| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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At Euston station this week, I went to buy a coffee and croissant before my train to Birmingham. Here's the conversation:
Me: A croissant and black coffee please.
Barrista: Regular or Large coffee?
Me: Large please
Barrista: We only have Regular
Me: So why did you ask me?
Barrista: It's part of our training.
I dropped a line to the customer service department of the company concerned. I wasn't annoyed, I just wanted to offer them some feedback. I received an automated reply, telling me that my email would be responded to in "Fifteen working days". I'll let you know if I ever get a reply from a real person. |
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I was up in Birmingham for an interview to join The Commonwealth Collective, which is neither an indie band nor a pressure group. It's the name for the volunteers at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.
If you're a regular reader, you'll know I'm a serial volunteer at sporting events. It's both a way of helping people, and having a lot of fun too.
If you're interested in volunteering (alas you're too late for the Commonwealth Games, but the Paris Olympics are in 2024), then you might take a look at The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) |
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| A reminder of my one-to-one speaker coaching programme for a limited number of speakers who wish to grow their speaker business. It is only for speakers who wish to make a full-time or part-time income from speaking, and it is suitable for speakers anywhere in the world. All programmes provide customised coaching around all aspects of a speaking business, including fees, getting bookings, working with bureaus, creating websites and show-reels, marketing strategies and of course creating killer keynote speeches. The programme starts in January 2022. Places can be reserved now. |
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| Morgan Visconti is my second interviewee from the same family in a matter of weeks. I spoke to his sister, Jessica Lee Morgan a short while ago, and was keen to interview Morgan too.
He is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and singer as well as a recording engineer and arranger.
A London native, Morgan moved to New York at 17 and while gigging with various NYC bands he gained experience in recording studios as assistant engineer, programmer and session musician. Throughout his early 20′s, Morgan wrote numerous scores for TV commercials, finally becoming a co-founder of the Human label in 2001.
In 2010 Morgan co-wrote and produced the album “"You Look Familiar" with his mother Mary Hopkin, and along with his father, Tony, co-produced an album called "I Am Not" by his sister Jessica.
In 2012 Morgan and his father, Tony released a single under the banner,T.Rex - Regeneration titled "Childlike Men", which Morgan reconstructed using 100% sounds and performances from original T. Rex multi track tapes.
You can hear our chat in theMedia Coach Radio Show |
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The MediaMaestro goes to a town for the first time - Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.
The council has received about £100,000 in the past six months as a result of a town being used for the filming of major TV series.
Hemel Hempstead has been the setting for shows including ITV's Grantchester and two Netflix series - Ricky Gervais' After Life and Masters of the Air.
The council has now employed an officer to facilitate filming projects and work with businesses to co-ordinate activities and develop filming protocols to address any local concerns.
"We want to demonstrate that Dacorum is a filming-positive council," a spokesman said.
I recall that many years ago, when I was in my twenties, I had a few nights out in Hemel. I'm glad they weren't filmed. |
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The MediaMug goes to Bath and North East Somerset Council.
David Knight was baffled when he received a fine for driving in a bus lane in Bath – about 120 miles away from his home.
But the builder and his wife, Paula, who live in Dorking, Surrey, laughed when they examined the photographic evidence of their alleged infraction and saw a woman with the word “Knitter” on her T-shirt, which the computer had mixed up with Knight’s registration plate, KN19TER, the Daily Mail reported.
The penalty charge notice, issued by the Council, includes a CCTV photo of Pulteney Bridge in Bath, where the alleged contravention took place.
A second photo shows an image of a woman wearing a protective mask, handbag over her shoulder and T-shirt declaring “Knitter”.
The penalty charge notice has been cancelled. There's no indication of what happened to the woman in the bus lane. |
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| Speaking Tip - The Decisive Moment |
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As well as being a speaker, I also dabble in photography. My father was a professional photographer, and I spent much of my childhood at his elbow in a darkroom, illuminated only by a Wratten OB orange safelight, my fingers stained yellow by the stop bath, inhaling the pungent smell of fixer. The joy of seeing an image slowly appear on photographic paper in the developer is something that digital photography cannot offer.
