| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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I hope you had a grand Easter.
I also hope you'll forgive a little self-indulgence on the football front. I've been a supporter of my local (at least local to where I was born) football team, Fulham, for over fifty years. Actually it's over sixty years since my dad first took me to a match, but that makes me sound too old.
Anyway, on Tuesday evening I had one of those "I was there" moments when they won promotion to the Premier League. I admit, along with around ten thousand other fans, I was part of a post-match pitch invasion. It was a wonderful example of spontaneous joy, and how much it means to everyone to be in a happy crowd. Naturally, we were all wearing masks. Or possibly not. |
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I'm looking for your help. Or to be more precise, a good friend of mine, Leon Bamforth, is looking for your help.
Leon uses a cave painting in his business. It's a properly licensed image.
However, he's been unable to verify the source of the image, despite using Google images, Tineye and asking lots of people.
Can you help? The image is purportedly from the Cave of Altamira in Spain, but there's no evidence it's actually there.
Any ideas are welcome, and would be hugely appreciated. Thank you! |
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On Thursday May 19th, at a central London location, there will be a maximum of six places available for a full-day of advice and tips on how to deliver sensational speeches.
The cost will be £275 plus VAT for the whole day, including all refreshments, lunch and a signed copy of The Exceptional Speaker, plus a digital copy to access from your phone.
Not only that, but the cost of the day is fully deductible from any future coaching from me. So if you'd like some one-to-one coaching as a follow-up, the day is completely free.
If you're interested, just reply to this email and I'll reserve a place for you. |
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| Another very popular interview replay this week.
I've been very impressed by a duo called the Mona Lisa Twins (real twins called Mona and Lisa). They are making a big splash online, using YouTube and Facebook to promote themselves. They are heavily influenced by 60s music, and persuaded 60's legend John Sebastian to play on their latest album.
Hear their story in the Media Coach Radio Show. |
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| There's also, of course, a song from the Mona Lisa Twins, featuring John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful. One for the teenagers, there. |
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| MediaMaestro, MediaMug of the Week |
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The MediaMaestro (again) is Sir David Attenborough.
He has been named a Champion of the Earth by the UN's Environment Programme.
The prestigious award recognises the 95-year-old's commitment to telling stories about the natural world and climate change.
Accepting the award, Sir David said the world must take action now to protect nature and the planet.
Sir David said that environmental success stories should give us hope that change is possible.
"Fifty years ago, whales were on the very edge of extinction worldwide. Then people got together and now there are more whales in the sea than any living human being has ever seen," he suggested.
"We know what the problems are and we know how to solve them. All we lack is unified action." |
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The MediaMug is St Blaise Town Council in Cornwall.
They have cut down over a thousand daffodils in a park, in case children might eat them (I'm not making that up).
A controversial new policy bans new bulbs at the Old Roselyon Play Area for the foreseeable future.
‘After recent play inspection training we were advised not to have daffodils in play areas as all parts of the daffodil can be poisonous’, a council spokesperson said.
I understand that the council is also removing branches from trees in case children climb them, and is fencing off small inclines in case children roll down them, though I may have made that up. |
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| Speaking Tip of the week - Double Denim |
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I was watching a documentary about Status Quo this week. Your parents or grandparents may have told you about them. They were a rock band well known for not using too many different chords, and a penchant for the double denim look.
Music dignitaries like Paul Weller, Liam Gallagher and Jeff Lynne heaped praise on the Quo, and all agreed they stuck to what they knew, and did it brilliantly well.
And that's the point. If you speak about what you know, and do it well, you will always have an audience, and always be busy.
Far too many speakers try to "diversify" by speaking about whatever trend is current, without any real understanding of it. That's not sustainable, and is also very hard work.
Decide what your lane is, and get better and better at it as you deliver more speeches. You don't have to wear double denim, but you do have to be brilliant at your craft. |
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| Media Tip of the week - Tell the truth |
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There's been a lot of chat recently about truth and lies.
Come to think of it, there always is. People lie for all sorts of reasons - panic, fear, or an attempt to defuse a situation. It is never a good idea, especially on the media.
There used to be a saying: "An elephant never forgets". I have no idea it that is true, though I'm sure sir David Attenborough will know. The media never forgets either.
Anything and everything that you ever said in an interview is recorded somewhere, and can be produced it you ever change your story, or it's discovered that you told a lie.
That doesn't mean you have to tell the whole truth, all the time. It does mean that whatever you say to a journalist has to be true to the best of your knowledge and must stand up to scrutiny.
If you have been misinformed, or you have been delivered poor information, you may have a defence. But if you are unsure about something, it is far better to say "I don't know".
So the rule is simple. Never, ever lie to a journalist. They will remember. |
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| Social Media Tip of the week - It's never private |
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We all know that posting something on a social network immediately makes it public.
However, some people think that if you're posting in a private group, or sending a private message to another individual, then you can say whatever you want and no-one else will ever know.
How wrong can you be?
There have been hundreds, if not thousands of examples of "private" messages becoming public, to the acute embarrassment of the sender. There are several issues. Firstly, the recipient of the message can simply decide to re-post it, unaware that it may cause you problems. Secondly, they may copy and save it to post at a later date if you ever fall out with them. Thirdly, it may be picked up by the bots on a social network if it is deemed to be offensive and/or obscene.
The digital nature of networks makes it impossible to keep things private.
So just like never lying to the media, never post anything that you wouldn't want to be made public.
In short, just be nice. |
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If you appear on the media, or plan to, then I can help you perform even better.
Media Coaching |
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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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