The Media Coach

Hi John,

I'm in awe of Eliud Kipchoge's world record marathon run in Berlin. As a runner myself I gasped at his 5k splits - all in the 14 minute range. It takes me that long to do a single 2.5k.

However, I'm not in awe of the myriad of social media posts by people claiming that his run will change mindsets so that people (probably him) will soon break the 2 hour barrier. Running is literally about putting in the hard yards. It's the training that builds performance, not thinking about it.

Alas, some people have been taken in by story popularised by a tall and successful self-help guru, who said that in the weeks and months after Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile barrier, dozens of other runners did the same, as their mindset had changed. That's simply a lie. In the year that followed the barrier being broken, only one other runner repeated the feat.

It's sheer hard work that brings success, not positive thoughts. Whatever you're aiming at, go for it!

I'm currently at the Global Speakers Summit in Dublin.

It's turning out to be a real celebration of the spoken word, not to mention some comedy and music too.

You'll be hearing from some of the speakers over the next few weeks in my web radio show

Registration is still open for my 2023 speaker coaching programme. Five places remain, and this is the only opportunity to work with me one-to-one for 6 months or a year.



Whether you're a professional speaker who needs to increase your fees and get more gigs, or a corporate speaker who wants to deliver exceptional speeches and presentations, this is for you.

I've coached hundreds of people like you over the past few decades, and if you'd like to speak at the highest level, let's have a chat.

My interview guests this week are a band called Bison Hip.

They started on one of those lockdown Zoom calls in 2020 between friends who were unable to get together. No one remembers who suggested it, but right away it seemed like a great idea. Maybe it was a mid-life crisis at play? The guys were all over 50, with the exception of keyboard player and spring chicken Steven, who clocked in at a youthful 40. By the time they finally got together in early 2021, the blueprint was clear: -

“We wanted to take our love of blues and rock and mix it up with our experiences of life. Between us, we’ve been through so many things – ups and downs, some successes and plenty of failures – we wanted all of that in the music. Lastly, we need to wrap it up in the DNA of our hometown, Glasgow, and hopefully that’s what we’ve achieved.”

Listen to our chat in this week'sMedia Coach Radio Show.

And of course there's a fantastic song from

The MediaMugs are the people on Twitter who have been sending messages to the wrong Liz Truss.

Liz Trussell appeared to have nabbed the Twitter handle @LizTruss before the Conservative leader (who goes by @trussliz), with rival party leaders and even the Swedish prime minister messaging the wrong account.

Ms Trussell's experience is similar to that of American father-of-four John Lewis, who receives more than 50,000 tweets a year from people trying to contact the British retail chain.

Oops. I know the feeling. @alanstevens on Twitter isn't even called Alan. He's "H Alan Stevens"

If you are asked to attend an event as a speaker, you may well be asked "what would you like to talk about?". While the event will probably have an overall theme, you will often have a good deal of freedom to choose both your title and your content. In considering your options, reflect on the two characteristics of every great speech. -

If you care about your topic, you will speak with passion and conviction. Furthermore, your words will flow much more easily, and you will place less reliance on notes and rehearsal (though that must never be ignored). In addition, you will be much more confident about the question and answer session that follows most speeches, and therefore perform at your best.

If the audience cares about your topic, they will listen more attentively, and give you a respectful hearing. However, you need to give them a new perspective on a topic in order to really engage their interest.

You will have been asked to speak because the organiser believes that you and the audience share a common passion. In preparing and delivering your speech, make that link as strong as possible, and you will receive huge acclaim.

Here are seven things you should never, ever do when you are anywhere near a camera, microphone or journalist.

1) Lying. Of course you wouldn't lie, would you? You should never exaggerate or speculate either, because that could amount to the same thing. Tell the simple truth, as far as you are aware. If it turns out later that you were misinformed, admit it and apologise.

2) Hiding some of your story I've come across people who think that keeping part of the story back will give them a second opportunity for publicity. It won't for two reasons. Firstly, the story may not be strong enough to begin with. You need to give it the best chance. Secondly, if a reporter feels you've tried to manipulate them, they won't speak to you again.

3) Missing a deadline The deadlines are set by the editors, and your job is to help the reporters meet them. Your clock doesn't matter. They call the shots. You fit in.

4) Going into an interview naked Obviously, I don't mean unclothed. I mean without a clear message and strategy. If you turn up just to answer questions, you will waste your time.

5) Talking "off the record" Never say anything to a journalist unless you'd be happy to see it on tomorrow's front page. Of course, journalists are nice people, so if you tell them something in confidence, they then face a dilemma. Do they run it and break your trust, or ignore it and lose a good story. Don't put them in that position.

6) Sending a thank you gift Seems a nice idea, but it really isn't. If a reporter ever feels "bought", then they will find another source.

7) Getting discouraged Don't give up just because you get rejected a few times. If your story is newsworthy, someone will feature it. Never take rejection personally. There will often be several no's, but you need only one yes.

If you're a regular reader, you may recall that my favourite film is Field of Dreams (for very personal reasons I won't go into here). The title of this week's tip is a critical quote from the film. The film's hero, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice telling him to "Go the distance" at a critical point in the story when he is close to giving up. The same voice may also have been heard by Eliud Kipchoge.

Social media is a long game too. There are few instant results, and you need to stick with it before you will see the benefit of your efforts. That's one of the problems with trying to overlay a return on investment on a social media campaign. It's certainly possible to achieve a financial return from social media activity, but more often than not, the return is less tangible.

If you or your organisation embark on a social media campaign, consider your objectives carefully, and the ways in which you will measure results. It's better to look at building a community than making a quick profit. You need to invest time, and you need to keep it up. If you're a social media manager, you'll need to hold your nerve when the finance director (FD) asks for your profit and loss figures. Fortunately, even hard-nosed FDs are becoming aware that you need to keep engaging with customers month on month, year on year before you can measure the returns.

If you build it, he will come, but only if you are prepared to go the distance.

You can't beat a bit of Irish humour. And here in Dublin, people often mention Brendan Grace.