Get Contest-Ready! Humorous Speech & Impromptu Speaking Workshop

Join us for two interactive workshops on mastering humourous and impromptu speaking with subject matter experts.

Help! I'm Not Funny

Do you struggle to be funny?

Are you thinking of entering the humorous contest but don’t know where to start?

In this 60-minute interactive workshop, 2025 District 91 Humorous Speech Champion, Dan Magill will guide us on a journey into jest.

We’ll cover the importance of humour in any speech, talk, presentation or even interview. The session will be crammed full of tips, tools, tricks and techniques for finding the funny in your communications and more importantly, enabling your audience to find it too.

You don’t have to be funny to attend, but opening yourself up to falling flat on your face will go a long way.

There’ll be something for everyone, so whether you’re preparing for the upcoming contests, or you just want to get a few more laughs when you speak, this is the session for you.

Master the Art of Speaking on the Spot

During this second workshop, Uk & Ireland Table Topics Champion Paul Carroll will help us take the fear out of impromptu speaking, and provide us with ways to structure answering questions on the spot.

We start by reframing impromptu speaking as a simple question conversation. Attendees will pair up with a stranger and share a quick story—45 seconds on your last holiday or a recent movie. Standing face-to-face makes it personal and fun.

Next, volunteers will step up front for a silent challenge: just make eye contact with the room. It’s powerful (and easier than you think!). Afterward, we’ll chat about the experience, showcasing how volunteers just mastered the basics of Table Topics.

Then, it’s your turn to shine! Leverage expert tips from Paul to tackle any question on the spot while keeping your cool and sounding polished, even with zero prep.

Meet Our Speakers

About Dan

Dan Magill is a copywriter and communications consultant, working with organisations including, British Airways, Vodafone, and NatWest. He is the Five Times District 91 Humorous Speech Champion for 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Dan has twice represented District 91 at the semi-finals of the World Championships of Public Speaking and is a 7-time winner at The Moth StorySlam an open-mic storytelling competition.

About Paul

Paul Carroll is a financier who joined Toastmasters in 2001. He was the 2003 UK & Ireland Table Topics Champion and the founding President of 104 London Debaters which was the first debating Toastmasters Club in Europe in 2014. He formerly was the College of Public Speaking, Business Speaker of the Year and additionally twice led a Toastmasters team to gold victory in the London Public Speaking Olympiads.