The MediaCoach

Hi John,

Well, my stint at the World Taekwondo GP turned out to be fascinating. I was sitting courtside to watch the likes of Jade Jones and Lauren Williams win their events. I also inadvertently broadcast on the live YouTube stream, as I was sitting next to the streaming camera, not realising it was picking up my conversation. Luckily, I kept it clean. Most scary of all was when the video replays I was filming were shown on the big screen in the arena, and live on the BBC coverage. Again, luckily I had perfect shots every time. Phew!

So back to calmer times this week. As ever, I'm off to see some singers and bands, and I'm sure some of them will end up in my web radio show. If you have any suggestions, I'm always happy to take a listen. Also, if you feel you have a business lesson to share, or know someone who does, I'm looking to book interview guests for next year. Just reply to this email and we'll talk.

This week's guest is in the first winner of The Apprentice, Tim Campbell. What does he think about the show? Hear his view in the Media Coach Radio Show. There's also a great song from the 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco, who are playing at the Wanstead Tap next month. See you there?
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The MediaMaster this week is a musical legend, Fats Domino, who died this week, arguably released the first rock and roll record in 1949, The Fat Man. Elvis Presley proclaimed him "the real king of rock'n'roll", but in truth, Fats Domino was an brilliant boogie-woogie pianist. His hit singles included Ain't That a Shame, I'm Walkin', Blue Monday, I'm in Love Again, and Blueberry Hill, a cover of a 40s jazz standard previously recorded by Glenn Miller that became his signature song. What a man.

The MediaMug trophy goes to a Japanese food firm that has developed a noise-cancelling fork to take the socially awkward "slurp" away from eating noodles. I'm not making this up. The fork uses a microphone to detect offending slurps, which then triggers a smartphone app to "mask" the sound. People can judge for themselves whether the chosen sound of "soothing, flowing water" emitted by their phone is any less embarrassing than a slurp. Anyway, if 5,000 orders come in, Nissin Food Products will start shipping the forks. I suspect they will stay in the warehouse.

KNOWING WHEN TO STOP

Despite the fact that audiences will say about a great speaker "I wish they could have gone on speaking for much longer", they don't really mean it. The old adage about leaving your audience wanting more is very true. A great speech has a great start, a great message and a great finish. When you rehearse, make sure that you time your speech carefully. When you speak to your audience, keep an eye on your pacing to make sure that you will finish on time, or a few seconds early.

Just as you memorise your opening lines, you should memorise your closing lines too. Don't stumble to a close, or find yourself with ten minutes material to deliver in three. Never, ever tell your audience "I had more to say but I've run out of time". They will, quite rightly, feel cheated. If an external event, such as a lengthy interruption, causes your time to be limited, you should still finish with a strong conclusion inside the time allotted. That's what professionals do.

If you take questions at the conclusion of your talk, don't forget to close crisply at the end of the Q&A session. When you reach closing time, signal it to your audience by your pacing, or by a pause. I've never seen the principal violinist hold up a sign at a concert which says "end of symphony coming up". You know when the piece is ending, and so should your audience.

THINK LIKE A REPORTER

If you want to see your name, or your company name in print, ask yourself the question "If I was a reporter, would I run this story for my audience?", then ask yourself "If I was a viewer or listener, would I think this story had any relevance to me?" Only if the answer to both questions is a resounding "yes", do you have any chance at all of achieving your objective. Even if the story fits perfectly, it may be the wrong time, there may be too much other news, or a similar story may have run recently. That's the way it goes. You won't be successful every time

In order to think like a reporter, you need to study what reporters do. Read articles to see how a story develops, and how it links to the interest of readers. Watch TV news bulletins to see how the key points of a story are illustrated and conveyed in a matter of seconds. With video in particular, you need to use it to make the audience feel part of what is happening. An exercise that I often do with clients is to give them a video camera, and ask them to imagine they are a reporter delivering a story. Alas, they often stand in front of the camera just and tell the story. That doesn't work. You need to use set-up shots, voice overs, and pieces to camera to engage the viewer. Try it yourself. If it works, you'll know you have a good story to pitch to a journalist

WHAT SHOULD I PUT IN MY BLOG?

The most obvious answer is "engaging content". If you want people to leave with a good impression, you must provide something of value. Your blog has to be interesting, but more importantly, must give the reader something they can use, or something they can think about. You can include video, pictures, audio or text, but all of it needs to be there for a reason. It is very important, as in all forms of communication, to consider the needs of your audience. However fascinating you may find pictures of pre-war doorstops, unless you have an audience that likes them too, it is pointless including them in your blog. The easiest way to find out what works for your audience is to watch the comments you receive. They will tell you what is important to your readers, and you should heed what they say.

If people read blogs at all, it is unlikely that they will pay attention to more than five on a regular basis. Given the choice of millions, you need to think carefully about how you can make your blog a must-read. Engaging content is valuable, inspiring or thought-provoking (hopefully all three). You must be interested in what you write, otherwise your readers will move on. Ideally, you should not be just interested, but passionate. Your passion will come through in the way you express yourself, and you will develop a loyal following.

Give yourself plenty of time to write your blog postings. A post which has been dashed off in a hurry will be obvious, and can indicate a lack of respect for your readers. Remember that some people will be visiting your blog for the first time, and you should offer them something too. I recommend that you create a guide for first-timers, including links to important posts, and outlining your philosophy. Make sure that this guide is visible on every page of your blog by including a box about it in the sidebar. It's easy to do this if you look at the "Tools" option, and will prove very valuable to you.

Some things really do get lost in translation.

I can help. You know where to look.

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."