The Media Coach

Hi John,

It seems extraordinary (to me at least) that here in the UK, we still remember November 5th, when Guido Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were foiled in a bid to blow up Parliament.

Back in the day, I used to look forward to this time of year, when we built bonfires, launched rockets from milk bottles and tried to nail catherine wheels to our fence (the wheels always fell off and whizzed around the garden, expiring under a bush).

These days I don't even bother to go to see an organised display. Whatever, you do, keep your pets safe and secure.

Of course, these days government is nothing like the shambles it was in Guido Fawkes' Day. Or is it?

The COVID enquiry currently taking place is revealing an astonishing and toxic environment inside Number 10 while Boris Johnson was Prime Minister.

Dominic Cummings revealed that Boris was known as "The trolley" by "pretty much everyone" in Downing street because of his inconsistency and aimlessness. The level of swearing was even worse than in the comedy show "The Thick of It". Were these really the people in charge of the country?

A few places remain on my popular one-to-one speaker coaching services for 2024. I offer 12-month and 6-month courses that over a hundred speakers have already benefited from.

It's basically mentoring - I've been involved in the speaking profession for over 40 years, and I'm sharing my expertise.

If you'd like to have a chat about it, email me at [email protected].

My guests in the web radio show this week are two members of the band Mustangs of the West., Sherry Barnett and Suzannah Spring.

The band was formed as The Mustangs in California in the late 1980s, did well and broke up in 1997 to go their separate ways.

In 2017 they reformed as Mustangs of the West, and they've been touring as well as producing wonderful music.

It was a pleasure to speak with them. Hear our chat in the in the radio show.

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And of course there's a superb song from Mustangs of the West

The MediaMug of the week is a bar in Australia.

The Unley in Adelaide had announced their new drink in a now-deleted Instagram post, revealing the ‘Chandler Bing’, which was named after the popular character Matthew Perry played for ten seasons on the hit sitcom.

Matthew Perry was widely known to have suffered from an addiction to drugs and alcohol.

However, fans were quick to question the bar’s cocktail, with one commenting underneath: ‘This feels so wrong considering he battled alcoholism.’

‘You know he was an alcoholic, don’t you?’ responded another.

The manager of the bar has admitted making "an error in judgement". How true.

What makes a speaker exceptional? Opinions vary, but they obviously do things better than the vast majority of orators, or do some things that the rest of us don't do at all. Here's my take on four things that make a difference.

1) Be first in and last out The very best speakers know that connecting with the audience before a speech will make a big difference, and so will staying on until everyone goes home. Getting to know everyone behind the scenes, especially the audio-visual team, will also pay dividends.

2) Tell relevant stories Doing exactly the same speech, every time, to every audience may make you a good speaker, but it won't make you exceptional. That needs more thought and customisation. The best stories involve the listeners, and are often about apparently mundane things that everyone has experienced. It's the speaker's unique take on them that makes them magic.

3) Never stop learning No-one knows it all. Everyone needs feedback. The world's top speakers all have speech coaches. They all review their speeches in audio and video. They all ask for feedback from colleagues. They all watch other great speakers. They all read books and articles on speaking. They never stop learning.

4) Go with the flow Using the energy of the crowd, and reacting to it, is something that exceptional speakers do with consummate skill. It may mean departing from a prepared text, using a question or intervention to make a point, or simply staying silent for a few seconds. It comes with practice, and takes confidence, but it's something that really makes a difference.

I love to watch panel debates like BBC's "Question Time". They have a lot in common with comedy shows like "Have I got News for you?". What's the similarity? They all give the impression of being made up on the spot, but most of the dialogue has been carefully prepared in advance. All of us love to think that we'd be able to think of a funny line or withering put-down in the heat of debate, but it makes more sense to have a few pre-planned lines ready to deliver.

It's a great tactic. If you can come up with a brilliant one-liner, apparently without much thought, it will be noticed by the listeners. What's more, if it's a really good line, it will be "clipped" to be played in news bulletins for the next few hours. So it's worth giving a fair amount of thought to your one-liner before you are in front of a microphone.

Things which work well are twists on another line or slogan. Critic Dorothy Parker was brilliant at this type of delivery. One of her best - her review of the play "House Beautiful" was "House Beautiful is play lousy". Another critic, Walter Kerr, dismissed John Van Druten's play "I am a Camera." with the words "Me no Leica". The same review was resurrected four years later to pan Christopher Isherwood's film of the same name. That's how good these phrases can be.

Prepare and practice your one-liners. They could win you the debate.

For some people, social media is a way of finding new customers, a new audience, or a new market. I must admit, I do a little self-promotion on Twitter and Facebook now and again. But when I reflect on my main use of social media, it's not about connecting with new people. I use it far more to keep in touch with people I already know. I suspect you may be the same, and if you sat down and analysed your Facebook posts or Tweets, very many of them would be directed to someone you have met, or probably know quite well.

So for me, social media is like glue that holds relationships together. It's sadly not possible to meet people face to face that often, especially if they live on the other side of the world. A direct message on Twitter, a response to their posting on Facebook, or even a quick Zoom call when you see them online, all help to keep you connected. Next time you meet you can focus on the important stuff like who buys the next round of drinks.

On a regular basis, I stop what I'm doing and make contact with at least three people around the world that I know but haven't spoken to for a while. It takes five minutes, and it's a great way to keep in touch. Why not try it? The results will be amazing.

What if company logos were really honest? Viktor Hertz has a few ideas. (Warning - some are a bit rude)

A reminder to look no further. Just get in touch. 07986 852621

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."