Speakery Notes

In this episode of Speakery Notes , Marcus John Henry Brown explores one of the most important Speakery principles: Do the work. Not glamorous work. Not visible work. Not the kind that earns applause on social media. The quiet, consistent work of showing up — especially on the days you don’t feel like it. Recorded on a groggy, pollen-filled morning in Munich, Marcus reflects on discipline, purpose...

What if the biggest risk you can take as a speaker… is simply being yourself? In this episode of Speakery Notes , Marcus John Henry Brown explores one of the most difficult — and most overlooked — principles of communication: knowing yourself . Drawing on personal experience, from hiding behind online personas to navigating a late diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Marcus refle...

What if the way you prepare for a presentation isn’t about discipline — but about how your brain actually works? In this episode of  Speakery Notes , Marcus John Henry Brown shares the five-step process behind his presentation preparation — and how it was shaped by the coping mechanisms he'd developed for the neurodiversity he didn't even know he had. From deep research to playful experime...

What if getting better at speaking had nothing to do with talent — and everything to do with turning up? In this episode of Speakery Notes , Marcus John Henry Brown explores one of the core principles of Speakery: continuous improvement . Not the dramatic, overnight kind. Not the “hockey stick” fantasy. But the quiet, often invisible work of getting a tiny bit better — every single day. Drawing on...

Speakery Notes returns with a solo episode — and a single question: Why? After a quiet hiatus, Marcus John Henry Brown explores what he calls a growing crisis of why — a subtle but widespread failure at the heart of modern communication. From keynote stages to corporate presentations, from podcasts to panels, something is missing. Not content. Not confidence. But clarity. Drawing on thousands of h...

On this episode of Speakery Notes, we're joined by Will Rolls, a leading expert in creative effectiveness and marketing science. As a consultant and educator for Meta’s top clients in the DACH region, Will has a wealth of experience in driving creative strategies that deliver results. He’s the author behind the official Facebook Blueprint Creative Strategy exams and the Effectiveness Guidelines fo...

Natalia Talkowska is an award-winning serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of  Natalka Design . She is a strategic communications specialist and a 6-time  TEDx Speaker . Her company is trusted by the British government, the royal family, and Fortune 500. There are two parts to today's Speakery notes. In the second half, Natalia takes us through what she loves to talk about and her exper...

Tamar Broadbent is a writer, performer and musician. She has written and toured multiple comedy and theatre shows across Europe, North America and Australia, has written for BBC Radio 4 and was a main stage cast member at the renowned improv theatre Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. In the corporate world, she is a charming, funny and versatile MC who can sing improvised songs about winners of company aw...

Louisa Heinrich is the founder and Chief Consultant at Superhuman. As you will hear, she endeavours to put technology in the service of people. Louisa has been chipping away at the fuzzy grey coalface of technology for the past twenty-seven years. Last year, she returned to the speaker circuit with her remarkable new keynote, "⁠Not dead yet⁠, " because, thankfully, she isn't. She&#39...

In this episode of Speakery Notes, I sat down with the artist ⁠Eric Drass⁠ to discuss presenting artificial intelligence, art, studio assistants and how anybody can use ChatGPT to have an argument.  Throw a stick at LinkedIn, and you'll hit a keynote or presentation about artificial intelligence, chatGPT or Midjourney. It seems that everybody and their line manager is an expert on AI–we all kn...

Never stand in front of an audience without knowing who they are. Take a moment, just five minutes, to jot down everything you know about your audience. Are they industry professionals, eager learners, or seasoned veterans? Understanding their interests and reasons for attending your talk – be it a conference, a meeting, or a virtual call – is paramount. Not a big audience? Then, personalization i...

I invited Timo to the Speaker Notes Podcast because he has such a wonderfully optimistic, cheery and thoroughly cheeky approach to telling stories. Everything he makes is full of sound, music, film and text, all working together to present content and stories to a wide range of audiences. He has a skill set that makes him a great presenter, and we can learn lots and lots from him. Who is Timo Peac...

For many, the immediate goal is simple – survival. The idea of standing in front of an audience, even virtually, is daunting. The aim? Get through it without embarrassment—without making a total utter fool of yourself! It's an understandable sentiment but intrinsically focused on the self, not the audience. Then, there's the allure of financial gain. With its tantalizing rumours of hefty p...

Picture this: you're young, talented, and brimming with ambition. Your energy seems boundless, and your potential is limitless. You're the kind of person who can effortlessly party till the early hours and still command a room full of executives with poise and confidence mere hours later. But here's a gentle reminder from the corridors of experience: raw talent, while invaluable, has i...

Just as no two cities share the same skyline, no two audiences mirror each other in spirit, vibe or composition. From the intimate gatherings and discrete 1-to-1 meetings we encounter in our corporate lives, where every individual's presence is as significant as the next, to the sprawling, anonymous and massive crowds of a bustling business conference, each audience has its unique heartbeat, c...

Mikko Hyppönen describes himself as a geek, nerd, hacker, hunter of cybercriminals and Finn. I adore him. Mikko is the Chief Research Officer at F-Secure, a company he joined 30 years ago. We chat about David Hasselhof, getting nervous with live streams and how to go from reverse engineering malware to standing on a TED Global stage . suggests replacing music with educational English-language podc...

Speakery Notes is back this week with the one and only Mark Earls . The Herdmeister. The author of books . The herder of audiences. In this episode, we chat about jumping up and down on stage, enjoying quiet discomfort, tigers, monks, breaking the rules and stealing ideas from television. Mark Earls emphasizes the importance of emotional connection in communication, particularly in business contex...

The world's worst podcaster returns with episode 2 of Speakery Notes . This time I'm chatting to the wonderful Vikki Ross about her Isolated Talk , her struggle with speaking words (she's very good at writing them), about anxiety, stress, wine and swearing more than Mark Ritson. I adore her, and I know that you will too. Hope you enjoy it. It's sweary.

Julia Hobsbawm is a remarkable person. She's recently published The Simplicity Principle , Six Steps Towards Clarity in a Complex World, is the founder of Editorial Intelligence and Names Not Numbers , my favourite ever event. She's one of my favourite people. I adore her. Julia discusses her experience with organizing and curating events, emphasizing her strength in creating engaging atmo...

Hello. Good morning. Good afternoon and good evening to you where ever you may be in the world. Welcome to Season 1 of speakery notes. A series of interviews with people who are marvellous at live and virtual events. Over the course of the next ten weeks, I’ll be talking to keynote speakers, event organisers, streamers, YouTubers, composers, musicians and event photographers about their speakery e...