SHE began her working life as a teacher, but a chance telephone call more than 40 years ago put veteran broadcaster Nell Bassett-Harris on a completely different career path.

That one call led to a stint presenting a children's programme on local radio and before long the rich yet clear tones of 'Auntie Nell' were being heard across the water in the US. A glittering career spanning 35 years in the cut-throat New York media world followed before Mrs. Bassett-Harris decided it was time to come home.

Now a regular presenter on VSB 1450AM GOLD, the mother of three is reverting to her first love, teaching. But it's not the island's youth who will benefit from Mrs. Bassett-Harris's expertise. While in the US Mrs. Bassett-Harris trained company executives, corporations and politicians in the art of public speaking.

Now back home, the voice coach believes Bermuda's company executives and politicians need some help in getting their message across. She met with reporter GARETH FINIGHAN.

Q: Did you always speak clearly or was it something you learned later in life?

A: I was taught as a child. We had a father who was very strict about language. Around the dinner table everyone had to say what they had done that week or that day. There were six children and every one of us had to relate what we did that day. In a way that was like public speaking, with eight of us around the table. We would have to relate what we did.

Because he believed in it. He believed in everyone speaking properly. He was a shipwright but he also worked in the hotels and he just thought it was very important, whatever you do and wherever you go you're going to have to be able to speak clearly and say what you mean and say it in an articulate way. We were very cognisant of that from an early age, every one of us. The funny thing is, even if our parents weren't there, we'd be talking around the table and correcting each other. I think yes, they have. We have always had our Bermudian way of speaking but I listen to children being interviewed today and it's very distressing to me because I used to teach as well. It has deteriorated somewhat and it seems that parents ? and even some teachers ? are not as cognisant of seeing that their children speak correctly.

Sometimes I wish I could go to a school and teach them but I don't seem to have the time. Some of the teachers are really, really trying to make a difference today because they're aware of what has happened to speech in Bermuda.

Q: But why do you think it has declined?

A: I think it's a combination of a lot of things, including radio and television. It's a cross between an American sound and a Bermudian sound and they don't quite get it right. I know a lot of teachers and they are really trying but there's so much to do and I don't quite know what the answer is. Perhaps we should have a speech therapist in the schools.

Well, it's mainly because, when I'm at the radio station listening to the House of Assembly and Senate debates I think "Oh my Lord". We have to listen to the debates to get news stories but it's just painful to listen to these men and women. Not all of them, but many of them just speak so badly. The content is there but they're so indistinguishable that you really can't understand some of them.Listening to the broadcast debates in the House and Senate is sometimes painful. Words are poorly articulated so that they are difficult to understand. Words are also interspersed with 'ums' and 'ers' and 'ahs', making it excruciating for the listener.

Sentences begin with one topic and end in a different topic, with additional topics thrown into the middle. That is my greatest heartache ? that some of our politicians do not speak properly. There are too many of them who speak poorly. The bad speakers do not take the time to form words correctly and so the word is lost.

I'm even worried about the Premier who says 'um' and 'ah' a lot. When he's giving a speech he's "um, um, ah, um um'. It pains me and I just think it's lazy. Dr. Brown is great. He can just stand there and deliver on anything. And if he fudges, so what, you don't know he's fudging because he's so articulate and so strong.

Q: But could it not just be a question of nerves for some of our politicians?

A: Oh I don't think it's nerves, I think they all want to speak and all want to be heard. But some just don't take the time to form the words distinctly. It's really disconcerting. Some of them have called me to try to make a difference in the way they're speaking but there are so many others ? who I refuse to name. They're coming to me and are trying but so many of the ones who should are not coming.

Not at all. It's businessmen and women, CEOs. Oh my goodness, I can't watch the news because it's just too painful sometimes when you have CEOs who are running major companies talking so badly. It really is appalling to me, it's disgusting really and I don't know why they don't take the time to get some help. In Bermuda not long but I used to train people in the United States. I always had classes and people used to come in droves, from the Wella Corporation, the New Jersey Transit Authority. I would have ten people in a class and they would listen to each other and try to better themselves. I guess I got pretty good at it.

The way I do it is I ask them who they are and what they do and with that I can make notes and understand where they're coming from and what their weaknesses are. It's amazing to see the results at the end and very rewarding.

