For the first half of my career, I worked in universities doing research into conversation, courtroom language and political speeches. The second half has been devoted to running courses and writing books on how to put the main findings from my research into practice. A fuller story of this can be found in my book 'Lend Me Your Ears: All you Need to Know about Making Speeches and Presentations' (London: Vermilion, 2004 & New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). Or, for a 'quick fix, see the shorter version: 'Speech-making and Presentation Made Easy: Seven Essential Steps to Success', (London: Vermilion, 2008).Specialties: coaching speakers to improve performance; writing & editing speeches for any occasion.