The Media Coach

Hi John,

The media story of the week has of course been the scandalous treatment of Sub-Postmasters over a periond of twenty years by the Post Office.

Remarkably, it's taken a TV drama to bring the issue finally towards some form of resolution.

Toby Jones starred as Alan Bates in the ITV drama "Mr Bates versus the Post Office". The impact has been extraordinary.

It just goes to show what power the media can have when a story catches public opinion. I hope Mr Bates and all those affected can finally reach some kind of closure over what has been a shocking miscarriage of justice.

A reminder that everyone who signs up for my 12-month speaker coaching in 2024 will receive a free place at a one-day workshop in London in June, providing detailed intelligence on the speaking industry. That's on top of a year's coaching to improve your speaking, increase your fees/influence and getting more gigs.

Or if you'd prefer my six-month programme, just get in touch.

To find out more, simply email me at [email protected],

My guests in the radio show this week are two singer-songwriters - Jude Johnstone and Kevin Montgomery.

I met them both this week as they performed at the Camden Club in London, and they were kind enough to be interviewed before the show.

Jude is a remarkable songwriter who has had her songs recorded by by Laura Branigan, Trisha Yearwood, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler, Johnny Cash, Stevie Nicks, Mary Black, and others.

Kevin has a solid gold musical heritage and has worked with many music legends. He's a damn fine singer and songwriter himself.

So this week there's a bonus - two interviews and two songs.



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And there are two songs this week - one from Kevin Montgomery and one from Jude Johnstone.

The MediaMug of the week is fashion retailer BooHoo.

A BBC Panorama investigation has found that they have been putting "Made in UK" labels on clothes made in Asia.

Boohoo said the incorrect labels were down to a "misinterpretation of the labelling rules".

In terms of feeble excuses, that's about as feeble as it gets.

The BBC showed its findings to Chris Grayer, who spent more than 10 years as head of supplier ethical compliance at High Street retailer Next.

He said the mislabelling suggested that there had been a "significant failure of inspection" - and if it had happened where he had worked, "garments would be recalled or stopped from being sold and all the labels would have to be altered to the correct label".

Audience participation is not to everyone's taste. Some members of your audience (including me) will get up and look for the exit if you try to get them involved in a group exercise, such as "turn round and tell the person next to you how good they look". Probably because I cringe at the thought of mass participation, I never include it in my presentations.

However, I do involve one or two audience members in simple exercises to make a strong point. If you want to get someone on stage, asking for a volunteer does not always work. Of course, you can ask someone in advance, or find a friend or colleague to work with. I prefer to ask someone I don't already know, because I think it makes the point more effectively.

Here's the technique I use. To begin with, I ask the audience for a show of hands on two or three topics. I then ask if anyone has a question, or an experience they would like to relate. There are always several people that are happy to engage in dialogue, providing the opportunity to build a relationship. When I need a "volunteer", I return to one of the people I spoke to earlier, and ask them if they could help me out for a minute or two. They always say yes.

One more thing - never humiliate or patronise (as if you would). You're not a stand-up comedian (OK, if you are, look away for a minute). Be respectful and polite. And give them a reward for taking part - such as your latest book (yes, it's an advertising opportunity too).

One of the most common fears expressed by my media clients is that they will end up looking or sounding ridiculous because of the way their interview will be edited. This is far from the truth, for several reasons. The first, and perhaps most surprising reason is that people will often say the most ridiculous or incriminating things to an interviewer, sometimes without realising it. All the editor does is to select a clip that includes what the interviewee really said.

Secondly, there is no point in trying to "twist the words" of an interviewee. Any journalist who tried to do such a thing would be foolish, and risking their livelihood.

Thirdly, many people fail to get their message across because they haven't planned properly. When they see themselves on television later, their reaction is "That's not what I meant". Well, maybe it isn't, but that is what you said.



In order to avoid any post-interview trauma, make sure that you know your message, in detail, in advance. Keep your answers short and to the point. If you're happy with an answer, stop. If you follow simple guidelines, you will find that the final edit is much kinder to you, oddly enough.

Forgive me if you've heard this one before, but I still use it as a reminder. The old marketing acronym AIDA is relevant to all forms of selling, which is the purpose of social media for business.

AIDA, as you remember, stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. How does this apply to your social media promotion?

You were thinking of another Aida? OK. Here's a bit of the wonderful group Fascinating Aida.

Some mashups work really well. This one - a combination of Nirvana and Rick Astley works very well. And in a weird postscript, Dave Grohl invited Rick Astley on stage in Japan to sing Never gonna give you up with the Foo Fighters.

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."