Lorraine
Forrest-Turner

Event speaker

Host

Moderator

Public speaking

I do words.

On the stage. On the page. And on the screen.

I’ve recently been described as “an unconventional and hugely entertaining speaker who brings equal amounts of wisdom, hilarity and real-world observations to any business or lifestyle subject”. Which is nice.

Lorraine Forrest-Turner, Public Speaking

The love of public speaking

Looking for a lively, female platform speaker?

Depending on what source you read, it’s said that around 75% of people suffer from glossophobia – the fear of public speaking. Unfortunately for my parents, I wasn’t one of them.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve “loved the sound of my own voice”. Both vocally and verbally. I know. I know. We’re not supposed to admit to these things but I’m way beyond false modesty.

Fortunately for my parents, I managed to turn this attention-seeking habit into a worthwhile career, and I’ve been lucky enough to work as a writer, trainer and speaker for most of my adult life.

I’m use my expertise in presentation skills to help others overcome their public speaking fears.

Public speaking videos

How to make the most of your voice

Addressing the 2023 Conference of Commercial Copywriters

Public speaking showreel

Talking about TALKING

Unsurprisingly, one of the subjects people pay me to waffle on about is talking. As I said, most people fear public speaking. Not a major problem if you spend all day in a research lab or behind the controls of a tube train. Not so good if you’re in sales, marketing or customer services, or need to address a meeting.

I might not make everyone I work with a Barrack Obama rival, but I’ve never worked with anyone who hasn’t felt more confident once I’ve helped them learn a few techniques that work for them.

Talking about WRITING

A huge chunk of my work is helping others improve their writing. That could be overcoming writer’s block, making their writing more concise and punchy, giving them a process for getting started, teaching them to write natural-sounding dialogue, or simply telling them how I became (and remain) a professional writer.

I’m a great believer in learning by doing. My writing talks and instant writing exercises generally have audiences surprising themselves.

Talking about ME

While my parents would have loved for me to have been a bit less of a show-off growing up, my naive belief that I could talk or write my way into or out of anything has led me to be an audiologist, actor, director, voice coach, presenter, copywriter, author, playwright and tutor.

Having reinvented myself several times in my adult life, I share my often hilariously embarrassing experiences with audiences – and, hopefully, tempt a few people to find the lost soul inside themselves.

Read my bio

Event hosting and moderating

Hosting events requires a whole different set of skills, including knowing how to relax speakers, warm up the audience, cope with any problems that arise and, most of all, shut up when required.

It is YOUR event and my job is to steer it along the agreed lines, bring all the parts together and make sure everyone leaves with the same positive message.