The Media Coach

Hi John,

There's a pub not far from me in East London, called "The Widow's Son", where a poignant ceremony is carried out every Good Friday.

The pub was reportedly built in 1848, on the site of a cottage where "the widow" lived. Her son, a sailor, was lost at sea at Easter, and every year since, a sailor has visited the pub to add a hot cross bun to the collection hanging from the ceiling. Alas, it's closed for repairs this Easter, but do pay it a visit when it re-opens.

A very Happy Easter too you, whether you are taking a break, eating chocolate, worshipping or working as usual (or any combination of the above).

We've just spent a few days getting a bit of sunshine in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.

As I often do when I'm away, I went out early in the morning for a run, usually along the beach. Sometimes the light as the sun came up was quite remarkable, and I had to break my run to take a photo. Well that's my excuse for stopping anyway.

We did virtually nothing for a week, and we both feel great as a result. But even taking one day as a break can work too. Or even an hour or two. Just about everyone I speak to says that they work too much and too long. Yet you can be just as productive (and probably more creative) by taking breaks, so I hope you get some quality downtime this weekend.

My radio guests this week are Northern Irish singer-songwriters and close friends Gareth Dunlop and Lee Rogers.

‘The Past Is Never Dead’ is their new single. It is the title song of the first ever official documentary about the renowned but now controversial Nobel Prize-winning Southern Gothic author William Faulkner (1897-1962), which premiered at the prestigious Oxford Film Festival in Mississippi on 3rd March. Faulkner grew up in Oxford and wrote some of his most successful novels in the town before relocating to Hollywood in the early 1930s.



Having both released long-awaited (and well received) second solo albums in the first half of 2022, Dunlop and Rogers promoted them together on US, UK, Irish and mainland European tours with their compatriot Foy Vance. They were subsequently commissioned to write a song for the documentary, which plays over the end credits and has a lyric littered with loaded thoughts set against a stripped-down acoustic backdrop.

It was a fascinating interview with two superb storytellers.

Listen to my conversation with them in the Media Coach Radio Show.

And of course there's that great song about William Faulkner too.

The MediaMugs this week are the promotional team at Netflix.

Somehow, an image of a young Liz Truss (remember her? - she used to be a Prime Minister) was used to promote a new documentary about the Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi.

Fans were quick to comment on the mistake, with many expressing confusion about why Truss featured in the campaign. Others saw the funny side, with tweets containing memes and jokes flooding Capaldi’s replies. Some even questioned whether the error was an intentional PR stunt, although it was a genuine mistake by Netflix.

Lewis Capaldi wrote: "ffs whoever is in charge of the billboards at Netflix needs firing"

Quite!

I'm a graduate ecologist, but it was a very long time ago.

One of the concepts I studied was called a plagioclimax. Don't worry, it's not rude.

It's the description of an environment that is prevented from reaching its full potential by the action of humans - for example when sand dunes are trampled so the dune grass dies.

So what does this have to do with speaking? I thought you'd ask.

It's about criticism, or as some people like to call it, feedback.

The trouble is, we tend to believe one negative comment over a hundred positive ones. We look for the one out of five on the "happy sheets" and obsess over it. We end up being held back from making our speeches really great by the actions of a few humans.

Don't let that happen to you. A few negative comments really don't matter. Just let them go. Don't let yourself be plagioclimaxed. OK, I made that up, but you know what I mean.

The sound bite is well understood by everyone these days - not just by media spokespeople and news editors.

Delivering a sound bite that gets great coverage takes some skill and an element of good fortune. Here are a few tips to help you create and deliver that viral phrase:

Used well, a sound bite can echo for days, weeks or even months. Give your sound bites the best chance of longevity

Alas, 82.3% of the posts on social media are negative. OK I made that up too, but I'm sure it's a significant number.

At times, even the best of us feel like posting a complaint. Maybe it's a long flight delay. Perhaps it's a long-delayed Amazon delivery that we've been waiting in for. Or we may have had to wait over half an hour to get a response on a telephone "help"line.

It's good to get things off your chest, and social media provides an ideal way to do it. But how do others see us as a result? It could be that they see someone who is always annoyed about the world.

You don't have to be like Polyanna. Not everything is wonderful all of the time. But being generally positive is good for you and your social media connections. So focus on the good, downplay the bad, and praise rather than blame.

And here's a tip if you feel strongly that you do want to have a rant about something. Write a post, complaining as much as you like, but don't post it yet. Wait for five minutes. See if you want to change the post. Edit it if you wish, but still don't post it. Give it five more minutes. Will you post it now? Almost certainly not.

Easter Eggs aren't just made of chocolate. Sometimes they appear in films.

If you're looking for a speaker coach, just get in touch. I now have all inclusive pricing.