How To Be Interesting: Simple Ways to Increase Your Personal Appeal

In addition to having scads of acting and writing credits between them, actor David Gillespie and writer Mark Warren are co-founders of a unique organization. Called The Speechworks, it is a group of performance-based professionals who draw upon their professional expertise to teach clients—including businesspeople, sports stars, politicians, actors, writers and celebrities—the skills they need to communicate more effectively, to impress others with charisma and find greater success at work and in life. In this wildly funny, irreverent and practical guide they share their proprietary formula for achieving a heightened and sustained level of interestingness.

• Practical tips for achieving everyday interestingness, along with personality tests to aid self-knowledge
• Tons of fascinating quotes, outrageous humour and vibrant visual material—including mindmaps and infographics
• Everything you need to increase your personal appeal, engage more effectively with those around you and lead a more enjoyable and fulfilling life
• The Speechworks clients include Fortune 500 & FTSE 100 companies, professional bodies, start-ups and SMEs, charities, politicians and sports personalities

About the Authors

David Gillespie is an actor, voice-over artist, keynote speaker and communications expert.

He was born in Nottingham and moved to London to train as an actor at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

After graduating he joined the company of the Theatre Royal Stratford East where he "cut his teeth" as a performer in the theatre's many Variety Nights, appearing in sketches with comedy greats like Barry Cryer, John Junkin and Victor Spinnetti. He has since appeared on stage in London's West End and in theatres throughout the world.

David's many TV and film credits include EastEnders, Red Dwarf, Love, Honour and Obey, Bedtime, Sensitive Skin, Roman Mysteries, Stuck, Who gets the Dog, The Wee Man and more. Dave played the brilliant character DI Beach in the totally improvised fly-on-the-wall, cult comedy series Operation Good Guys. It won a Silver Rose and Prix de la Presse at Montreux.

As co-founder of The Speechworks (thespeechworks.co.uk), his seminars on communication skills have been enjoyed by many organizations across the world. These include AOL, Apple, Bacardi, BNP Paribas, Comic Relief, Google, ICAEW, Toshiba and many others.

David is often interviewed as a communications expert. He has appeared on BBC radio, BBC Worldwide News and Newsnight to comment on the communication skills of political leaders.

Mark Warren was born in Bridport, Dorset where he attended St Catherine's Primary School and Colfox School.

He has a BSc. in Medical Biochemisty from Royal Holloway College, University of London and a PGCE from Chelsea College, University of London.

He is a script writer, copywriter and creative director who works in broadcast media, advertising/marketing and digital communication channels.

As an award-winning copywriter, he has created advertising and marketing campaigns for some of the world's leading agency groups.

His television scriptwriting credits include comedy dramas and comedies for Aardman Animation, Baby Cow Productions, Tiger Aspect, BBC1, BBC4, Spitting Image, Sky Atlantic and others. Mark was a writer on Lenny Henry in Pieces, which won a Golden Rose of Montreux.

Just some of the actors he has worked with include Alison Steadman, Charles Dance, Amelia Bullmore, Hugo Speer, Samuel Anderson, Omid Djalili, Harry Enfield, Lenny Henry, Basil Brush and Dave Gillespie.

Website content creation credits include The Sopranos and Engineering an Empire for A&E network and others.

He is the co-creator and writer of the Celeb cartoon strip in Private Eye magazine, with the artist Charles Peattie. Together they are authors of the book, Celeb. The Original Gary Bloke from Private Eye.

With David Gillespie he is a co-founder of The Speechworks (thespeechworks.co.uk), a select group of performance-based professionals and leaders in communication skills and presentation skills training. Their clients range from blue-chip corporates, professional bodies and start-ups to SMES, charities and public figures.