Talking

I like giving talks and have given a lot of them over the last few years. But with COVID-19, the opportunities have disappeared. In some ways, this is a bit of a relief as, a bit like air travel, travelling to remote village halls in the dark on rainy days in November may sound ultra-glamorous, but sometimes the long drive home is spent wondering whether it was worth it. But that is the life of a campaigner – you get out to get the message out.

And don’t get me wrong, I like giving talks and I like meeting people.

But now I am getting requests to give talks by Zoom – and I am turning them down (practically all of them, with very few exceptions). Speaking at a small black dot perched above by computer screen is nowhere near the same as talking to a live audience whose faces one can see, laughs one can hear and yawns one can monitor. Giving a talk from my office isn’t quite the same – it’s akin to broadcasting rather than public speaking and I don’t think I’m anything like as good at it as I am interacting with real people, face-to-face.

And it’s not as much fun either.

So, if you were thinking of asking me, I’m likely to say ‘No thanks, sorry’.

I’d be much warmer to the idea of being interviewed or having a chat with someone online.

Many thanks to Paul Leyland for all his photos that have occupied this 6pm Sunday slot on this blog over the spring and summer – they have been great. He is now, insect-like, going into a period of overwintering torpor and I look forward to welcoming him back next spring.

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