Why comedy is the ultimate market test, what it teaches about reading an audience, and why happiness is expectations exceeded.
Neil Martin · Beats, Business & Life
Speaking
The biggest breakthroughs happen in smaller rooms
I love speaking at big events. But the moments people remember happen in small rooms, when someone hears a question they have never been asked.
About 125 people holding my book at the National Space Centre
The moment a room full of surveyors held my book in the air for a selfie, and why the bit I remember most is what happened after.
How I became an accidental motivational speaker
My Facebook memories are full of stages, training rooms and event halls. Looking back, I never set out to be a speaker. It crept up on me.
Presentation skills are really conversation skills
A former manager once called my presentation skills exceptional. I’ve learned so much since, and the biggest lesson is that it’s all conversation.
Made to Stick and the stories people actually remember
The Heath brothers’ simple recipe for ideas that stick, why your examples are too close to your work, and how to break someone’s pattern.
The weekend I had to speak sitting down
One weekend I had a run of speaking gigs while I was on crutches and couldn’t put weight on my leg. Sitting down on stage taught me a lot.
The day The Hoff sent me a thank you
A surprise award for virtual event hosting, then a thank you video from The Hoff himself. A week in 2020 I will not forget.
Why I stopped wearing a suit on stage
Years as a suit and tie guy, then jeans on the big stages, and one weekend in travel clothes. Dressing as yourself is a choice.
“You’re just like you are on stage”
People keep telling me I’m just like I am on stage. Why that surprises them, and the one rule I keep about what I say in public.
My sound check, and the MC in me who wants to rap
Bands have a sound check song. As a speaker and event MC, I don’t. What I do have is a favourite moment, just after it.
I’d already changed his life and didn’t know it
Speaking at Ben Allsop’s events, I found out I’d already created a ripple in his life years earlier. You never know who your content reaches.
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About
Hi, I’m Neil
DJing since 1987, three decades in business, and the author of Done Beats Perfect. This is where I write it all down.