Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Isn't it great to have some good news?
After six years in detention in Iran, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been freed to rejoin her family in the UK.
Another Uk-Iranian dual citizen, Anoosheh Ashoori, was also released after five years in an Iranian prison.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband Richard has been a tireless campaigner for her release, and has showed remarkable patience and stoicism in a terrible situation. I'm sure that their daughter will be overjoyed to have her family back together again.
The circumstances of her release can be debated in due course. For now, let's rejoice in a piece of really good news.
But alas, the war in Ukraine continues, and once again, I include the link to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal website,
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I've come down with a sore throat and cough (yes, I've been testing regularly and still negative for COVID, but I've booked a PCR test).
Either way, I'm not going to sound very good in an interview or presenting the show. I'm sure normal service will be back next week.
Take care. |
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MediaMaestro, MediaMug of the Week |
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The MediaMaestrois Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at the Russian state TV channel one.
She burst into a live bulletin to display a banner objecting to the war in Ukraine, It read "No war, stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here."
Before the protest, which happened live on the nightly news programme, she recorded a video in which she called events in Ukraine a "crime" and said she was ashamed to work for what she called Kremlin propaganda.
"I'm ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the television screen. Ashamed that I allowed Russians to be turned into zombies," she explained.
She called on the Russian people to protest against the war, saying that only they could "stop the madness".
After her arrest and detention by the security services, she was fine £214 for the video she recorded. She said she had been questioned for 14 hours and not slept for two days, and was not given access to legal help.
Charges may still be laid against her for her on-air protest. What a brave woman. |
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The MediaMug is ferry company P&O. They told all their ships to stay in port pending an announcement.
They then invited workers to a pre-recorded Zoom call, where 800 of them were made redundant.
That's a dreadful way to do business - not having the courage to speak to workers directly, but doing it through a remote recorded message.
I understand that groups of cheaper overseas workers have already been hired and are waiting at docks around the UK to replace the existing crews. As I write this, many workers are refusing to leave their ships. This may take a while, and do a lot of reputational damage. |
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Speaking Tip of the week - Let's work together |
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Delivering a presentation or pitch as a team is even more tricky than presenting on your own. It requires very careful preparation, a mix of skills and a clear division of roles. The first consideration is whether to present as a team at all. While it may be good to demonstrate that everyone was involved, it must be worth the extra risk and effort to have everyone speak. If not, then simply ensure that the solo presenter acknowledges the input of the team.
Assuming that a team performance is agreed on, here are some points to consider:
- Everyone should be given a role to play, based on their skills
- The first speaker should introduce everyone, and explain the format of the presentation
- Changes of speaker, and especially of slides, should be carefully rehearsed
- Think about the seating arrangements - will you all be facing the audience or sitting with them?
- Look interested while your colleagues are speaking. Don't look down at your notes.
- Appoint a leader to take control during questions, or in case anything goes wrong
- Keep within the time allocated (yes, this applies to solo speakers too)
- Never challenge or disagree with another team member in public.
- Never change anything in your part of the presentation without informing the rest of the team
- Use "we" throughout, not "I"
A team presentation requires a lot of preparation, but if done well, can dazzle an audience. |
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Media Tip of the week - Five media myths |
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1) The more media releases I send, the more coverage I will get. Absolutely not. This belief is wasting more money from PR budgets than anything else. It's about quality, not quantity. It's about targeting, rather than broadcasting, It's about stories, not information. In fact, there is no need to include press releases in your media strategy at all. Instead, become known as a good source of insights and quotes, and you will find that reporters call you.
2) Reporters always want to deliver bad news Not so, Bad news often appears in headlines because it is exceptional (read newsworthy). However, if you are interviewed, it is unlikely that a reporter will be looking for bad news. More often than not, they just want to hear your story. Don't be defensive; just tell them what you know.
3) I'll get good press coverage if I hold a press conference at a high-profile venue Unless you are a multi-national company with a great new product (and even then think long and hard), don't even consider a press conference, at any venue. No one will turn up. Instead, find better and cheaper ways to promote your goods and services, such as talking directly to friendly journalists (see above).
4) I can check an article before it's printed. If you start making demands like this, the reporter will simply find another interviewee. No editor will go back and check details of an interview, other than to verify how a name is spelled, or to confirm a date. For one thing, there isn't time, and for another, it's a reporter's job to write the story based on what they heard. They aren't there to do your marketing for you, and they won't.
5) I need to get on national radio and TV. Actually, you need to get on your audience's wavelength. That may well be local radio. It's not the occasional appearances on national TV that matter, it's the constant presence to the same audience, even if that's only a few thousand people. Alas, many people set their targets on the national news, and make a big thing when they've appeared, but find that it makes no difference to their business at all. Little and often is much better.
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Social Media Tip of the week - Three ways to damage your brand online |
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I find it quite amazing that some companies seem to have a social media policy that does their brand harm rather than good. Here's what I mean.
1) Argue with your customers It seems hard to believe that anyone would keep taking issue with their customers. That doesn't mean that the customer is always right. However some brands use their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds to explain why commenters are wrong. Nestlé engaged in a battle on their Facebook page some years ago, telling Facebook users it would delete their comments from its Facebook page if they altered their KitKat logo in any way. That made things much worse, with almost 100,000 users signing up to get involved in the dispute.
2) Ignore comments Low-cost airline Ryanair were once criticised by Lily Allen over the cost (40 pounds) of printing a boarding pass that she had in her hand for only 7 minutes. She sent her message to her three million Twitter followers. Ryanair's response? Nothing. They don't care about customers who complain. That was confirmed by CEO Michael O'Leary on BBC Radio 5 Live once, when he said another similar complainer could "F*** off to another airline". Ryanair have so many customers who want low fares, they may be able to get away with it. Most companies can't.
3) Criticise your competition. I hope you wouldn't dream of going to an event and standing up to rant about your competitors. Yet many companies seem to think it's OK to hurl insults online. It isn't. There's no need to do it either, since social media is an ideal medium to display your advantages, for example in a video, without a single reference to your rivals. I know you wouldn't do any of those, but I'd appreciate it if you'd pass on the message to anyone less enlightened. |
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If you appear on the media, or plan to, then I can help you perform even better.
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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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