| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Hi John,
So there we are. That's Brexit done. Or not. Just when you think you will never go through that blue channel again, there's another three months. But at least we've got a General Election to look forward to. Or not. That's enough politics for now.
It's the time of year when the leaves are turning gold, the nights are drawing in and Santa's elves are building his grotto in shopping centres across the land. I spotted one in Westfield Stratford last week, and was almost convinced by the fake snow on the roof that I'd misheard the weather forecast. Ho Ho Ho. |
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I cannot tell a lie, I do enjoy a meal out with good food and wine. We are lucky to have a wonderful local restaurant, The Dark Horse, which has regular supper clubs with food and wine from a particular region, with producers who come along and talk about the history of the region as they showcase their wares.
This week, it was food and wine from the Piedmont region of Italy. I had a chat with wine specialist Thierry Talibon from esteemed supplier Caves de Pyrene
He told me about the region, the wines, and most importantly, the essential ingredient that makes an amazing wine (or an amazing anything, actually). |
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| Hear our chat in the Media Coach Radio Show. There's also a great song from my old pals The Dustbowl Revival, who I will be seeing at Nell's Jazz and Blues Club in London on Saturday night. It's due to be a cracker! |
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The MediaMaestro is retiring House of Commons speaker John Bercow. Like him or not, there are very few of us who would have wanted the job of trying to control an unruly House of Commons.
His catchphrase, in fact the traditional cry of Commons speakers through the centuries, is "Order!", often elongated and twisted into an extraordinary sound that is all his own. Statisticians discovered that he had used the word almost 14,000 times during his tenure.
He's certainly brought an interesting vocabulary into debates, using words like "Demosthenian", "Einsteinian", "Flaubert", "Heidegger", "irascibility", "jackanapes", "rhapsodise", "susurrations" and "testicle".
Phew!
He won't be missed by every member of the House, or by some members of the public, but I take my hat off to him. He has been, in some of his own oft-used words, succinct and mellifluous. |
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The MediaMug is McDonald's, which has apologised for a Halloween marketing campaign which promoted a dessert in Portugal with the words: "Sundae Bloody Sundae". The term Bloody Sunday is used to refer to one of the worst days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, when 13 people were shot dead by the Army.
The adverts sparked outrage when photos were shared on social media. McDonald's said the marketing campaign was not intended to be an "insensitive reference to any historical event".
"We sincerely apologise for any offence or distress this may have caused," a spokeswoman for McDonald's Portugal said. She explained the "Bloody" sundae adverts were designed as a Halloween celebration but the promotion has since been cancelled.
Of course, Sunday Bloody Sunday is a 1971 film starring Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch. But I don't think McDonalds knew that either. Oops |
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| Speaking Tip - Non-linear speaking |
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Here's a non-linear segue. The railway line that runs from Palma to Soller in Mallorca is not what you could call a straight line. It runs through tunnels and winds through mountains, but gets to the right destination. Speeches don't have to be a straight line either. Traditionally, you tell people what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them (the traditional "business sandwich"). Often a series of slides takes you along the path from start to finish, making it tough to deviate at all.
Some display software, such as Prezi allows the creation of a presentation from chunks of information that don't need to follow in any particular sequence. However, delivering a non-linear presentation is not about software, it's about an approach which many speakers find uncomfortable. Increasingly, audiences are demanding a style which is more than just a procession of slides, so now is probably a good time to think about your speech structure.
Not every speech lends itself to a non-linear style. Not every audience will appreciate it. Furthermore, you must still have some kind of overall structure and aim, otherwise you will simply be presenting a mass of information with no overall message. Delivering in a non-linear way may demand more preparation and more subject knowledge than a linear narrative. It may also require what a pal of mine used to call "a big dose of brave pills".
Many stand-up comedians are masters of non-linear delivery. They can deviate for minutes at a time, but still return to a core message. They may tell stories in a different sequence each time they speak, responding to prompts or questions from the audience, or just how they feel. In my opinion, the more interactive and non-linear you can learn to be, the more people will want to see you speak. You can choose to ignore the trend, but the train may leave without you. |
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| Media Tip - How to ruin a media release |
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Here's my list of things to avoid when writing publicity material for a release, brochure or website.
Meaningless superlatives. "We solve all your problems, perfectly..", "The UK's leading..." (Says who? These phrases mean nothing) Jargon "We offer best of breed robust solutions in data-driven environments" (Eh?) Negativity "We can guarantee that you won't suffer disappointment if you chose our products" (Why not say you will be satisfied?) Vagueness "We've worked with a variety of organisations facing change issues around the world" (Some specifics would be nice) Wordiness "Needless to say, we guarantee every product for 10 years" (If it's needless to say, don't say it)
Alas, all those examples were real, but not from your company, obviously. Instead, use simple language, evidence, references, a positive approach and explain the benefits. It's simple really. |
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| Social Media Tip - What is Social Media good for? |
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Someone asked me the other day "What are the really good things about social networks?" it made me stop and think. Like you, I use social networks on a regular basis. I make connections, find out interesting stuff, and let others know what I do. I've never really considered why I find social networks so useful. So here are three things that I think are really handy:
1) Speed. News stories often break on Twitter, which is why all journalists have Twitter accounts, and alerts set up on their topics of interest. However, speed is just speed. It's not analysis. Social media is really useful in alerting you to something that just happened, so that you can look into it on more detail. If you're the kind of person who needs to know stuff first, social media is brilliant. But there's a caveat. Because you don't usually know the source of the information, there may be no validity check. It's probably better to say that social media can alert you to something that may have happened, and you need to find a trusted source to be sure.
2) Structure. There's more and more unstructured information flying around the web. Social media tends to facilitate hubs and groups of interest that provide structure to that information. Again, you need to be aware of the possible bias of the curator. However, getting a current view of a topic you don't fully understand is much easier than it used to be.
3) Mood. Finding out what people think about an issue is also made much easier by social networks. Online campaigns and petitions are now seen as reliable indicators of the public mood. Once again, the usual warnings apply, but if a few hundred thousand people feel strongly enough about an issue to comment online, there must be something going on. |
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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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