The Media Coach

Hi John,

As you know, I often go to music gigs and one of my favourite venues is the Half Moon pub in Putney, This month, they are celebrating 60 years of being a music venue (though apparently they had a piano player there 80 years ago).

Local resident and musician Ralph McTell has been in residence there for a week, and we went to see one of his gigs. He's even playing a guitar made from the wood salvaged from the old bar when the pub was refurbished.

A rare treat. Maybe see you there sometime.

This Sunday I'll be doing another volunteer stint - this time at the Hackney Half Marathon.

It's the second-largest 13k run in the UK, after The Great North Run. I volunteer there every year, helping to organise the runners at the start and guiding them over the finish line later (in some cases very much later).

It's a wonderful day - in fact a wonderful weekend as there's a family 5k on the Saturday.

Hoping for sunshine....

I have just one place left on my speaker coaching programme, for six or twelve months - the place is available in June. Better be quick!

Accountant, Speaker and Author said:

“Working with Alan, and benefiting from his long experience in the speaking business, helped me to hone my message, define my market, and realise my value. I thoroughly recommend his coaching to speakers at any stage in their career”

If you'd like to know more and maybe have a chat, just get in touch.

Neil Mullarkey is a remarkable chap.

He is a founder member of The Comedy Store Players, and still appears with them regularly at London's Comedy Store.

He's also an author, actor and first-class speaker and trainer. He travels the world teaching improv skills and more to organisations to enhance creative communication skills.

His latest book, "In the moment" provides the insights and strategies that will help you improve your confidence, communication and creativity in every moment of your professional career.

It was a joy to speak with him last week, as you can hear in the Media Coach Radio Show.

And there's a great song from Jessica Lee Morgan too.

The MediaMug this week is a driver from Springfield Colorado, USA, who tried to fool police into thinking his dog was driving his speeding car - by swapping seats with his pet at the last moment.

The vehicle was seen hitting speeds of 52mph (84km/h) in a 30mph zone - and the driver (not the dog) was allegedly drunk, police said.

In a statement, the Springfield Police Department said: "The driver attempted to switch places with his dog who was in the passenger seat, as the SPD officer approached and watched the entire process."

Following the incident, the unnamed man was taken to hospital, police say, before then being taken into custody.

The dog has so far declined to comment. (No, that's not a picture of the actual dog, it's just a dog pretending to drive a car)

My friend, the late Blake Snyder, once said to me "If you can't pitch a film in a sentence, it won't get made" Blake was a successful Hollywood scriptwriter, who wrote what many people regard as the finest book about developing a film script: "Save the Cat". Blake had strong ideas about how a film should be structured, and we used to chat about how the same sort of structure applied to speeches. Much of it was to do with strong messages, with a clear point, a beginning and an end.

He often talked about the "button". He described it as the punch line or action that is used to end a scene. He would talk about writing conferences when the head writer would say "we need a better button here". It was because the scene just ended, with no real finish, and the audience would be left wondering "what was the point of that"?

So it is with speeches. You need to end on the button, and not just right at the conclusion of your speech. There will be a number of occasions through your speech - at the end of a story, or after a list of points, when you need a "button".

Think carefully about the buttons in your speech. They are critically important. They may produce a laugh, a gasp of realisation or a round of applause, but the idea is to produce a reaction. Are your speeches on the button?

Media interviews on location are used in just about every TV news bulletin these days. Sometimes they are simply a reporter doing a "piece to camera", while standing in front of a building where something significant happened earlier that day. However, it may be that you are one of the key players in the story, or an expert with a valuable insight to contribute, and you may be asked for an on-the spot comment.

How can you prepare for this alfresco discussion? Firstly, make sure that you know the time when you are needed. Be there at least ten minutes beforehand, in case they cut to the story early. Make sure that you know your main point, since these interviews are usually conducted live, and there is no time for recap or retakes. Dress warmly if the weather is cold, since you may be kept waiting for a while.

When the interview begins, keep very still in the place you have been put (and you will be "put in place"). Don't sway around or make expansive gestures. Keep your gaze fixed on the interviewer, and never look at the camera, or at anything happening around you. These interviews tend to be very short, so deliver your main point concisely, and repeat it if you can.

At the end of the interview, keep very still until you hear the words "we're clear". It's all about intense concentration for about two minutes. You can do that.

Social media users often tend to be a grumpy crowd, and can even become an angry mob. However, messages that are negative may cause you to lose friends and followers.

A few years ago, C.J. Hutto (@cjhutto on Twitter) and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta examined the content and retweeting fate of tweets sent by 500 non-celebrities over a 15-month period.

The keys to success, they found, were to tweet positive messages, write clearly and retweet interesting snippets of news. They also found that people who tweeted only about themselves tended to gain far fewer followers that those who commented on what was happening.

None of this should come as any great surprise, but I'm prepared to wager that if you look at your Twitter or Facebook feed, a significant proportion of the posts will be complaints.

Don't reach for your pitchfork and burning torch. The message is clear. Post comments that are positive, current and relevant. As Bobby McFerrin used to sing "Don't Worry, be Happy".

OK, it's more than five minutes, but I think this Laurel and Hardy short film is one of the funniest ever made...

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