.... I asked her what the nature of the talk would
be and she explained that it was to inspire the children as they were all close
to leaving school. Of course I was
delighted to have the opportunity and agreed and asked when it was. She told me it was on that same evening,
giving me little time to prepare. But,
having conducted a couple of talks to the local college I was reasonably confident that I could
deliver an inspiring talk. So just a few
hours later I arrived at the Mill Arts Centre with a handful of notes that I
had scribbled down whilst at the gym ready to perform. On arriving I was told that a former pupil of
the school was to conduct a talk about his life after leaving school and how he
was now living in Australia and had become a successful actor. I was asked to sit just out of view of the
students so was able to listen to the former students talk and take my queue
for when I was to start my talk. The
more I listened to the young man the more I was inspired by his story as he
delivered a very good speech. Having
never met anyone in the auditorium before, not even the teachers, I was a
little nervous on how I would be received.
Every talk I had conducted before that day was at local schools and colleges
where I had always known the people who invited me along. I had also always known many of the students
and knew that most, if not all of them knew me.
I did feel I knew my subject
matter well enough to be able to perform the talk well enough to inspire the
students but still standing on a stage at a theatre was a new experience and
the nerves were creeping up on me. Fortunately
for me the principle at the school had done his homework, I guess through the
internet, on me and gave me the perfect introduction highlighting everything I
had achieved and how my journey had brought me to the stage on that particular
day. By the time I got to the stage I
was almost totally relaxed. My talks are mainly story based and
fortunately many of the students were familiar with some of the local
characters in my stories. At the end of
the talk I assisted the award ceremony and presented certificates to each and
every student in the theatre. The time
seemed to fly by and after the talk I had some positive feedback from the
students and teachers. The following day
I was approached by a man I knew who had heard about my talk to the pupils of
the Sibford School. He approached me and
asked me how it felt standing in for the actress Kate Winslet. I was unsure what he was referring to so I
gave him a look that said “what are you talking about and assumed he must have
had a few too many drinks?” He then asked
me if I had just conducted a talk for the Quaker School at The Mill Art’s
Centre and explained that Kate Winslet was due to carry out the talk as two of
her children attended the school but she couldn’t attend, which explained why I
was called in with only a few hours’ notice.
Although I never did get to meet Kate Winslet, knowing I was standing in
for her did give me a great deal of pleasure.
Other
people I never felt I would be able to associate with myself when writing a
book were the Queen and Prince Phillip
