The low mark was Chengdu, 2019. Monocle was in town to host a conference about making better cities. It was a great event, well, until the incident.

Over the years, I have learned to enjoy being on stage moderating talks, interviewing interesting people. And, with practice, I have discovered a few tricks to keep my nerves in check and panellists feeling that they have been heard. 

In Chengdu I remember feeling rather happy with myself as I prepared to wrap my final panel, just pausing to take a couple of questions from the audience before exiting. I scanned the room for raised hands and, several rows back, spotted someone waving. “Can we get the mic to the gentleman in the black coat,” I said, not realising the calamity that was about to hit.

The audience turned to see who the questioner was and, along with me, discovered as soon as they began to ask their question that this was not a man but a woman. A Chinese woman with a 1930s-style, slick, gentleman’s-style haircut. Think of a Chengdu Poirot. I mumbled something about forgetting my glasses but I was too far down the hole to hope for any escape.

Later, at the cocktail reception, I scanned the room to position myself as far away as possible from where the woman who had befuddled my gender radar was standing. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her start weaving through the crowd like a shark (a very nice lady shark). And there she was in front of me. “So, you think I look like a man?” she said. I began to splutter out an apology and she just started laughing.

“I dress like a man, so people make this mistake every day,” she said smiling. It turned out she worked for the government and we ended up having an interesting conversation, exchanged cards even.
After this you might be sceptical about taking any advice from me on public speaking, running a panel or being a moderator but even this incident has helped to shape my thoughts on the topic. Here are 15 things I have learned (and as you can see, not always the easy way).

1.
Before an event, especially in an auditorium you have never been to, insist on seeing the stage and get up there while the theatre or venue is empty. What will this feel like?

2.
Learn over time how you like to be mic-ed up. Madonna-style headsets and lapel mics will leave your hands free but my preference is for a hand-held mic. It’s comforting having a prop and you are more in charge.

3.
Seating. I am happy to do a fireside chat in a cosy armchair – it works for intimacy, the unfolding of personal stories. Bar stools are OK if you work in tech. Or are in a bar. I also like standing. The energy level rises. You can walk the stage, look at the audience and keep a whole room engaged.

4.
Notes. If you can go note naked, do. Plot out the arc of your conversation, your talk, in advance. Then memorise key words that will trigger a series of questions, thoughts. Sometimes I will have some notes in my pocket, an insurance policy, but you will soon learn to leave them untouched.

5.
Nerves are good, embrace them. The jitteriness you feel before you go on stage is just adrenaline. Think of it as the body’s way of making you sharp, alert.

6.
Oh and feel free to take a second. Get to the lectern, find your seat and then breathe. Wait until you feel in control. Then start.

7.
Yes, you will need a glass of water to hand. Dry mouth, pause, drink, restart.

8.
If your session is late in the day, don’t get too friendly with the wine waiter at lunch. Or the buffet bonanza. It will slow your thoughts down.

9.
The audience is not your enemy (well, not usually). People buy tickets to talks and give up their time to hear you speak because they are interested. People want to have a good time. Remember that.

10.
If you are interviewing someone or running a panel, make sure that you listen to the answers people give. It allows the conversation to have surprising turns. Don’t follow an inflexible script.

11.
Be funny. Be moved. Be engaged.

12.
Keep your questions crisp, sharp and to the point. “How did you feel?” “Was that a mistake?”
 
13.
Keep to time. You might think this is the best debate or discussion ever but people want coffee, desperately need a wee. If it’s billed at 30 minutes, stop on the dot.
 
14.
Time will fly. Use it wisely. And sometimes that includes leaving time for a conclusion. A good moderator can pull together the ideas generated by a big panel in a mental goodie bag for the audience to depart with.
 
15.
Take questions. But make sure you wear your glasses.

To read more from Andrew Tuck, click here. 

