for the whole of my life, I have tried to be a person who is a good listener, a clear speaker, a careful evaluator of what others say, and a person who has tried to develop in others excellent speaking and listening skills.

For a long time, I was a member of the Toastmasters Club. That was in the Northern Territory of Australia. I became an Advanced Toastmaster at the highest gold level.

For many decades I focused on developing speech and speaking in a personal sense and through coaching and mentoring others. I think it is an area in which I am quite competent.

A worry that I have is that in becoming older – I am now 78 – time will see me lose my speech and speaking skills. I do not want that to happen and try very hard to maintain correctness in all areas of oral communication.

This is a field of critical importance and I worry that the skills are becoming lost by people who prefer to Communicate through fingers and text using electronic devices.