Submitted by Jack Milner on January 27, 2026
I’ve coached some extraordinarily gifted speakers over the years. Not just gifted at speaking, but talented humans full stop: sportspeople, artists, adventurers and business owners.
And when you ask how they got started in their chosen profession, a familiar pattern appears.
Most of them realised quite young that they had something. A knack. A head start.
Submitted by Jack Milner on January 14, 2026
As we move into 2026, I’ve reflected on a chat I had years ago with a senior banker. I asked him a simple question: where and when were you happiest at work?
It wasn’t the trading floor or achieving an immense KPI rolling out x project. It was when he was 18, fresh from A-levels, working for three months as a labourer on a building site.
“Until you asked me I’d never thought about it. But it was then. And it was because of the banter. It was a really tough job. But I loved it.”
Submitted by Jack Milner on November 25, 2025
If you really want to sound clever, try recommending someone no one else has ever heard of. You know the type of thing: an art critic proclaiming, “Oh, Maddy Diggy-Doo Buggy-Doom is unquestionably the most important artist of the 20th century,” and everyone nods sagely, hoping no one notices they’re Googling under the table.
Submitted by Jack Milner on November 11, 2025
It’s a great question, and one I’m often asked.
When I ran comedy workshops, I only met one person who was adamant they couldn’t do funny. He told me, “My wife sent me here because she says I need a sense of humour so we can watch Fawlty Towers together.” In truth, he was actually very funny – even if he didn’t always realise it.
So, can anyone really do funny?
Submitted by Jack Milner on November 5, 2025
How many of us start a presentation with:
“I’m here today to talk to you about…”
It’s the presentation equivalent of a beige sandwich - brown bread, beef or mushroom pate filling. Safe, polite, and sadly very forgettable.
But what if you started with something that made your audience sit up, lean in, and think, “Ooh, this is different”? And different in a good way.
Submitted by Jack Milner on September 30, 2025
If you want to find out how good your next presentation will be, do this simple equation.
Marking out of 10.
Submitted by Jack Milner on September 10, 2025
Three things that have made a massive difference to my productivity, mental health, and overall effectiveness—so I thought I’d share them:
I don’t need to keep checking my favourite news websites. A quick glance at the TV news is enough.
Avoid social media. It’s designed to eat time.
And Stoke City really don’t need me constantly checking how they’re doing.
I love the rule of 3 - breaking things down into threes. It’s not just a productivity hack, it’s also a comedy staple.
Submitted by Jack Milner on September 3, 2025
One of the biggest challenges in presenting is that little chap on your shoulder: Impostor Syndrome. Giving you constructive feedback like, “You’re rubbish, nobody’s listening, you’ve messed it up again. Oh God, you’re so boring, no one’s listening!” Meanwhile, you’re just trying to get through your slides without your laptop or your boss catching fire.
