The Media Coach

Hi John,

I'm writing my latest book, "Avoiding the Pins" which Is unsurprisingly about reputation management, my speaking topic for the past 20 years.

Case studies of reputation disasters are easy to find - Ratner, BP, Volkswagen, United Airlines etc.

Case studies of stellar reputations are fewer. I have around half a dozen from my own clients, but could do with a few more, so any suggestions are welcome, and if it's something you've been involved with, and can give me a quote, I'll put it in the book.

Thanks In advance.

I'm back on volunteer duty this month, this time as a member of the Mayor of London's Team London, giving advice to London visitors.

My patch is Piccadilly Circus, and the first shift this week was the busiest I've ever done, with the five of us in the team I led helping 1,400 people in four hours.

Well done to Adeola, Shirley, Jagdish and Joan!

A few places are still open for my speaker coaching.

Six-month or one-year packages are available, and I'd be more than happy to have a chat with you about options.

There's also an intensive package if you have an important speech looming.

Drop me a line on alan@mediacoach.co.uk or call me on 07986 852621.

My radio guest is Canadian publishing expert Suzanne Doyle-Ingram.

Suzanne is a best-selling author who has written and co-written a total of 15 books. She coaches and trains business professionals on how to write and publish a book, and how to use that book as leverage to increase their visibility, open doors for speaking engagements, grow their brand and business, and much more.

She has also helped over a hundred business professionals get published, and shared her wisdom and expertise, as well as giving some great tips, in a fascinating interview. Listen to it in this week's Media Coach Radio

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And there's a terrific song from When Rivers Meet

The MediaMug of the week is former Coronation Street actress Catherine Tyldesley, who revealed herself as the mystery celebrity who's PR company asked for free cakes.

She said that she had no knowledge of the email sent by her PR company requesting free food. Fair enough. However, she then made a video in which she commented "I mean I hope the cake lady got the exposure she was craving"

The whole business has become very bizarre, with the PR company now saying their email was "misconstrued".

What a complete mess. Things can only get batter. (sorry!)

I beg to differ. Everyone has the capacity to be a good speaker. I have worked with hundreds of nervous presenters, and never had a failure yet.

The single most important aspect of professional presenting is to understand your audience. Far too many speakers prepare and deliver their words of wisdom without giving a thought to what the audience want to hear. The professional speaker always starts by finding out as much as possible about the audience, their reasons for being present, and their motivating factors. This can be done by talking to the meeting organiser, but is better dealt with by talking directly to prospective audience members themselves.

Once a speaker understands their audience, it is then time to decide on the key message to be delivered. Another common error is to try to impart too much information. It is essential that the core message of any speech can be summarised in one sentence of around twenty words. Discouraging as this may seem, if an audience member is asked the day after hearing a speech "What was the speech about?", and they can remember the core message, the speech will have been a great success.



Thirdly, speakers need to remember that they are not just deliverers of information. There is a story from Ancient Greece about a speaking contest between two great orators. At the end of the first speech, the audience rose and cheered the speaker, calling out "What a great speech". At the end of the second speech, the audience rose and shouted "Let's march on Sparta!". The hallmark of a truly great and professional speech is not changing a person's point of view, but changing their behaviour.

Speaking to print journalists (which these days includes online) is not really any different to being interviewed in a TV or radio studio, so you should prepare and conduct yourself in a similar fashion. Here are some key points to remember:

1) It's on the record Although you may not be being broadcast or recorded, treat everything after 'hello" as being on the record. Never say anything "just between ourselves", however much you like the journalist. It's their job to report all the facts, so whatever you tell them is fair game.

2) Make your views clear If you are presented with a long statement, and then asked "Wouldn't you agree?", make sure that you only say yes if they are your exact views. Even nodding during the statement could mean that it ends up as a quote from you. If you don't agree, say so, and explain your position.

3) Be helpful It's not a duel. More often than not, the reporter simply wants to hear your side of the story. There's no need to be defensive or guarded. Being friendly and helpful will often lead to a better outcome for you.

4) Plan your answers You already know this of course. You should never be caught out by a question, since you will have anticipated the likely approach.

5) Check that your message is understood It's perfectly OK for you to ask a few questions to make sure that your message has been received. it won't guarantee that the final article is supportive of your case, but it will ensure that you are properly represented.

Social media users often tend to be a grumpy crowd, and can even become an angry mob. However, messages that are negative may cause you to lose friends and followers.

A few years ago, C.J. Hutto (@cjhutto on Twitter) and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta examined the content and retweeting fate of tweets sent by 500 non-celebrities over a 15-month period. The keys to success, they found, were to tweet positive messages, write clearly and retweet interesting snippets of news. They also found that people who tweeted only about themselves tended to gain far fewer followers that those who commented on what was happening.

None of this should come as any great surprise, but I'm prepared to wager that if you look at your Twitter or Facebook feed, a significant proportion of the posts will be complaints.



Don't reach for your pitchfork and burning torch. The message is clear. Post comments that are positive, current and relevant.

Time for seven minutes of puns from Stewart Francis

A reminder to look no further. Just get in touch. 07986 852621

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."