Australian environmental strategist Phillip Lawrence has something new to talk about apart from eco-sensitive forestry… talking. Or more precisely, an iPhone app about talking.

And not surprisingly, it’s getting talked about. Lawrence’s SpeakLikeaPro app has been the buzz of social media this week, and reached the number nine business app slot on iTunes.

After 20 years involved with the pulp and paper industry, Lawrence – a frequent speaker at graphic arts industry events – left fulltime work in 2007 to concentrate on study.

But the interest in public speaking has led to helping others be better public and business speakers: SpeaklikeAPro is the result of a cooperation with voice coaches Gabrielle Rogers – who trained at the National Academy of Arts in Sydney – and Gerry Sont,

“It got to number nine in business apps list two days after it was released,” he says. “Very exciting.”

A director of Eco Logical Strategies – and previously national sustainability manager for paper maker Stora Enso – he has been focussing on the global politics and sub-politics of the forestry sector, and its associated environmental issues. “My main interest is in Indonesia, because it is such a delicate environment, but it also has other critical issues that environmentalist –many who haven't been to Indonesia – either chose to ignore or just do not understand.

“The country has approximately 240 million people, projected to be 300 million by 2050, it is more densely populated than either India or China.”

He says that while the Indonesian forestry sector has to be more environmentally responsible, it needs international help to do so. They need to wind back the institutions that were put in place during the last decade of Suharto's rule, a period when forests were ruthlessly exploited.

“Support is required, not aggressive product boycotts and protests. There have been some significant changes over the past half decade, but the benefits take time to develop.”

• For more about SpeakLikeaPro, visit www.speaklikeapro.co.nz