Just like Monocle, Nottingham-based clothiers Universal Works has a penchant for a particular French shoe (writes Jack Simpson). Its new collaboration with Paraboot reimagines the Thiers silhouette, a style first made in the 1960s that took its name from the French city. It’s a lighter model with a preppy, boat-shoe shape made from a supple leather and textured suede. And, if you feel like pushing the boat out, it has removable kiltie fringing for a bit of fun.

But Universal Works hasn’t stopped there – the outfitter is heading further south to set up its first ever French shop in Toulouse. The new space is a partnership between the UK brand and Jérôme Biaggi (pictured), the owner of renowned city menswear shop Mr Sunbell on Rue Temponières. It’s a smart way to expand while utilising some local know-how. 
universalworks.com; paraboot.com

We’ve put together a list of this month’s most exciting cultural releases, including a Beninese musician’s pop-star-packed album and an exhibition examining the work of Björk. Here are three to have on your radar.

Watch: ‘Hen’, György Pálfi 
Returning with a characteristically idiosyncratic premise, György Pálfi uses the story of a lone woman (Maria Diakopanayotou), a truly enchanting hen and a crumbling seaside restaurant to explore routine, isolation and quiet forms of dependency. Eschewing sentimentality, Hen observes behaviour with clinical patience, finding small shifts in tone and gesture. Pálfi balances surrealism with mundanity, allowing meaning to emerge gradually rather than thrusting it upon us.
‘Hen’ is released on 22 May

Read: ‘Night Train’, Xu Zechen, translated by Jeremy Tiang 
When Chen Munian’s father refuses to lend him the money for a trip, the young man makes up a story that he has murdered someone and needs the funds to flee. While the lie gets Munian what he wants, it takes on a life of its own. Xu Zechen’s vivid novel explores how we shape our futures and what it means to live a contented life.
‘Night Train’ is published on 12 May

Listen: ‘Hope!!’, Angélique Kidjo 
From its opening track, “Bando” (featuring Pharrell Williams and Quavo), Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo’s new album is full of bright, catchy songs. Other highlights starring top-tier collaborators include “Joy” with Davido and “Oyaya” with Nile Rodgers and Iza. An uplifting record to play all summer long, Hope!! is well deserving of its double exclamation marks.
‘Hope!!’ is out now

For Monocle’s new April issue we meet the creative forces behind three multi-brand retailers that are making it work in a world that increasingly favours homogenised shops. Here, we catch up with the team behind Vancouver’s Neighbour:

Saager Dilawri quit his fashion job in New York 15 years ago to fulfil a dream of opening his own menswear shop. At the age of 26, he moved to Vancouver, leased a courtyard space in the Gastown district and opened Neighbour. “Some friends gave me clothes to sell and then I sat there for two years in a fishbowl,” he says. “People walked past and saw a lonely, confused guy.”
 
It might have taken a while for Vancouverites to catch on but today Neighbour – which is run by Dilawri and his wife, Karyna Schultz – is a growing fashion empire, known for introducing some of the most in-demand, artisanal labels to the Canadian market.

Neighbour has since quadrupled in size, with standalone womenswear and home shops all within walking distance of each other. When a three-storey retail space became free next to the women’s boutique on West Cordova Street, Dilawri snapped it up. In the renovated space, a warm interior with wooden beams, exposed brick and matte aluminium details forms the setting for about 40 brands, many of which are exclusive to the boutique. Neighbour introduced Our Legacy and Norse Projects to Vancouver early on and stocks Japanese niche brands such as Maatee & Sons and Gorsch alongside local stalwarts such as Veilance. Dilawri gravitates towards unfussy clothes made with materials that improve with age. “I’m really into anything that feels better after a few years of wearing it,” he says. “It makes it less precious.”
 
Today, Neighbour ranks among Canada’s most influential fashion retailers. Does Dilawri have any wisdom to impart? “If you’re going to run an independent business, it has to come from within,” he says. “We are really into everything that we sell – and that makes it easy.”
shopneighbour.com

To read Dilawri’s shopping list, from a fetching cardigan to a double-collared shirt, click here.