Artistes of the Month
Also featured: Opera Revue, Sian Jones
Debra
Serle (formerly Veal)
Debra
has packed an enormous amount into her 20's. Reading her CV is exhausting
in itself! To add to her first class honours degree she has had entrepreneurial
success with the launch of two limited companies, is a published author,
has medals at World Championship level, is on the board of the Duke of
Edinburgh's Award, has successfully rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean
amongst other expeditions, works for the BBC as a presenter and has an
MBE from the Queen.
Rowing the Atlantic
Debra was heralded "…Britain's latest sporting heroine."
(The Times) when the media worldwide went crazy for the story of the 5ft
5" young lady who carried on rowing alone when her then husband,
a 6ft 5" experienced oarsman, left the boat after developing an uncontrollable
fear of the ocean. Debra, who was loving life at sea in a 23 foot plywood
boat, saw no reason to stop and rowed on to become the youngest and only
the third woman in the world to have rowed an ocean solo.
The 3000 mile journey that was initially supposed to take 6 weeks took Debra a staggering 3 ½ months and saw her battling with 30 foot waves, force 8 squalls and sharks, while having to dodge tankers that came too close for comfort on more than a few occasions. Worse than all of this, however, was dealing with the loneliness and solitude, but focussing on one motto kept Debra going: "Choose your attitude" and she certainly did.
Debra and the Media
The media's response to Debra's Atlantic success was phenomenal, although
perhaps not surprising. She is young, highly intelligent, articulate and
very telegenic. Her ease in front of the camera, drive and enthusiasm
led to a number of presenting jobs. Most recently Debra has been fronting
a new interior design programme for BBC1 having completed three series
as the presenter of Big Strong Boys for BBC1 Daytime. She also works for
BBC Grandstand, was the subject of a documentary for BBC Extreme Lives
and presented a 1-hour ITV documentary on the Southampton Boat Show alongside
Top Gear's Vicky Butler-Henderson and GMTV's Ben Shepherd.
Debra - Motivational and after dinner speaker
Debra's overwhelming positivity and 'go for it' attitude is contagious,
while her modesty is endearing. She regularly delivers both motivational
presentations and after dinner speeches using her story to powerfully
but subtly draw out key business and personal lessons. Debra is an incredibly
natural communicator and often very emotive. She shares her highs and
lows, personal battles and victories to help illustrate in a very human
way what we are all capable of. She is not a motivational speaker reliant
on buzz words, hype and jargon. Her main themes are how to stay motivated,
being adaptable to change, overcoming obstacles, how to improve your team-working
through encouraging one another and how to choose the right attitude however
impossible the end goal may seem.
Click
here to see Debra's online video showreel.
The Opera Revue
Peter
Knapp is the man behind the Opera Revue. A professional opera singer,
lyric writer and translator of opera, the Revue is based on many of his
curious experiences in the opera world.
The show whisks through the history of opera in a collection on ancedotes and arias. Laugh at how it really is, the divas, the dramas, and the unforeseen disasters.
Listen to the loveliest singing as he joins with prima donna and pianist to bring you a sumptuous selection of operatic tunes.Prepare for Carmen to mingle amoungst you, join him in a rousing opera chorus and tap your feet to a jazz-piano version of the Ride of the Valkyries.
Excellent after dinner entertainment.
Sian Jones
A
freelance presenter, Sian Jones, is currently a newsreader and journalist
working for Channel 5, ITN and CNBC. She has also worked in news and sport
for SKY news, ITV and Bloomberg.
An experience portfoilio of corporate work, Sian has presented the main news and weather for Channel 5, and between 2000 and 2002, she was a newsreader on the ITN News Channel and presented the Nightly News summaries on ITV.
Sian also worked for 5 years in Hong Kong, gaining vast experience in corporate and live events, and is available to host corporate videos, host conferences and other live events.
Further Information
For further information or for a copy of our latest speaker booklet please phone one of our consultants whose expert advice will help you find the right personality for your event.
View All Artistes