Find Your Voice, Bertie

I went to see the Oscar-nominated film The King's Speech this week and was enthralled by a masterpiece of cinema.

It captured the frustration and sheer terror of the Duke of York or 'Bertie' - soon to become King George VI - as he fought a debilitating affliction...magnified by the new need to communicate by radio.

It made me think of a conversation I had with the highly-personable Scotland rugby forward Kelly Brown.

He explained to the leadership group of Scotland's international rugby team - with whom I was running a media training session last autumn - that he had taken four days away last June for intensive treatment to reduce his stammer. He then volunteered to do the first TV interview rehearsal.

And there I saw devices similar to those portrayed in The Kings Speech.

What George VI and Kelly Brown share is tremendous courage and determination.

Kelly realises the value of explaining his feelings about rugby through the media - and has done what it takes to overcome his disadvantage. He has my undying admiration.

What I felt The Kings Speech also captured was the sense of blind fear and utter panic that can set in before a speech - a feeling I hear about every week in talking to some who attend The Broadcasting Business's Presentation Skills courses.

For those who feel confident in such situations, it's difficult to understand what that's like. But very many have felt that way.

I could relate to the quiet sense of satisfaction the film's other hero - unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue - took from witnessing immense progress. It's how I feel every day a participant leaves our course with a greater sense of self-belief than when they walked through the door.

Fear of public speaking may be in the mind - but it's as real as the microphone and audience in front of us.

But because it's in the mind, we have the power to overcome it - given the right techniques.

These techniques have helped business leaders, entrepreneurs, public servants and emerging sportsmen and women make great strides over the 22 years we've been running such courses.

Watching George VI overcome his stammer to deliver the keynote wartime speech that forms the climax of the film reminded me of a second parallel: the four presenters pitching Scotland's bid for the Commonwealth Games to 71 voting members in Sri Lanka in November 2007.

I had worked with some members of the team for six months and had seen their fear of failure grow into a genuine confidence in their speeches.

As the last one left the stage, a colleague turned to me and confirmed my feeling with one short comment:  'They nailed it!'

And they had. Glasgow won the vote with a two-thirds majority - and the Games were awarded to Scotland.

That is the immense power of public speaking - and it lies within all of us.

It just has to be brought to the surface.

'Find your voice', Lionel tells George. He could have been speaking to any of us.