| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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To no-one's surprise, it's been another historic week in UK politics. They seem to come along more often than buses with a political statement on the side. Speaking of which, I note that Boris Johnson may have to answer a court case about his claims about the EU during the referendum campaign. Hmm. Could start a trend.
I'm working as a volunteer this weekend at a concert in the London Stadium. It's Muse, a popular beat combo from Devon who put on quite a show. I have to admit, I can't hum many of their tunes, but I always enjoy seeing professionals at the top of their game. |
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| And this week has seen the launch of the first 5G network in the UK, which kicked off with EE broadcasting a live stream of a Stormzy concert from a barge in the Thames. I guess I must not be in the demographic for buying a 5G phone if that's seen as one of the best things on offer, but I wish them well. |
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The MediaMaestro is Ian Sohn, a single dad and president of Wunderman, a digital agency in Chicago.
He shared an inspirational message urging his employees never to apologise for being a human being and having a life. The message has gone viral. It reads:
"I never need to know you'll be back online after dinner. I never need to know why you chose to watch season one of Arrested Development (for the fourth time) on your flight to LA instead of answering emails. I never need to know you'll be in late because of a dentist appointment, Or that you're leaving early for your kid's soccer game. I never need to know why you can't travel on a Sunday."
"I never need to know why you don't want to have dinner with me when I'm in your town on a Tuesday night. I never need to know that you're working from home today because you simply need the silence."
"I deeply resent how we've infantilised the workplace. How we feel we have to apologise for having lives. That we don't trust adults to make the right decisions. How constant connectivity/availability (or even the perception of it) has become a valued skill."
"I'm equally grateful for the trust/respect my peers, bosses and team show me everyday. Years ago a very senior colleague reacted with incredulity that I couldn't fly on 12 hours notice because I had my kids that night (I'm a divorced, single dad). I didn't feel the least bit guilty, which I could tell really bothered said colleague. But it still felt horrible."
"I never want you to feel horrible for being a human being."
Brilliant.
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The MediaMug trophy goes this week to the reformed Spice Girls, or maybe their sound technicians. Their reunion concerts have been beset by problems, with poor sound, muffled on-stage conversations, and complaints from audience members leading to a mass walk-out at their gig in Croke Park, Dublin.
Sound quality may not have been the top priority for the Spice Girls, says Robb Allan, a veteran sound engineer who mixes concerts for bands like Massive Attack and Radiohead. "With a huge pop band, quite often the most important thing is the set, it's the lights, it's the video, it's the choreography," he says.
Robb also points out that the Spice Girls have a particular problem because they spend a large proportion of the show on walkways in the middle of the crowd - putting them in front of the speakers."And what happens if you have a microphone in front of a speaker? It feeds back. That's just basic physics".
Sounds as though Victoria Beckham made the right call. (pun intended...)
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| Speaking Tip - Time is tight |
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You've been booked to do a 45-minute speech. How much material do you prepare? I know, silly question. But I've seen speakers who realise with horror that they still have fifteen slides to present when they receive the five-minute warning. There is only one word for that - unprofessional.
Timekeeping is all about knowing your material and respecting your audience, not to mention your fellow speakers. There is no excuse for over-running, or for having to ditch parts of your presentation because you failed to pace yourself properly. The key, as always, is preparation, but not only that. It is also about keeping an eye on the time, and having checkpoints in your speech - perhaps four or five - so that you know you are on schedule.
There are always going to be events that throw your timing. They may be interruptions from the audience, technical issues, or even a diversion you take yourself during your speech. If you reach a checkpoint a little to late, it is easy to adjust the rest of your speech to get back on time. If you are a minute or two from the end, and realise you have ten minutes material, you are in trouble.
Always plan to speak for slightly less time than has been allotted to you, to allow for introductions, slight over-running, and questions. It's easy to fill up time, but much harder to cram a mass of material into the last few minutes. In addition, no speaker every received criticism for finishing a few minutes too early. |
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I've lost count of the number of times that I've been asked for a case study by a reporter. The media love case studies because people identify with them, they offer a solution (well usually) and they give people an idea how to handle a situation.
It is a good idea to have a few case studies up your sleeve, whatever your area of expertise. The classic structure of a good case study is -
An attention-grabbing title An intro, often mentioning the author's name Set the scene - facts, figures etc Describe the problem Why it went critical What was done to solve it What conclusions can be drawn for others in the same position A quote from someone involved
If it involves your company, or a client that you are working for, mention their name often in the case study. Make sure that you have the agreement of anyone quoted or mentioned. If you do all of the above, journalists will love you. |
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| Social Media Tip - Smart commenting |
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I don't know how many comments you post each week, but I'm sure it's more than a few. (By the way, thanks for reading this one). The trouble is, a social media debate is often an "interrupt" form of communication, like a phone call, rather than "when I'm ready", like a letter. The sheer volume of debates makes it difficult to concentrate on other tasks for any length of time.
One of the best tips I ever received about social media was to turn off alerts. That little "ping" or pop-up that tells you a new message has been posted, or you have been mentioned. I found that I couldn't ignore it - after all, it might be important! But now that I only check social media when I feel like it (a few times a day), I get more done, stay more relaxed, and funnily enough, my business seems to run just as well as ever.
Here are a few more tips I find useful: Never reply to an comment when annoyed Only have one topic in each comment Replying in brief quickly is much better then replying at length a few days later Never put any sensitive information online
OK, I don't always apply my own rules. But when I do, it works really well. |
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