| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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A very Happy Easter to you.
This is the nineteenth time I've written a newsletter for Good Friday, so the Easter references may just be getting a tad stale. I'll try not to over-egg the pudding this time.
I thought I'd check in with Google to see what the most popular search is right now. As I write this (Thursday evening, a few hours before you read it), I thought the most popular search term in the UK would be "Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak". I was wrong. That was number two. Number one, perhaps unsurprisingly, was "Tesco Easter Sunday opening times". It's interesting to see what people's priorities really are.
And to save you checking, Tescos, like almost every other shop, is closed on Easter Sunday. |
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Easter eggs aren't just made of chocolate. They also occur in films TV shows, music, books and software.
They are little surprises that developers and creatives put into their work, which not everyone can see,
There's a website devoted to them - Eeggs.com - which details thousands of them. See what you can find! |
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Another reminder about the Exceptional Speaker Day. On Thursday May 19th, at a central London location, there will be a maximum of six places available for a full-day of advice and tips on how to deliver sensational speeches.
The cost will be £275 plus VAT for the whole day, including all refreshments, lunch and a signed copy of The Exceptional Speaker, plus a digital copy to access from your phone.
Not only that, but the cost of the day is fully deductible from any future coaching from me. So if you'd like some one-to-one coaching as a follow-up, the day is completely free.
If you're interested, just reply to this email and I'll reserve a place for you. |
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| Another very popular re-run this week.
Are you "in the moment"? It's something that businesses tend to ignore, preferring to live in the world of projects and detailed plans. However, Gilda Bonanno has helped a lot of companies perform better by teaching their executives how to be more "in the moment"
Hear my chat with Gilda inMedia Coach Radio Show. |
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| There's also a superb tune from one of my favourite singers, who we're off to see next week - Rob Corcoran. |
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| MediaMaestro, MediaMug of the Week |
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The MediaMaestrois the actress Liz Carr, who won best supporting actress at Sunday's Oliviers for her role in The Normal Heart.
She has suggested theatres consider hosting separate performances of shows for audiences who still want to wear facemasks or socially distance.
As live audiences have mostly abandoned wearing masks, Carr suggested venues could offer "Covid-safer" performances.
"Theatre should remain accessible even to those of us who have health conditions," she told BBC News.
A large number of theatre, cinema and concert-goers have abandoned masks in recent months as a result, because many people find them stuffy, uncomfortable, and now arguably unnecessary.
However, Carr suggested that, while most live shows could remain facemask-free, theatres should look at reserving performances specifically for more vulnerable people who are still worried about Covid safety.
An excellent point. |
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The MediaMug is Northern Ireland football manager Kenny Shiels who has apologised in a way after claiming female football teams concede goals in quick succession because "women are more emotional than men".
He made the comments in a post-match interview after the 5-0 thrashing by England on Tuesday in front of a 15,348 crowd at Windsor Park, as his side's hopes of qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup were ended.
Issuing an apology on Wednesday, he said he was "sorry for the offence that they have caused".
That sounds like a non-apology to me. He should have apologised for even thinking it. |
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| Speaking Tip of the week - 4 ways to ruin a speech |
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No, of course you don't want to make a mess of your speech. So here are four things to avoid.
1) Make fun of your audience. OK, a little light humour doesn't hurt. Oliver Double, in his great book "Stand-Up" tells a story about when he was playing a student union and said "It's funny being here, since it was where I was going to study - then I passed my A-levels". The silence he suffered that night shouldn't happen to you. If you need to make fun of someone, make it yourself.
2) Read it from your notesAs children, we like a bedtime story read to us. As adults, we want to hear a story told with passion and power, straight from the heart. If you work from a script, you might as well send an actor to do it for you.
3) Run over time You have made an agreement to deliver your speech in a certain time. If you haven't been given an allotted time, tell the audience at the start how long you will take. The audience agrees to be attentive for that period. If your delivery exceeds their attention, beware.
4) Pretend you know more than you do. Your audience will not be easily fooled. If you try to give the impression of being an expert in a topic that you don't fully understand, they will see through it. Talk only about that which you know and understand. Leave everything else alone. |
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| Media Tip of the week - Des Wilson says.. |
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I've known veteran campaigner Des Wilson for many years. Along with a few other like-minded souls, I was involved with Des in the launch of Friends of the Earth (FOE) in the early 1970s (yes, I really am that old).
He was always brilliant on the media, and the other day I came across an old FOE document that he wrote about how to run a successful media campaign. I think his words still ring true today, over fifty years later -
Tell the truth If you don't like hard work, go home Maintain a sense of perspective Abhor violence Be positive Remember who the enemy is Be professional Confront perceptions The bigger the audience, the simpler the message Have faith
If you campaign on any issue, and follow those rules, you'll do well. |
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| Social Media Tip of the week - Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate |
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There's a hidden message in the title of this piece.
For me; it's one of the great virtues of social media, It's never been easier to find like-minded people to work with, even though you may never meet in person. There are many, many forms of collaboration that stem from using social networks. For example, you could work with other people in your profession to create a Wiki about your area of expertise, so that other professionals and non-experts alike could use it as a source of knowledge.
You could work on a collaborative project, such as a book, video or piece of music. Anything in digital form can be the subject of a collaborative project, though you need to be very clear where the master copy resides. I've produced such a book - The Exceptional Speaker - with my co-author Paul du Toit, and although we did meet from time to time, ninety per cent of the work was done over the web.
One area which is ripe for collaboration is podcasting. There are now tens of thousands of podcasts on every topic you can imagine, and the "podcast guest" is now probably a full-time role for some people. Along with my pal Ian Little, I've launched a new show about music, and we are looking for guests. Drop me a line if you're interested in participating. Ta. |
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If you appear on the media, or plan to, then I can help you perform even better.
Media Coaching |
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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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