The Speech is a life affirming new series, which aims to help individuals to overcome their fear of public speaking, and in this case it’s jack the lad 34 year old barman Shane Hughes from Dublin. Everyone who knows him sees him as an outgoing, confident guy and very few people know his deep dark secret; his mortal fear of public speaking. Shane has been with his fiancé Lisa Marie for 13 years and they share three children between them – and at last, they’re walking down the aisle. With the big day looming, Shane knows he has to conquer his fear and make his wife to be the proudest woman in the world. Shane’s fear started years ago in the school classroom where he used to do anything he could to avoid speaking out loud and even as an adult in his own home, he finds reading books to his children a struggle. Shane has a lot to learn in the art of public speaking; he must control his emotions, overcome his nerves, learn to address a room of people and perfect the craft of writing a killer speech all in just a few short weeks. Armed with determination to conquer his fear and his secret weapon in the form of celebrity speech coach, fashion stylist and TV presenter, Brendan Courtney, will he succeed? Brendan knows that Shane has a lot work to do before he has the confidence to stand up in packed room on his wedding day. Over the course of his training, Brendan sets tasks for Shane which escalate in intensity: from showing prospective buyers around a house in Dublin 4 to performing stand up comedy in front of an audience in Dublin’s International Comedy Club. Will the tips offered by comedian Aidan Bishop help him keep the audience on his side, or will his jokes fall flat? Shane’s skills are honed before he braces himself for the classic ting and tapping on the wine glass. The room will fall silent and hold their breath to see if his training has paid off and if he is able to overcome his nerves and keep his emotions in check so that he can d