If Mugabe goes, will Dr Sentamu get a new dog-collar?

Back in September 2008, Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, took off his dog collar during an interview with Andrew Marr, and then proceeded to cut it into small pieces to illustrate what Mugabe was doing to the identity of the Zimbabwean people, ending by promising not to wear it again until Mugabe was gone.

Eleven years later, news that time may at last be up for President Mugabe presumably means that the Archbishop of York may be about to start wearing his dog-collar - providing what no happens in Zimbabwe is something rather better than dictatorship by the Mugabes and their cronies in ZANU-PF.

If you've read any of my books or been on any of my courses, you'll know that one type of visual aid that tends to go down very well with audiences is the use of objects or props to make a point.

These two examples show that things as apparently unpromising as cutting a clerical collar up or brushing items of clothing can be very effective.

The first clip shows Dr Sentamu in action in a live TV interview and the second one, Barack Obama (then yet to win the Democrat nomination as their presidential candidate), dismisses criticism from Hillary Clinton's camp by brushing invisible dust from his jacket - and the more he brushed, the more the audience applauded.

You can see both these examples by clicking below - and more on objects as visual aids in my books Lend Me Your Ears: All You Need to Know about Making Speeches and Presentations, London: Vermilion, 2004 & New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, and Speech-making and Presentation Made Easy: Seven Essential Steps to Success, London: Vemilion, 2008.