A CHEPSTOW man who battled to overcome his fear of public speaking was one of the runners-up in a national competition.

Solicitor Stephen Dance joined Newport Speakers Club two years ago to tackle the problem as the thought of presentations used to make him feel ill.

But after excelling at the discipline, the 54-year-old made it to the national finals of the Association of Speakers Clubs (ASC) competition last Friday in Cardiff.

Finalists were given the topic ‘raising the bar’ and had to talk about it for three minutes.

Mr Dance focused on standards in education and how it has changed over the years.

He was one of five runnersup.

President of Newport Speakers Club Nigel Speedy said he was proud of how far Mr Dance had come.

“He did so well. The club has only been going two years, and to have someone go to the national finals is fantastic, especially as he used to be scared to death of public speaking,” he said.

The club meets on the first and third Wednesday of every month at the Hilton in Newport, at 7.15pm.

For more details see www.newportspeakersclub.org.uk.