Making a speech can be terrifying, most who have ever stood up to speak in front of a room full of people will tell you this, with the fear of public speaking affecting up to 75% of people in one way or another. Even the most confident of folk can feel their pulses racing with nerves, but while many can successfully carry on, some are literally paralysed with fear.
This can be overcome however, as RTE's The Speech proved last year with its pilot episode featuring George Hook and Dubliner David Wynne. David had to give a best man's speech at his friends wedding and was panic-stricken at the thoughts of it. Through the help of his mentor George he went on to nail the speech in what was a pretty uplifting documentary all in all.
Now RTE and Tyrone Productions have decided to make a series out of the popular pilot, and are seeking more 'David Wynnes' to take part. Each individual episode will follow a different person with an important upcoming speech they have to perform, or a scenario where they’ll be expected to address a group of people. These speeches could include anything from a father-of-the-bride or best man’s wedding speech, a presentation in work, a speech at a school reunion to a speech at an anniversary, graduation or birthday party.
Each person will be mentored by a famous Irish person, who themselves have had to tackle public speaking in the past. Under the guidance of their celebrity mentor, and with the help of professional vocal coaches, they will face their fear of public speaking and deliver the speech they had been dreading for so long.
The show is now putting a call out for people to take part in the series which will be filmed over the summer. If any of the above sounds like you, then you can get in touch with Tyrone Productions by emailing thespeech@tyrone-productions.ie or phoning 01 889 4921.