PJBelfast

Have you ever heard someone speak, teach or communicate with a voice that is "affected"? It's not like the one they would use when speaking with you in person. It actually sounds pretentious, artificial and lacks authenticity. As we would say in Northern Ireland...."catch yerself on, big lad"! I listened to a seminar this week on the art of communication and I was struck with the challenge of ensuring that you were true to yourself. No need to be a clone of some other great speaker, but rather to do it, and say it your own unique way,   I can understand the challenge of athletes and actors who have left our shores and have been primarily living in somewhere like the States. Many of these celebrities have understandably caught a "mid atlantic" accent.( I lived in the States for 3 years and at the time couldn't help picking up some "neat" americanisms.) You sometimes can't avoid this, particularly if you want to be clearly u...

Between August 1976 to September 1979 I lived in Portland Oregon, attending PBC - Portland Bible College. Currently (while housebound due to a foot injury)I'm transcribing the hundreds of letters written to me into a PDF document. They were written to me from family and friends and record a rich history of a wee lad from Belfast growing into adulthood. My sister Ann, one of my ardent writers, kept all my letters from Portland and I kept all the  "snail mail" letters from Belfast. It was a time before emails and the internet. A time before mobile phones and streaming. It seems like yesterday but 49 years have elapsed. Hope you enjoy! Coming soon!