I studied French, German, Latin and Russian at school, and French and German at university.From 1989-1990 I lived in Strasbourg, where I witnessed the impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall.I believe in a Europe of independent nations, not the European Union. I believe that the study of languages is more important to the flourishing of human beings than the study of science.I write speeches for people who still believe in human communication, I organise conferences for people who crave live interaction and I encourage people to work for themselves.I write a monthly e-newsletter for over 800 speechwriters across Europe, which features jobs and topical observations. In 2024, I launched a political discussion group in Bournemouth called Third Space which meets every Wednesday morning for breakfast between 8am and 9am. I host an online Viennese salon every Thursday afternoon on Zoom for the European Speechwriter Network.My twelve books are Men and Collections (2003) I'm Just Phoning to Chase My Invoice (2009), Trade Secrets (2013), Eloquence (2016), The Bohemian who took up Bookkeeping (2017) and A Christmas Stocking, being a commonplace selection (2019) and A Christmas Stocking, being a commonplace selection (2020), A Christmas Stocking, being a commonplace selection (2021), Engage Brain, How to record, retrieve and remember what inspires you (rather than settling for digital oblivion) (2022), A Speechwriter's Notebook 2023, Outlandish ideas to get your audiences to look up from their phones, scratch their heads and never see the world in the same way again, A Speechwriter's Notebook 2024: Smart things you can put in a speech when inspiration runs dry, you've got no time, or the Wi-Fi's not working, A Speechwriter's Notebook 2025, Jokes, quotations and ideas to help you influence people with wordsI started the local website for Paddington & Bayswater called Newspad in 1999.I organised the UK Funeral Awards for six years and I ran something called the Ideal Death Show to rebrand death as something regrettable, but really rather invigorating.When I moved to Bournemouth, I set up BoMoCreatives, a networking group to bring together artistic and creative people in Dorset.In 2009, I launched the UK Speechwriters' Guild. I organised four conferences in Bournemouth before moving it to London and then Oxford in 2013. We now alternate between an Oxford and Cambridge college every spring.I have also organised international speechwriting conferences in Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Leuven, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Paris and The Hague.