The Media Coach

Hi John,

I'm just back from a few days in Spain - in Santiago de Compostela to be precise.

It's a part of Spain I've never visited before, though my wife Heather has been there many times. She leads groups of women walking on various routes of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela - a network of footpaths in Spain that all connect in Santiago, where many people finish their walks.

I must admit, I didn't do a lot of walking while I was there. I was spending a few days with Heather while she was in between walks. We wandered around the old city, lingered in bars, and had some fabulous food in Michelin-starred restaurants at a fraction of the price they'd be in London. We had a great time. And now Heather is researching a new footpath route. If you'd like to learn more about what she does, and how you could join her on a path, take a look at her website - 1millionwomenwalking.com

Because I was in Spain over the weekend, I missed the remarkable displays of Northern Lights over the UK.

Nonetheless, because so many images were shared on Facebook, I almost feel as though I did see it.

My favourite image was from one of my favourite places - Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where the display formed the backdrop to the velodrome, or as we locals call it, The Pringle.

A big shout-out to all the runners in the Hackney Half Marathon on Sunday. The Hackney Moves Festival is now a well-established fixture on the running calendar and includes a 5k, a family fun run and the half-marathon with 24,000 entrants.

It's one of the highlights of the running year for me. I'm only a 10k guy these days, so I volunteer every year at the hackney Half. I'm a start and finish marshal so it's my job to count the runners out and then back in again (not really). Let's hope the sun shines.

You may be thinking "I've missed the chance for some speaker coaching from Alan for another year" But no - there's one place still available.

Drop me a line to find out more.

My guest in the radio show this week is Bob Ferguson.



If anyone’s entitled to declare “It’s not rocket science” it’s Bob. As a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for 30 years, Bob spent the last 20 years of his career in the space industry.

He was proud to work on many flagship projects including ExoMars Rover and his pride and joy, Bepi Colombo which is currently circling Mercury.

Academic achievements include his engineering degree and MBA.

During his career he had to endure many presentations that were dire. Some of them were his! That sparked his interest in public speaking and pursuit of a better way to deliver technical expertise.

Hear our chat in the in the radio show.

Go to the MediaCoach Show

Follow me on X (Twitter)

And there's superb song from Jude Johnstone.

The MediaMug of the week goes to Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota.

Her recently published autobiography contains a story about shooting her dog, which she claimed had become "untrainable". Her admission has not gone down well, even with her own party.

She also related a story about facing down North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un. However, she has now asked for that story to be removed from the book, despite refusing to say whether the meeting ever took place.

A month or two ago, she was one of the favourites to be Donald Trump's running mate in the 2024 Presidential race. That now seems very unlikely.

In short, she not only literally shot her dog, she also metaphorically shot herself in the foot.

It's very important that you start from the same place as the audience when you begin your speech.

That's known as establishing The Argumentative Baseline - the point at which no-one in the audience questions the assertions that lie behind your argument.

Of course, you need to make sure that your baseline is relevant to your speech, not just a device to get the audience on your side. Also, it should not be so bland that it's not a good starting point.

So how do you formulate your argumentative baseline?

Consider the topic of your speech, and the message you wish to deliver. The baseline is not the message, but a point from which you can create a logical argument that ends in your message.

The baseline should not only be true, but should be something that the audience cares about and believes. It may be different for speeches on the same topic to different audiences.

Suppose you were delivering a speech about ways of reducing violent crime, Your baseline might be "Violent crime is on the rise, and that's an issue we are all concerned about". Of course, you'll have checked your fact about rising crime, but you're on pretty safe ground to say that we're all concerned about it. You can then go on to develop an argument about how you would tackle the issue. If you don't have an argumentative baseline, you may have lost some of the audience as you begin. Don't take that risk. Play from the baseline.

Media interviews can be stressful especially with a skilled and seasoned interviewer.

Your job is to answer the questions while ensuring that your message gets across. It's unusual (unless you're a politician) to meet an aggressive interviewer, but you may find. that the interview goes off in a direction that you didn't intend.

You need to hold the line that you had planned in your interview preparation, and to bring the interview back to your core message if it looks like veering away.

It's often most difficult to hold the line when there's more than one guest, or you're part of a panel discussion.

So here are some tips to help you hold the line:



The late singer Kenny Rogers used to have a song called The Gambler. The hook went like this:

"You've got to know when to hold 'em

Know when to fold 'em

Know when to walk away

And know when to run ..."

I don't know whether Kenny was a user of social media before his death in 2020, but his song represents terrific social media advice in my view.

Social media can be addictive, and the desire to respond to someone, especially if we disagree with them, can be very strong.

But Kenny wouldn't have taken part in every debate. Sometimes he would simply fold his cards and walk away. There may be some satisfaction to be gained by besting an opponent in an online debate, but there's very little benefit in it.

So the next time you're tempted to charge into an online debate, think about Kenny. And maybe just walk away.

Our friends at Bad Lip Reading had some fun with a Donald Trump interview

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."