By the time I speak to business leaders in the Scotsman today I will have walked past street performances and the joy of participation.
Edinburgh Festival and Fringe is back and there really is nothing else like it in the World.
It is the World’s largestarts festival, attracting many millions of performers and audiences from across the globe and it showcases both the celebrated and stars of the future.
I love it. It also brings back floods of memories for me.
I first performed in the Fringe in 1969, then again in the mid and late 70s.
Today, there is no guitar, no prop, no make-up and no lines to learn.
I am there to deliver a talk packed with important insights about how we rise to today’s challenges.
“Don’t you wish you were performing again?” I was asked yesterday.
“But I am performing” I say.
Speaking is every bit a performance.
It is about story. It has drama, surprise and epiphany moments.
It is a piece of theatre – every bit as dramatic as the many thousands of performances taking place around the city.
And it is lessons learned from facing audiences many moons ago, that taught me how to captivate, engage and a hold an audience.
Hope the reviews are good.
(pic is of me speaking in 1977)
FESTIVAL SPEAKING
