| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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A bit of a watery theme this week.
According to weather experts, we had a month's rainfall in an hour here in London on Sunday. Unsurprisingly, the drains failed to cope, and we found our garden - and our garden office - under a couple of feet of water.
(That's a picture taken just down the road from us)
We've spent the last few days extracting a sodden and ruined carpet, and trying to dry out the floor and the furniture. It's nothing compared to the dreadful floods that others have experienced, but removing the entire contents of an office that's been in use for almost 20 years, and bringing it up to our house through a flooded garden during a massive thunderstorm was "interesting".
I hope you're staying dry! |
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And a very well done to all the Olympic medallists, including Tom Daley and Matty Lee who won the gold medal in a nerve-filled men's synchronised 10m platform event.
Tom has a diving school in Olympic Park, just up the road from here, and he is often out and about in the park with his husband and son. He's always up for a selfie and a chat, and is a most charming man. I'm delighted that he's finally got a gold medal around his neck.
However, a special shout out to Jack Beaumont (right in the picture), who along with Harry Leask, Angus Groom and Tom Barras, won the silver medal in the men's quadruple sculls.
I've known Jack's mother Sarah for many years, and I remember him being born 27 years ago. Having watched his progress over the years as an international rower, I know how proud his mum is right now, along with all the other mums, dads and families watching their relatives give of their very best. |
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| There are still places on my annual speaker programme in September. Two to be exact. If you want to give a huge boost to your speaking career, with one-to-one coaching from me every month for a year at an astonishingly reasonable cost, drop me a line at alan@mediacoach.co.uk or call me on 07986 852621. |
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| My guests today are a fine songwriting duo known as Serious Child and Andy Ruddy(you'll have to listen to find out more).
They are two songwriters from different generations and musical backgrounds who set out to explore what brings people together in modern acoustic music.
We had a wonderful conversation, when we talked about far more than the weather.
Listen to our interview in theMedia Coach Radio Show
And there's obviously the song - talk about the weather - from Serious Child and Andy Ruddy.
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The MediaMaestro is radio presenter Jono Coleman, who passed away last week.
Jono was born in Australia, where he began his media career. After moving to the UK, he worked with Russell Williams on Virgin Radio's Russ and Jono show in the mid-1990s and was later heard on Heart and BBC radio.
Australian comedian Adam Hills said Coleman was one of his "early radio heroes, and one of the nicest people I ever met".
Presenter Jeremy Vine described Coleman as a "giant of radio".
Author Kathy Lette, a friend and neighbour of the DJ in London, said he "lit up our days with love and laughter".
He was a great presenter, and will be much missed by his devoted family and friends. |
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The MediaMug is Larmers Butchers, a third-generation family butcher run by father and son Eugene and Stephen Larmer in County Monaghan
They've launched a new type of sausage, made with Kinder Bueno bars, which are a rich combination of chocolate and hazelnut (I'm not making this up).
They launched it on their Facebook page, where it immediately attracted attention, not all of it positive.
A spokesperson from Larmers Butchers justified their peculiar sausage recipe by explaining they always liked to play around with "new unique flavours".
The spokesperson said "We re-run our usual, most popular flavours every week and also have two speciality flavours that we change every week. This just happened to be the one that blew up!”
Whatever next? Marmite? Oh hang on a minute, I might buy those.... |
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| Speaking Tip - Speak like a pro |
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If you want to speak like a professional, there are a few things to remember. Here are ten things that professional speakers do.
Only accept the right events. Don't put yourself forward to deliver a speech outside your area of expertise. Research, research, research. However much you think you know, it's only a fraction of the information on your topic. Keep finding out more. Tailor every speech. Make changes to your speech to make it fit each audience, every time. Deliver what the organiser asks for. Make sure you know what the organiser wants, and supply it exactly. Speak without notes. It's not as hard as it looks. Tell personal stories. Use your experiences to make points, It's much more powerful than "standard" stories. Make a real connection. Don't just speak to an audience, speak with them. Go the distance. Deliver for the time you promised, not more or less. Stay around at the end. People will want to ask you questions, Respect their requests, and be available. Follow up. It's not just a 40 minute speech any more.
Make sure your next speech is more professional than your last. |
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| Media Tip - Five media myths |
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There are a lot of misconceptions about the media. Here are five:
1) I should ring journalists to make sure they have received my press release, and see if they are going to use it. Er...No. This is the first job given to a press office trainee to make them realise that it is not a good idea. Never pester a journalist about press releases. They'll contact you if they want more information.
2) I should ignore freelance journalists - they move around too much. No again. Freelance journalists should be cultivated, because they move around. They work for more journals and broadcasters, are more experienced, and likely to be career professionals. Aim at developing a long-term relationship with them.
3) I need to wine and dine editors. That's fine if you just want a chat and a nice meal out. Editors don't write copy. If you want to entertain anybody, try some of the poorly-paid journalists. But don't expect to receive anything in return, and don't ask for any favours. See it as part of building a relationship.
4) The press are out to get me. Probably not. Journalists rarely have vendettas against individuals or companies. It doesn't mean you will always get an easy time, but there isn't any hidden agenda.
5) It's only ever bad news. That tends to dominate coverage, but a good news story - more jobs, a local success, unusual exports - will always be in demand. |
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| Social Media Tip - Be a social media Spielberg |
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A few years ago, at the World Para Athletics Championships, I was creating social media video content for the International Paralympic Committee Twitter, Facebook and YouTube feeds. Some of the material was from the live broadcast feed, and some we shot ourselves. I jotted down a few guidelines that I still use.
1) Grab attention quickly even in a 30-second video, you need to get to the action, or to the point, fast.
2) Trim the clip Use an editing app or function to tidy up the start and end of each clip. It takes only a few seconds and makes a big difference.
3) Get the light right Shoot in a well-lit area whenever you can, since dim light can make video look grainy. Try to avoid moving from bright light to dim light since phone cameras take a while to adjust.
4) Use a mic An external mic can make a huge difference to the audio quality.
5) Use a tripod It's hard to hold a camera steady, so use a tripod whenever you can. I use a Joby GorillaPod, which attaches anywhere.
6) Plan before you shoot Knowing what you want to achieve in advance will make a much better video, even if it's a single scene.
7) Shoot in landscape mode Yes, I know you know that, but I'm just making sure.
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| The information in this ezine may be freely re-used in any online or offline publication, provided it is accompanied by the following credit line - "This information was written by Alan Stevens, and originally appeared in "The MediaCoach", his free weekly ezine, available at www.mediacoach.co.uk." |
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