I was no longer afraid to speak in public but what would I do with my new skill? Having five children meant I was confined to the house a lot. One day I noticed a sign for a wedding fair. I mentioned to my friend that I could write speeches for weddings and her answer was “Do�. We made enquiries, booked a table at the fair and I went home and wrote 20 wedding speeches. My daughter, a speech and drama teacher accompanied me to the fair. My business idea was not a great success because people did not buy the speeches that day. The idea was too new and too strange. A few days later though there was a radio programme about weddings and a speaker said people should not have to give speeches at weddings because it was a nightmare for them. My daughter telephoned in and said he was trying to put us out of business before we even got properly started. The announcer thought our idea of selling speeches was a good one. She asked me to read one on air and afterwards the phone started hopping with orders for speeches. So my speechwriting venture took off the ground. That was 12 years ago now.

Check out our sample speeches