| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Last Sunday was a hot one in London. Very hot. it was not the best place to be a polar bear.
Nevertheless, I spent five hours in a polar bear suit at the finish of the London 10k, greeting the finishers as they came across the line.
I think I may have been in a thousand photos, though no-one will know it was me. Most importantly, the run raised a huge sum of money for Cancer Research. |
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That was me being a volunteer. In four weeks time, I will be a runner, taking part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon, trying to raise funds for Cancer Research.
I am close to my fundraising target of five hundred pounds. Just a bit more to go. If you could spare even a fiver to get me toward my goal, I'd really appreciate it. |
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This month sees the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on New York. It's a city I love, and I saw both the devastation at ground zero after the event and the memorial that was built to the victims.
There will be a ceremony a few miles from me in London, at a memorial in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which is made of twisted metal from the twin towers. and is called "after 9/11"
It's in a quiet and rarely-visited part of the park and it will be a place of remembrance this weekend. As a park guide, I often take visitors there to have a moment of contemplation. |
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| Mike Weston, or "Adult Cinema" as he is known, is a musical genius.
His albums have echoes of a number of influences, from Pink Floyd to the Sex Pistols.
I was lucky enough to chat to him last year and it was one of the most commented-on interviews, so I'm playing it again.
You can hear our chat in theMedia Coach Radio Show
Naturally, there's a song of his in the show too. |
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The MediaMaestro is Sarah Harding, a singer who was in the successful girl band Girls Aloud, who passed away from cancer at only 39.
After Sarah revealed her cancer diagnosis she wrote her autobiography naming it Hear Me Out - after a song she wrote for Girls Aloud's second album.
A fan-led campaign in March got the 17-year-old song to number one in the iTunes charts.
She shot to fame in 2002 as a contestant on Popstars: The Rivals - an ITV talent show which aimed to find both a new girl band and boy band.
She made it to the final and gained the final spot in the group which became Girls Aloud - despite being the underdog according to bookmakers - alongside Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Cheryl Cole (then Tweedy).
How sad that she left us so soon. |
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The MediaMug is UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. He's got into a pickle talking about a sportsperson that he recently spoke to on Zoom.
Mr Williamson has been branded the most ignorant and incapable education secretary in the UK’s history after he appeared to confuse Marcus Rashford with the England rugby player Maro Itoje, who is also black.
The cabinet minister made the apparent gaffe in an interview with the Evening Standard.
He was asked by the newspaper if he had met Rashford, the Manchester United and England footballer who has led a campaign to extend free school meals.
“We met over Zoom and he seemed incredibly engaged, compassionate and charming but then he had to shoot off,” the education secretary said, adding: “I didn’t want to be the one that was holding him back from his training.”
Rashford’s spokesperson confirmed he had not met the education secretary on a Zoom call and that his requests to collaborate with those in power had often been rebuffed. “Maro and Marcus are two incredibly successful young black men, but there is little more they have in common,” they added. |
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| Speaking Tip - Go beyond the finish |
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When is your speech over? When you hit that last. well-rehearsed sound bite? At the end of the Q&A session? When the congratulations are over? Talk to any athlete and they will tell you that the finishing line is not the point they aim for. Instead, they aim for ten metres beyond the finish, so that they are still at full speed crossing the line. So it is with speeches.
In my opinion, your speech is only over when you're well away from your audience. If you have intrigued or touched a member of your audience, they may contact you say so, as well as asking for clarification or more information. Give them your time, since it's part of what you are there for. You may find that you are asked to deliver another speech, or consulting, as a result of being available.
Giving a speech can be draining, and it may be tempting to simply head backstage, or go offline, and find a cold beverage. Try to resist the temptation until you have answered any follow-up questions. You should pay careful attention to any feedback you receive, since it can help you to further improve your speeches. For example, if several people say that they didn't understand a section, don't simply explain it to them, but resolve to change the way you present it in future.
I find it useful to record any feedback. This is not just for testimonials (though they are extremely valuable), but also to capture any valuable insights that you may forget.
It's not over when you take a bow. Go beyond the finish, and you will benefit both yourself and your audience. |
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| Media Tip - Inspired by true events |
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It seems that a lot of films (or movies if you prefer) have a tagline "inspired by true events". In most cases, this means that they are a load of complete rubbish, thrown together by a screenwriter who once read a story in a newspaper about a person who claimed to been abducted by aliens. To put it another way, it's a sign of a lack of true creativity.
So what has this got to do with the media? Well, it's about telling the truth. When you are interviewed by a reporter, you need to tell the truth, all the time. You should never ever guess, let alone tell untruths. Of course, you're a trustworthy soul, and I know you would never lie on air. The trap is when a reporter asks you a question like "So what do you think may have happened to cause this?" Never speculate. It's a prime rule of media management.
There are many stories of public figures being undone for knowingly giving false versions of events. The truth always comes out, as former US Presidential hopeful John Edwards is well aware. The only thing to do, when faced with a difficult truth, is to take advice from Bill Clinton's former spin doctor Lanny Davis, who wrote a book called "Tell it early, Tell it all, Tell it yourself". |
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| Social Media Tip - William Morris and social media |
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The great Victorian designer William Morris lived just a mile or two away from me in East London. His house, now a museum is a shrine to his genius. One of his quotes is in large letters on the wall: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
So what's that got to do with social media? Everything. When you write a post, share an article, or re-post a video, consider the words of William Morris. Is it useful or beautiful? Rarely, it may be both. Alas, all too often, people share content which is neither.
It takes just a moment to share content. It takes only another moment to think why you're doing it. If you become known as someone who only shares content that is useful, or makes people feel good, you will gain followers and influence. On the other hand, if you share motivational quotes, complaints about your experience with businesses or rants about the unfairness of the world in general, people will turn away.
Similarly, when you sit down to write a blog post or an article, consider whether you are trying to inform or entertain. If neither option springs to mind, do something else instead. |
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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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