The MediaCoach

Hi John,

It's that time of the year when the TV schedules are filled with "elimination" shows. I'm a Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor are all competing for viewers in the run-up to the end of the year. But have these shows lost their sparkle? (Not, Strictly, obviously). Their demise has been predicted for the last few years, but they seem to keep going. I'm betting on John Barrowman, Stacey Dooley and Dalton Harris, but not with real money.

In the "news you may have missed" section, Les Dennis has denied being responsible for a spate of graffiti in Norwich city centre. The entertainer took to Twitter to refute claims he is behind a series of "tags" featuring his name. Police said they have "no idea" why someone has sprayed "Les Dennis" all over the city. How very odd. It's a rum 'un.

My friends Tom and Kathy Barham run a social enterprise called Book of You. They work with older people to create Life Stories - sort of a This Is Your Life for normal folks. They have just launched a Crowdfunder to encourage people across the UK to get down their life stories - aimed at the sons, daughters and grandkids of older people to have those conversations and record them. I urge you to take a look, and hopefully offer your support.

I mentioned my good friend Eamonn O'Brien a week or two ago in connection with his new podcast. This week I got the chance to talk to him directly about storytelling, and why it is so important to communicators. Hear our chat in the Media Coach Web Radio Show. There is also a superb song from Kristina Bill.
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The MediaMaestro award goes to someone who could win it every single week - Sir David Attenborough. He will take up the UN's "people's seat" at the opening of crucial climate change talks in December in Poland. "The people's seat is meant to represent the hundreds of millions of people around the world whose lives are about to be affected by climate change," Sir David told BBC News. Already a national treasure, his words carry more weight than any politician. Long may he continue to campaign for the good of the planet.

The MediaMug of the week is morning TV host and former newspaper editor Piers Morgan. He is no stranger to controversy, having been sacked from his job at the helm of the Mirror for publishing fake photos of British soldiers abusing prisoners. He has long-running feuds with many people, including Ian Hislop, Hugh Grant and Madonna. This week he took on the girl band Little Mix, criticising them for posing naked to promote their new album. The band claimed they were highlighting the issue of body shaming, but Morgan was having none of it. Ariana Grande and her mother (honestly) then came under fire from him when they supported Little Mix. It's a sorry saga. In my view, the only person who looked daft is Piers Morgan himself.

HOW TO BE ORIGINAL

You've got to be original. As actress Bernadette Peters puts it "If you're like everyone else, why would they want you?" Incidentally, one of the greatest books I've read recently on how to be original and stand out from the crowd is "POP" by Sam Horn, which also mentions that quote. Some people argue that originality is impossible, since everything has already been said. I beg to differ.

Anyway, back to originality. When you deliver a speech, it should be unlike any speech that your audience has heard before. You must offer them a new insight, a surprising thought, or a reminder of an old truth that they may have forgotten - but in a unique and memorable way.

I despair of speakers that trot out tired old stories about putting rocks, pebbles and sand in a jar, or throwing a starfish in the sea, or putting a frog in a pan of water until it boils. If you use any of those stories, STOP IT NOW! Your audience wants to hear about your experiences, and your original take on the world.

Of course, you can use the odd quote from someone else, provided you attribute it. But no hackneyed old stories. Be original. You can do it.

WAVE THE FLAG

The point of appearing on the media is to get your message noticed by the audience. One way would be to write it on a huge flag and wave it in front of the camera. Unfortunately, they won't let you do that. Luckily, you can still use a technique called "flagging" to indicate to viewers what they should remember from your interview. It's like putting a large flashing neon sign before your main message.

Here's how it works. There are some key phrases that signal your intent to wave a flag. These include "I can't stress enough the importance of...." or "The really significant thing here is..." or one of my favourites, which you can use when a reporter has stopped taking notes "You should write this down". On their own, flagging statements sound rather silly, but in the context of an interview, their use is crucial.

Flagging phrases are of particular value when you sense that the interview is coming to a close. Of course, you have already memorised your core message, so now is the time to flag it and deliver it. So, finally, here are a few flagging phrases to use in conclusion -

Remember to wave your flag.

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE

For some reason, some people post the most extraordinarily abusive posts on Twitter. Often, their vitriol is directed against an individual that they have taken against. It may make the poster feel better to get their opinions out there, but it's a really bad idea for a number of reasons. The laws of libel apply online, just as they do offline. If you post a message that damages someone's reputation "in the estimation of right-thinking members of society by exposing them to hatred, ridicule or contempt", you could be prosecuted and fined heavily. The law also applies to re-tweets, so you could be in trouble simply for passing on someone else's words.

Here are some guidelines if you are tempted to post a potentially libellous tweet:

In addition, you should be aware of the impact of scheduled tweets. Though they may appear innocuous when you create them, circumstances may make them look tasteless. For example, if you'd planned tweets about (and some companies have done very similar things).

Some more tips:

Sometimes, the real image is better than photoshop.

You may need some crisis communication advice.

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."