The MediaCoach

Hi John,

President Trump delivered his first state of the union address a few days ago. These set-piece occasions have sometimes been used to announce great policy initiatives, such as the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, still quoted as part of US foreign policy, and the Four Freedoms proposed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 (freedom from fear, freedom of speech, freedom from want and freedom of religion). The speech from President Trump was somewhat more prosaic. He claimed it was the most-watched state of the union address in history. It turns out it was the sixth most-watched. Make of that what you will.

You remember I mentioned my ancestor Mary Shelley last week in connection with the 200th anniversary of the publication of her novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. A friend of mine, Ray Hammond, has written a biography of her, and in a recent video, described her as "The First Female Futurist". It's a fascinating idea, and I extend my thanks to Ray for letting me know.

Ben Parker is a musician, who along with David Berkeley, has created a band that is not just about the music, but about a whole theatrical experience. Hear more about it, and find out how to see them on tour in the Media Coach Radio Show. and there's also a great song from his duo, Son of Town Hall.
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The MediaMaestro award this week goes to a TV show, which is now entering its eighth season, and remains one of the most popular shows on TV, despite getting a lukewarm reception from TV critics. It's Death in Paradise, a family-friendly drama about murder in the Caribbean. Yes, an odd sentence, but that's really what it is. RadioTimes.com writer Eleanor Bley Griffiths says: "It helps that, for a show that starts each episode with a brutal murder, Death in Paradise is wonderfully cheerful. Each murder is so unlikely that it's more of a puzzle than a tragedy, inviting viewers to do some armchair detective work and guess who's guilty before the big reveal. Death in Paradise has such enduring appeal because you know exactly what you're getting - and it always delivers." Yup, that sums it up. And here's a clue. The special guest stars usually end up as the victim and the murderer.

The MediaMug is Birds Eye fish fingers, not a product often associated with controversy. A new advert for the favourite sandwich filling to cure hangovers (allegedly) shows a man and a boy jumping off a boat into the sea, with a voice over saying "Captain Birds Eye loves the simple things, like jumping into cold water on a hot day with his grandson." There has been criticism from safety campaigners, following the death of. teenage boy in County Durham from cold water shock after jumping into a river. A spokesman for Birds Eye said: "We take our advertising responsibilities very seriously and we were grateful to be made aware of this issue. We have taken the current advert off air. We are now amending the voiceover to remove references to the temperature of the water and weather."

AD-LIBBING

People who can deliver a speech at the drop of a hat, or deliver a withering put-down are much admired. The ability to "think on your feet" or ad-lib, is seen as a great asset. However, there are many dangers in trying to deliver a completely spontaneous speech. Some people believe that if they are very familiar with a topic, they can often "wing it", since their depth of knowledge will see them through. In my experience, the reverse is often true, with over-confidence leading to a rambling, pointless speech with no clear structure and no clear message.

Deviating from a prepared speech is also tricky. Many speakers have taken this approach, and then made an error, such as saying "million" instead of "billion", or using a negative phrase instead of a positive one. The real problem is that if you are in full flow, you won't notice your error, although the audience certainly will.

If you feel the urge to ad-lib, try to repel it. Alternatively, have a few "prepared ad-libs" handy, and use them when you need them. Even if you are asked to make a speech in a few minutes time, make sure that you prepare at least the opening and closing phrases, a message, and a story to illustrate the point. As Churchill put it "Never stand up to speak without knowing exactly the phrase you will use before you sit down."

KNOWING YOUR FACTS

You have been asked to do a media interview. Why? Because you are an expert, that's why. You know more about the topic under discussion than anyone else, or at least more than anyone else who is available at the time. You definitely know more than the audience, and probably more than the interviewer. I say "probably" because specialist interviewers, such as business correspondents, develop a wide knowledge of their topic, and indeed thrive because of it. However, they won't flaunt their knowledge in front of you, so don't worry. You are the expert.

You need to sound like an expert. You therefore need, at the very least, to be able to answer basic questions about your organisation. For example, if you represent a company, you should know the number of employees, locations, goods and services produced, and financial information such as the latest annual figures, as well as the company's plans for the future. Similarly, if you are speaking on behalf of a not-for-profit organisation, you should know the current activities, as well as details of recent successes and failures.

In short, you should know what you are talking about. The best way to do this is to have a "backgrounder", which is a one-sheet summary of all of the above. You can prepare this yourself, or have it put together by someone with responsibility for communications. Most importantly, ensure that the details are checked by someone with appropriate knowledge (note: this is not always the managing director - often the most knowledgeable person is the company secretary).

Keep your backgrounder up to date by reviewing it every three months. If a major event occurs, such as a batch of redundancies, or a major new product, update it immediately. Make sure that every person who is likely to speak to the press has a copy, and keep a list of those people so that updates can be sent to everyone. Consistency is just as important as accuracy. If one member of your organisation is giving out a different message to other spokespeople, that will become a story in itself.

FIVE MESSAGING TIPS

Social media messaging (and also email) is something that can disrupt our train of thought, and distract us from our priorities. Here are a few tips that may help to restore balance.

1) Set your own priorities. When a message arrives marked "high priority", it reflects the view of the sender. You need to decide the priority, not them
2) Switch off the "alert" noise. That little "ping" that tells you when a message arrives may tempt you to check it. Finish the task in hand first.
3) Set yourself times to deal with messages. If you were with a client, you couldn't deal with messages, could you? Make yourself your client.
4) One subject, one request per message. That way, it is far more likely to get a response.
5) Be brief and to the point. You are much more likely to get a quick and useful response.

Thanks to our friends at Bad Lip Reading, we now know how Donald Trump sings the national anthem.

I can show you how!

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."