The Media Coach

Hi John,

On Monday, I went with my pal Andy Lopata to see the film of the final Ziggy Stardust concert at the place where it happened 50 years ago - The Hammersmith Odeon (as I still call it).

It was a bit surreal to see a gig projected above the stage it took place on. The film was fantastic - and completed a circle for me as I'd been with Bowie for the very first gig of the tour in February 1972.

However, there were some odd aspects to the event. Woody Woodmansey, who played drums in the band, appeared on stage at the start to huge applause. His role was to introduce other musicians who were there, including pianist Mike Garson who reprised his impromptu overture to the event. After that we never saw or heard Woody again.

A rather large panel preceded the screening. Legendary producer Ken Scott was there, along with Mike Garson, Don Letts and rather bizarrely Danielle Perry, Suggs and Richard E Grant.

No Woody. No Tony Visconti. No fan who was there on the night.



Phil Alexander chaired the panel persisting with questions like "Everything in society changed on that night, didn't it?" and "Everyone is influenced by Bowie in some way aren't they?"

In fact nothing really changed at all on that night. The Ziggy phenomenon had been around for 18 months, and the seminal moment was probably on Top of the Pops in 1972 when he pointed down the camera lens and said "I had to phone someone so I picked on you".

As for everyone being influenced by Bowie in some way, I suspect that blues, R&B and rock and roll pioneers might argue with that.

Anyroad, it was a grand night. I enjoyed the film and the event. And as a wee bonus, the bloke sitting in front of me was there 50 years ago, so we swapped stories about being at the first and last Ziggy gig.



Go see it!

My radio guest this week, Kristin Arnold, is an old friend.

She is an expert on team process - how groups of people get from one point to a desired outcome by doing their best thinking, coming to an understanding of what needs to be done and agreeing on how and when to do it. All done in a short period of time.

She's also an expert on panel discussions, and has written three books about how to organise and run them perfectly.

Her latest book, The Powerful Panelist, has just been published.

We had a terrific chat as you can hear in the Media Coach Radio Show.

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And there's a terrific song from When Rivers Meet too.

The MediaMugs of the week are the producers of US TV show The Idol, which has just been panned by critics as "the worst show of the year".

The drama, starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel 'The Weeknd' Tesfaye, reached its conclusion and was described as "a painfully tedious TV non-event" that had "the dampest squib of a finale", by The Guardian's Leila Latif.

The Telegraph's Ed Power declared it "surely the worst TV show of the year" adding that the series was "toe-curlingly naff and sexist", and "maintained a consistent awfulness throughout".

Over the next couple of days, I'll be working at the London Stadium supporting a concert by - er - The Weeknd. Perhaps it's best not to mention the reviews.

Here are a few "pro tips" for delivering a great performance

1) The impression that you create is not just about words. It is also about the way in which you stand, move, and interact with your audience. I'm not suggesting that you should over-act, but you need to behave in a slightly different way from normal conversation. For example, when you use gestures to make a point, or to indicate a feature on one of your slides, you should move your arm from the shoulder, not the elbow. If you use a flipchart, rehearse your moves first, so that you don't look clumsy. And if you are going to tear sheets off, pre-rip one inch on each of them to make your actions much easier.

2) Try to get closer to your audience. If you are speaking from a lectern, or from behind a desk, walk round it occasionally to eliminate the physical barrier between you. Of course, if you are using a microphone, it needs to be a radio mike, or your voice will disappear when you step forward.

3) Don't fold your arms when you are speaking. Maintain an open stance, and lean slightly forward. If you are standing, you will be more comfortable with one foot slightly in front of the other. By all means move around, but don't prowl around the stage like a tiger.

4) You are delivering a performance, so take some tips from actors. Rehearse your entrance and exit, so that you can appear and leave in a dignified manner. Remove any bulky objects from your pockets, and don't ever play with keys, coins, pens or anything else. If you can, place cue tape on the stage to remind you of the best places to stand.

5) Consider your appearance. Dress up, rather than down, so that you look at least as businesslike as your audience. If you are unsure, take advice from the meeting organiser - they will be happy to help. Always ask someone to check you over just before you go on stage - an untied shoelace or an unzipped zip could literally be your undoing.

6) Enjoy your performance, and include humour and interactivity where appropriate.

Notwithstanding the above, the most important thing is to be yourself, so if anything seems unnatural, don't do it!

Media interviews are often set up with an interviewer and two people with opposing views. The ensuing debate makes great TV (or radio), especially if discussions become heated. If you are one of the participants in a head-to-head interview, here are some tips on how to conduct yourself.

Firstly, do your homework. It will be easy to find what your opponent has said in the past, and you should use that to plan your response. However, you should also anticipate their likely line of argument in this case. Have a response ready for anything they may say.

Secondly, stick to your prepared position and back it up with evidence. Your job is to make sure that your message comes across, whatever the provocation. If your opponent makes a statement which is untrue, say so and explain why, but then move quickly back to your positive statement.

Thirdly, keep your cool. Both the interviewer and the other interviewee may put pressure on you. Do not shout, insult anyone or dismiss their arguments as invalid. Give reasons why you believe that your position is correct.

Lastly, prepare a pithy statement that summarises your position, and use it in your last answer (when the interviewer says "finally"). There's a 50/50 chance that yours will be the last response, but even if it isn't, your opponent will have little time to react.

There's been all sorts of speculation about the fate of Twitter ever since it was acquired by Elon Musk last year, for a massive sum of money.

He's already made some drastic changes, sacking hundreds of staff members and bringing in schemes to try to boost income. Now there are restrictions appearing on the number of tweets people can read each day, with the restrictions themselves seeming to change on a daily basis.

So should you be on Twitter? It still has a lot going for it, even if you can no longer browse it all day. It has millions of active users, and is still a place where news breaks.

But if you're looking to use Twitter in the medium to long-term as part of your social media strategy, I would advise you to be very wary indeed. Twitter is set to post a big loss in 2023. The company’s revenue is expected to fall to $3 billion this year, way down from the $5.1 billion revenue it made in 2021 as a public company.

There are more and more outages. Advertisers are pulling out. Investors say they've lost two-thirds of the value of their stakes.

Twitter hasn't fallen off its perch yet, but it may not be too long...

This sketch of course, has no connection to the problems at Twitter...

Look no further. Just get in touch.

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."