Speaking

I'm not frightened of speaking in public. In fact, I like doing it very much. Here are some talks I have given over the years.

I am available to speak anywhere at any time, provided that reasonable expenses are paid and I don't have to be away from work for too long (an honorarium may be negotiated in that case). My preferred topic at present is alternative medicine and quackery, but I can whip up a speech on other topics if needed.

• Awards Presentation – Information Technology – North Sydney College of TAFE (Australian Computer Society, Crows Nest, March 1998)
• Making Enemies on the Net (Australian Computer Society, Sydney, October 1999)
• Y2K – Is there still time to panic? (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Adelaide, November 1999)
• Y2K – What went wrong? (Australian Skeptics Dinner, Chatswood, February 2000)
• How many Ps in Internet Marketing? (SWOP, Penrith, April 2000)
• Awards Presentation – Information Technology - Richmond College of TAFE (Australian Computer Society, Richmond, May 2001)
• Anti-vaccination liars (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Brisbane, November 2001)
• A Different Internet Security Problem – harassment, stalking and identity theft (Australian Computer Society, Parramatta, September 2002)
• Quackery (Australian Skeptics Dinner, Chatswood, February 2003)
• Dangerous Practitioners Supplementary, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Canberra, July 2003)
• Conspiracy Theories (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Canberra, July 2003)
• Quackery Down Under (The Amazing Meeting, Las Vegas, January 2004)
• Watch out, doctors, the quacks are after your patients! (Dinner speech to doctors and medical students, Little Bay, Sydney, March 2004)
• Don't hold your breath waiting for change (Susan Kronheim Memorial Lecture at the 2004 Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society Annual Scientific Meeting, Sydney, May 2004)
• You could just die laughing (1) (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Sydney, December 2004)
• You could just die laughing (2) (Annual Conference, Manly Warringah Division of General Practice, The Entrance, December 2004)
• Internet Scams – old scams with a fresh new look. (Victoria Skeptics, Melbourne, April 2005)
  • Every generation believes that it has invented everything, and the Internet generation is no exception. Scams like the Nigerian letters, snake oil sales, pyramid schemes, credit card fraud and even phishing (using false documents to get sensitive information) have been around for decades, if not centuries. The Internet just makes it easier for some scamsters to go about their business. On the other hand, it has also made it easier to expose some of them. This talk will be about how to identify scams, how to fight them, and how to laugh at how transparent some of them are.
• Herbal Remedies: History, Heresy and Hereafter. (Canberra Skeptics, National Museums of Australia, Canberra, July 2005)
  • A museum dedicated to the history of Australia might seem like a strange place to discuss herbal and natural medicines, but the Australia we know today only exists because of a natural medicine. The entire 207 years of the development of modern Australia is contingent upon one natural treatment for one disease. The use of natural medicines probably predates even the evolution of modern man (cats can only digest meat, which is why they eat grass to clean their insides out when they are sick). This talk will look at some of the myths about herbal medicine - that a long history of use proves efficacy, that natural is always better - and also how it integrates with, competes with and even conflicts with the reality of medical science.
• Herbal remedies – the good, the bad and the ugly. (University of the Third Age, Canberra, July 2005)
• Multi-level Marketing – Financial scams and cult-like behaviour (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Bond University, August 2005)
• The most difficult speech I have ever made (Funeral, Sydney, April 2007)
• The nature of skepticism (Western Sydney Freethinkers, Penrith, September 2009)
• Getting risk wrong (Western Sydney Freethinkers, Penrith, June 2010)
• Conspiracy theories (Western Sydney Freethinkers, Penrith, November 2010)
• Is alternative medicine rational? (NSW Rationalist Society, Sydney, November 2010)
• Fraud and Critical Thinking (Humanist House Open Forum, Chippendale, January 2011)
• Communicating science and skepticism (BarCamp, Canberra, March 2011)
• Keeping your skepticism out of court (SkeptiCamp, Sydney, April 2011)
• Have we outgrown religion? (Interfaith Week, Sydney University, October 2011)
• Do be a dick (SkeptiCamp, Melbourne, November 2011)
• Experimenting on skeptics (SkeptiCamp, Sydney, May 2012)
• The end of the world. Really? (Canberra Skeptics, Canberra, December 2012)
• Everything old is new again (BarCamp, Canberra, March 2013)
• The hate mail collection (SkeptiCamp, Sydney, October 2013)
• A brand-new conspiracy (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Canberra, November 2013)
• Bitcoin Bollocks (Skeptics in the Pub, Sydney, March 2014)
• Philosophical skepticism and what skeptics really do (A talk given to the philosophical discussion group Philo Agora, Dulwich Hill, Sydney, March 2014)
• Philosophy and Science (SkeptiCamp, Brisbane, July 2014)
• Advice for clever schoolkids (Science Teachers Association NSW Annual Awards, Wollongong, October 2014)
• Skeptical Activism? A real thing or just talking to the choir? (SkeptiCamp, Sydney, May 2015)
• History lesson for smart kids (Science Teachers Association NSW Annual Awards, Wollongong, November 2015)
• Is Philosophy Dead? (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Melbourne, November 2016)
• Go! Learn things! (Science Teachers Association NSW Annual Awards, Wollongong, November 2017)
• Book Learning (Science Teachers Association NSW Annual Awards, Wollongong, October 2018)
• Prove all things (Science Teachers Association NSW Annual Awards, Wollongong, November 2019)
• What A Time To Be Alive! (Australian Skeptics National Convention, Canberra, December 2022)

The Radio Ratbags podcast is in hiatus. It might be back one day.