The Media Coach

Hi John,

We've just returned from a few days in the beautiful Spanish city of Valencia.

If you haven't been, I thoroughly recommend it. A very relaxed place, with friendly bars and restaurants where you can sit and watch the world go by.

We knew that Valencia was the home of paella, and we also knew that it was a dish to be eaten at lunchtime, so we booked a table at one of the oldest and most celebrated paella restaurants near the beach. The food was wonderful. The best paella I've ever eaten. But sadly, we won't go back there. The service was abrupt to the point of being rude.

It was an interesting example of having a superb product, but no customer relationship skills. Not that any of us would ever do that, would we?

Twenty years ago today, a revolution in music took place. It wasn't a singer. It wasn't a band. It wasn't a song. It wasn't even a type of music.

On April 28, 2003, US technology company Apple Inc. broke new ground in the music industry by launching the iTunes Store, the first legally authorised download platform for buying music. The store was established after the company reached an agreement with all five major record companies to market their catalogues. By February 2010, the iTunes Store was the largest music vendor in the world.

The iTunes store has now been replaced by apps of course, but the revolution it set up remains a huge change for the music business.

David Crystal is one of the greatest living experts on language. He has written over one hundred books, including a number of best-sellers.

He was kind enough to endorse the book I wrote with Paul du Toit (The Exceptional Speaker), and provide a quote for the cover, calling it "An enlightening blend of clear explanation and sound practical advice"

It was a huge privilege for me to chat to him a while back. He talked about attention spans and eloquence.



Listen to my conversation with David in the Media Coach Radio Show.

And of there's a great song from Rob Corcoran and the Necessary Evils.

The MediaMug this week is former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.

He was among the most-watched personalities on US television until Rupert Murdoch’s TV network announced his shock exit on Monday less than a week after the company agreed to settle a defamation suit over allegations it aired false theories about US election fraud.

In a short video posted on Twitter late on Wednesday, Carlson did not directly address his departure but said he was taking a “little time off”. The TV personality instead spent the majority of it railing against the state of mainstream US media and politics.

“The thing you notice when you take a little time off is how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are . . . They’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years we won’t even remember we had them. Trust me, as somebody who participated,” he said.

An interesting way to dismiss his own media career.

It is very important that your audience believes in you as a speaker. You need to have credibility. Here are some of the elements which I believe create that impression.

1) Experience. In order to speak on a topic, you should have been a practitioner of it, in my view. Ideally, you should still be working in that area, as far as you can. For example, my media career started over 40 years ago, as a teenager (I have photographic evidence) and I still appear on radio and TV, as well as writing for various publications. You need to have the evidence, as well as the experience.

2) An original approach. There are no points for re-stating old material, or stories from other people. You need to use your own stories, deliver your own unique twist, and offer valuable advice that people have either not heard, or have forgotten.

3) Original research. This is a great way to demonstrate your wisdom. You can interview leaders in the field, conduct surveys of customers and clients, and present findings that make your point.

The best way to gain credibility is to be yourself.

We live in the age of the media pundit (a term which derives from Hindi and Sanskrit and means "an erudite person, often an advisor to the king").

Before, during and after ever event covered by the media, we are treated to the opinions of various pundits. More often than not, these people say exactly what we would expect them to, so their comments don't really add much to our understanding of the story. But they are essential players in the media game.

Some pundits are so well-known, that we can guess they will appear before they are introduced. For example, any story about travel problems is bound to feature Simon Calder.

So how do you become a media pundit? Obviously, the first requirement is to have some knowledge about a topic, and a clear way of expressing yourself. Then you need to become known to the media. One way is to introduce yourself to local radio and local papers, which will give you both experience, and the chance to be "spotted". There are also some places where journalists look for pundits.

In the UK, the most widely-used and trusted is Expertsources.co.uk. If you plan to become a media pundit, it's an excellent place to be seen (and no, they don't pay me to say that)

Isn't it annoying when you set up a nice quiet site on Facebook, or a profile on Twitter, and dozens of impolite people keep trying to connect with you, become your friend, or want to follow your stream of tweets.

Here are some handy ways to make sure that you don't attract followers, and ensure that any who arrive by mistake are driven away quickly.

In fact, any one of the above should ensure that you are never bothered by potential clients.

Of course, it's important to mark the passing of a comic icon. Here's Barry Humphries, as his alter ego Dame Edna Everage, not allowing other chat show guests to get a word in for 15 minutes of sheer joy...

If you're looking for a speaker coach, just get in touch. I now have all inclusive pricing.