The Media Coach

Hi John,

As I mentioned last week, I was at at Queen's Club for the Cinch Tennis Championships.

I was fortunate enough to be in a position to hear the players self-talk as they collected balls for their next service game.

I won't report which players said what, but the chat to themselves included:

"Get the ball over the net"

"Hit it to his backhand"

and "Keep the ball in play"

So now I know what to say, and all I need to work on is the execution.

I won't be saying too much about the election (as usual).

I've already voted by post as I won't be around on polling day. And I can guarantee that next week's missive will be politics-free, mainly because I will be writing it before the result is known.

So the only thing I would urge you to do, if you are eligible to do so, is to vote. Thank you.

Last call for The Exceptional Speaker Masterclass - an in-person day in Central London on Tuesday 23rd July from 9.30am to 4pm.

Learn how to plan, structure and deliver sensational speeches with energy and passion.

Practical, informative and life changing.

£247 (no VAT), including a signed copy of The Exceptional Speaker, all refreshments and lunch.

If you sign up for my 6 or 12 month coaching programme, the day is free.

Get in touch now to book your place.

My guest in the radio show this week is Andrea Pacini

Andrea, author of the best-selling book Confident Presenter, is a presentation coach and Head of Ideas on Stage UK. He specialises in working with business owners, leaders and their teams who want to become more confident presenters.

He has been featured on numerous industry blogs and podcasts.

Andrea is the main voice of the Ideas on Stage Podcast, where he has interviewed some of the most authoritative voices in the leadership communication space, including Seth Godin, Daniel Pink, Garr Reynolds, Carmine Gallo and Dr John Medina.

Andrea is on a mission to stop great ideas from failing just because of the way they are presented. His vision is to help hundreds of thousands of business leaders inspire their audiences, increase their influence and make a positive impact in the world.

Hear our fascinating chat in the in the radio show

Go to the MediaCoach Show

Follow me on X (Twitter)

And there's a great song from Rob Corcoran.

The MediaMug of the week goes to software company Adobe, which has been accused by US authorities of violating consumer protection laws with "hidden" termination fees and a convoluted cancellation process.

Adobe disputed the claims and said it would fight the lawsuit.

"We are transparent with the terms and conditions of our subscription agreements and have a simple cancellation process," said Dana Rao, chief trust officer.

But the company's sign-up process is unclear, according to the complaint, in some cases failing to disclose that customers are making a commitment to pay for a year and not stating the cost of cancelling early, even though the fee can amount to hundreds of dollars.

If customers try to cancel, the company also allegedly takes them through a "convoluted process", requesting re-entry of their password and navigation past multiple pop-up screens, the complaint suggests.

It's about time that software agreements were made simpler.

Sometimes, you need to make a team presentation. You may be pitching for business, talking to shareholders, or explaining a new development to residents. The rules of presenting (see previous issues) still apply to the person who is speaking, but there is now more to consider. For example, who will be presenting? In what sequence? How will transitions be made? Will you have a facilitator?

As always, it comes down to good preparation. One person should take charge of the planning and co-ordination, and ensure that the whole team understands what will happen. They should also be the person who makes the decision on what to do if things go wrong. Ideally, the separate presentations should fit together to form a coherent message. That will probably require several rehearsals, for both words and visual aids (if used).

Even the staging is important, and whether the whole team will be on-stage together, or appear one at a time. In the latter case, remember to practice the changeover, particularly if microphones are involved. Never, ever, try to switch from one laptop to another - something will go wrong, leading to embarrassed asides to the audience. If you are on stage together, remember that you are all on display at all times, so show your respect and attention to the person speaking.

I once saw a pitch ruined by a two team members who clearly had a private joke running about another speaker's style of delivery. They lost the pitch, of course.

Obviously, it's all about good teamwork. If you are going to win people to your point of view, you need to be at your best, at all times. Plan, prepare and practice.

Sometimes people say to me "I do all sorts of amazing things, but I never seem to get any press coverage." Of course not, since reporters can only report on what they know about. Sending out media releases is not really the answer either, since the sheer volume of information these days means that your carefully-crafted words will rarely be seen by a journalist, let alone read.

If you want to get noticed by the media, you have to do something about it. If you don't tell people what you do, you will remain - er - unknown.

So who do you tell? Well, if you want to get into a media outlet look at the staff lists, and find the email address or phone number of the Editor and Deputy Editor. The latter is often more receptive, since the Editor is busy, and the Deputy is often seeking to make a name for themselves by breaking stories. For TV shows, watch the credits and contact either the producer or director (work out the email format that the TV company uses for names by checking their website). For radio, check the station's website.

In every case, contact a person directly and politely with some real news. Don't waste their time with announcements about a new branch opening in Neasden (or anywhere else).

If you're a regular reader, you may recall that my favourite film is Field of Dreams (for very personal reasons I won't go into here). The title of this week's tip is a critical quote from the film. The film's hero, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice telling him to "Go the distance" at a critical point in the story when he is close to giving up.

Social media is a long game too. There are few instant results, and you need to stick with it before you will see the benefit of your efforts. That's one of the problems with trying to overlay a return on investment (ROI) on a social media campaign. It's certainly possible to achieve a financial return from social media activity, but more often than not, the return is less tangible.

If you or your organisation embark on a social media campaign, consider your objectives carefully, and the ways in which you will measure results. It's better to look at building a community than making a quick profit.

You need to invest time, and you need to keep it up. If you're a social media manager, you'll need to hold your nerve when the finance director (FD) asks for your profit and loss figures. Fortunately, even hard-nosed FDs are becoming aware that you need to keep engaging with customers month on month, year on year before you can measure the returns.

You need to keep focused on your customer. If you build it, he (or she) will come, but only if you are prepared to go the distance.

Here's one of my favourite speakers, the late Jeanne Robertson, with a wonderful story. A brilliant piece of storytelling.

Investing in a one-day course could save you a fortune one day. 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."