I've always admired great photographers, including Eve Arnold, Ansel Adams, Margaret Bourke-White and Richard Avedon. My real hero was the late Henri Cartier-Bresson. I never met him, but a few years ago I was lucky enough to spend time with one of his contemporaries at Magnum photography, Elliott Erwitt. I asked Elliott whether Cartier-Bresson ever gave him advice. He smiled and said "Yes Alan, and I now pass that advice on to you. Learn the skills of your trade, and then seize the moment". That's what great speaking is about too.
Cartier-Bresson is credited with the photographic concept of "the decisive moment". He never cropped his images, and relied simply on spotting the right time to press the shutter so that everything was perfectly in place and perfectly framed. When he published his first book of images, he took the title from the writings of the 17th century Cardinal de Retz: "Il n'y a rien dans ce monde qui n'ait un moment decisif" ("There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment").
I believe that when a speaker appears in front of an audience, a decisive moment occurs. That combination of people, place and time has never happened before, and will never happen again, and it is up to the speaker to make it memorable and significant. That's why no two speeches are ever the same. That's why a speech created with no particular audience in mind will lack impact. It is only by the delivery of a performance tailored to the expected audience, combined with the ability to react to the unique moment, that exceptional speeches are delivered.
Next time you speak, consider how your preparation and on-stage reactions combine to create a decisive moment for your audience. |
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| Media Tip - Plan your answers |
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Preparation is the key to handling questions in media interviews. It is not possible to anticipate every possible question, but if you have planned properly, then nothing will catch you out.
In order to prepare, you should first consider the source of the questions. Will they be put to you by a single interviewer, by a studio audience, or by callers on a phone-in show? Also consider the type of programme, and who it is aimed at. If you are talking to a media professional, they will be asking the sort of questions that their viewers and listeners would like to put to you. Very often, your interview will have been trailed for several hours beforehand, and questions will have been submitted in advance. You need to understand the concerns of your audience so that your answers are relevant to them.
Your friends and colleagues will be able to help you draw up a list of questions. You should make sure that you ask them "If you were the interviewer, what would you ask me that I might not be able to answer?" Tell them not to hold back, or be kind to you. You want to hear the most difficult question that might arise. Believe me, they will be able to come up with some, since they know exactly which skeletons are in which cupboards. Of course, you now need them to do a little more, which is to help you come up with good answers.
If you know that you can cope with the worst questions, you will be confident, relaxed and more focused.
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| Social Media Tip - Twitter rocks! |
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OK, I'm a bit of an old muso, and I often listen to Spotify playlists from the 1970s while writing this ezine. I've just discussed the similarities between Twitter and rock music with a pal. Here are my thoughts:
1) Strong rhythm There's no missing the beat in rock music. Twitter has a strong pulse too. There are ebbs and flows in the trending subjects, but some things remain constant. Being aware of the Twitter beat helps you to post your messages so that they follow the flow of conversation, and generate interest.
2) Simple singable lines No rock song choruses are that complex. A festival crowd holding up their lighters (sorry, smartphones) wants a simple line to sing. Twitter, by its very nature, is brief. But don't feel you have to use the full number of characters. Limiting yourself to a few less increases the chance of being re-tweeted, and keeping it even shorter is a handy skill.
3) Virtuosos From Hendrix to Slash, there's always a real performer in a rock band. There are superstars on Twitter too, whether they're celebs like Katy Perry or technical experts like Pete Cashmore and Guy Kawasaki. Despite the fact they have millions of followers, it's worth keeping an eye on what they say and do (especially the technical specialists), since it can help you to talk about popular issues, and generate interest yourself. |
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| Not many people know about the collaboration between ABBA and Van Halen. But now you do. |
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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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