Q: But some people will say the important thing is what you say rather than how you say it. I take it you disagree with that?

A: Both are important. A person can have all the facts down but their delivery is so poor that people aren't listening ? it's boring. People turn their thoughts to other things whereas a person who is very articulate and well-spoken will capture the audience's attention. It works both ways. A speaker will have your attention because they're charismatic.

Public speaking is one of the most disturbing things to do. It can be even more frightening than death in a way ? to get up on that stage and deliver a speech. But there are ways of combating the fear and I teach how to combat that.

You're on your way up to the stage and what do you do? You have to breathe properly and as you get on the stage you hold the podium. There are all kinds of perks that get you over the beginning. Then you take a deep breath and deliver. I had a woman from New Jersey Transit who was wonderful in the office, everybody loved her. Then she had to make a speech and she couldn't get two words out together without shaking. Her mouth was dry and she finally told the audience she was having great difficulty getting her words out and asked them for a moment.

She took a breath and starting speaking very slowly and pictured herself in the office, where she was marvellous, and then she was up and running. But it took her the longest time to begin and it's getting over that initial fear. There's nervousness and there's anxiousness. Nerves can totally debilitate you. You can't move. You're dead in the water and that's an awful feeling.

Q: Once you get over the nerves, what other tricks can you learn to improve your delivery?

A: There's something called voice tunes. As a singer sings in highs and lows, so too must a speaker speak in voice tunes. Not a sing-song but just emphasising the right words. In my classes I give a piece to read called 'The Actor'.

I think anyone who goes on stage to speak is an actor. You have to come out of yourself and speak in voice tunes. On the stage all eyes are on you and most people who are listening to you are there to bring you down ? unless you can bring them with you. Once you put them at their ease they will come with you. Audiences will be uncomfortable until you put them at their ease. I try and diffuse an audience before I speak. I tell them that I'm going to grab their attention and keep it.

Q: You've had a very varied and interesting career in broadcasting. How did you get into it?

A: Actually it started off as a dare. I taught Physical Education at Central School and Sandys Secondary ? now known as Middle School ? and I had some students getting ready for a festival and I invited them to my house on the Saturday morning to practise.

We were rehearsing and I then said that we should take a break and listen to the radio. I brought the radio outside and all we could hear was music. I was so disgusted I called ZBM and said that I could only hear music and that wasn't the way to entertain kids in Bermuda.

Gordon Robinson then asked if I could do any better to come on down. I told my family and my sister said to go down. I went down that Saturday morning and Gordon Robinson said: "Let's see how you do. Are you afraid of microphones? This is the children's hour and you have to talk all the time." I said that it was no problem, we went into the studio and I read a script or two. That's how I started doing which I did for six years. I then went on to do which was an interview programme with guests and stars who came down here.

Q: From there, how did you break into American radio?

A: In 1966 a man from WNEW Radio in New York called me. Someone had sent him a tape of me and he said he wanted me for a new radio station WNEW-FM. A woman who I had just interviewed, Geraldine Santangelo, a lawyer from Brooklyn, told me that I had to take the job.

Geraldine came with me to a luncheon for all the women of WNEW-FM and everyone had to speak. When it was my turn I couldn't wait to get up there and speak to the audience. It was crammed with people from the agencies and different radio stations and I loved it because I had an audience ? I had a ball.

I worked for WNEW for a number of years before going to another radio station in Long Island. Then I got a call from NBC saying, 'You should be with us. Come to NBC.' For ten years I produced ten public affairs shows every week and I was also on the air with shows such as . You name the kind of programme, I had it on the air. NBC was a marvellous place for me. I learnt so much. It was while I was with NBC that I began training people in public speaking.

Q: And then your career took off in a totally different direction didn't it?

A: The Arts Center of New Jersey was looking for a director and I just love art. They invited me over for an interview and I got the job. I did that for a number of years and it was a wonderful experience ? I loved it ? but then, in 2001, I decided I wanted to come home.

As soon as I came home VSB asked me to come and be on the air. I also married my love, Kenny Harris, who is also at VSB. I had known him at ZBM and in all those years in between we always kept in touch and when I came back home we were married. That's it in a nutshell really.

For further information on Mrs. Bassett-Harris's spoken word classes, contact her on 297 3536 or e-mail kennyh