was nice to work with a small group of positive people who felt the same and were working towards similar goals. It was encouraging to hear positive comments about how well I had done. This is something in my opinion which is great to hear and often gets missed. This course, for me, was a huge confidence booster.”

To view more feedback from the day, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkXRvuS-BNM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSIRsb64WdE.