OK, so I’ve been told I can’t call myself an award-winning comedian as there wasn’t ‘technically’ an award handed out. Regardless of whether or not I received a physical award, I did win a stand-up comedy competition. Furthermore, it was a competition that was part of the Liverpool Comedy Festival so I am, unquestionably, a Liverpool Comedy Festival Winner. That’s what’s going on my CV, my LinkedIn, this website and will be thrust upon anyone else who is willing to listen. The evening was more about Wirral Mecap, than me, I guess. For me it was more about me, but I did raise £862 for Wirral Mencap in the process, plus a further £200 in shirt sponsorship. So there’s that. The whole process was a dream come true for me. The chance to learn from a professional comedian in the weeks leading up to the night, and to write and perform my own routine, were things I had always wanted to do. Winning was just the icing on the cake. You can, of course, judge for yourself by watching the video. Obviously I wasn’t going to perform stand up in front of a live audience without having the whole thing filmed! Satire In addition to the stand up (which I’ve only done the once, but talk about it like I’ve been gigging for 20 years) I’m also the one responsible for the satire news website, The Chester Bugle. When I say ‘responsible’, I don’t mean in a legal sense. I legally have nothing to do with it and have never even seen it before in my life, in case you were wondering who to blame. The Chester Bugle has been responsible for a number of mildly entertaining and modestly-successful news stories, including the globally-spread hoax that a Nokia 3310 found in a drawer after 20 years still had 70% battery. This nonsense was shared across the world, and reported by a number of media outlets – most notably across India for some reason. The post was so successful that it eventually received over 140,000 shares and received more than one million engagements on Facebook.
BNI Education Slots
I have been a member of BNI Chester since 2017, becoming the Education Coordinator within the first few months and delivering the chapter’s BNI Education Slots each week. Never satisfied with the style of education slots that were available online, either in video or in written form, I would always invent my own – such as the one above where I explained the importance of not using technical jargon in your weekly presentations using the medium of a game show. You can find more BNI Education Slots at the bottom of the page – feel free to use any of these at your own BNI chapters. I became the Chapter President of BNI Chester in October 2018 and, by the Spring of 2019, we had won the Pride of BNI award for the best chapter growth in the region. We took a chapter of 12 into the mid-twenties, and just outside the top 50 chapters in the UK. This is something I am particularly proud of, with everyone at BNI Chester helping to grow the group. In BNI I endeavour to help others as much as possible, especially newer members, and have also been one of the few members in the region to achieve 100 points on the traffic light system – something you achieve by giving help to other people. Recordings of BNI Education Slots The following BNI Ed Slots were recorded between 2017 – 2020. If you’re looking for a BNI Ed Slot to perform at your chapter, and you’d like to use one of these either as I’ve presented it, or to adapt it into your own words, please feel free to do so. I’m more than happy for you to use any of these. One of these ed slots has even been played during an online BNI meeting in Malta, so if you would like to use the videos themselves that is also perfectly fine.
Public Speaking
It is said that public speaking is one of the greatest fears anyone can have. For me, however, it’s quite the opposite. I feel more at ease addressing 200 people than I do speaking with just one. My first taste came in school when, after winning the class vote for a speech on politics I had written and delivered, I had the ‘reward’ of delivering alongside the other class winners in front of the whole school. It was more a stand-up comedy routine than a speech and, in my own biased opinion, I was by far the best. However the teachers didn’t see it that way, and I didn’t win. A clear fix. Undaunted I have since taken every opportunity I have been given to speak in front of an audience, with my time at BNI delivering education slots affording me a regular captivated crowd. You can see more of the BNI Education Slots I delivered here. Other forays into public speaking I have dabbled with include writing, performing (and winning with) a stand-up comedy routine in aid of Wirral Mencap, speaking on a panel at search and social conference SAScon, being interviewed in a series of TV shows for Channel 5 (some of which you will find on YouTube) and, of course, being the big gob at the front when I ran the Chester BNI meetings for 12 months. Further public speaking events