| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Hi John,
Many years ago (more than I care to count), I used to be a teacher at a school in Hertfordshire. At this time of year, the whole school was given a day off, which was designated "Autumn Tints Day". The idea was to go for a walk and enjoy the autumn colours as the leaves changed hues and slowly fell from the trees. I'm not sure that many of the pupils embraced the full meaning of the day, and I don't think I did either. However, these days, I've become a bit more relaxed and reflective, so wandering through Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park this week, I simply enjoyed the autumn tints. Better late than never, eh? |
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And the very next day, I was inside a training room in the City of London, helping a group of financial experts improve their communication skills. On the way there, on a grey and soggy early morning, I was thinking to myself that there wouldn't be any autumn tints to see at all. I was right, but when I arrived on the eighth floor, and started to set up my equipment, there turned out to be a more than decent view after all.
I guess it's all about enjoying your surroundings, wherever you happen to be.
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Steve Bingham (third from left) is an old rocker. He played with Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance when Ronnie left The Faces, and is still playing with them, as well as with veteran soul man Geno Washington. I spoke to him a couple of years back, and it's worth listening to again.
Hear him in the Media Coach Radio Show. There's also a wonderful Ronnie Lane song from his old band, Slim Chance. They will be at the Half Moon pub in Putney tonight - see you there? |
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The MediaMaestro is a band that I have never seen and have never been among my favourites - Coldplay. However, I take my hat off to them for the brilliant way they have been promoting their new album, Sunrise and Sunset.
They have been placing ads in the classified sections of newspapers around the world.They started close to home with local papers in north Wales and Devon but also included Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, the Otago Daily Times in New Zealand and Le Monde in France.
In the North Wales Daily Post, the advertisement sits alongside ads for bales of hay and a fridge-freezer. In the Express and Echo, a Devon newspaper, it appears above an ad for a car boot sale and next to an advertisement for someone seeking a tenant in their apartment.
Very clever. And it worked - even I'm talking about them! |
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The MediaMug is Naomi Wolf, who has had to cancel the publication of her new book after being caught out in a radio interview.
Outrages: Sex, Censorship and the Criminalisation of Love details the persecution of homosexuality in Victorian Britain. But during a BBC radio interview in May, it came to light that the author had misunderstood key 19th Century English legal terms within the book.
During an interview on BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking programme, presenter Matthew Sweet questioned key claims within it. Dr Wolf alleged she had discovered that "several dozen" men were executed for having homosexual sex during the 19th Century. "I don't think you're right about this," Sweet replied, before detailing the term "death recorded" in fact meant that judges had abstained from handing down a death sentence. "I don't think any of the executions you've identified here actually happened," he said.
He was correct. Publication of the book has been cancelled in the USA, and future UK editions will be amended. |
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| Speaking Tip - A Speaking Hat-Trick! |
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There's a splendid hat shop just off St Martin's Lane in London, where just I bought myself a splendid hat. A blue trilby, in fact. It gives me the opportunity for a tortured link to the phrase "hat-trick".
A hat-trick, of course, is three similar events occurring close together. It may be three goals by the same footballer in a match, three wickets in consecutive deliveries by a bowler, or three Oscars for the same film. Three is an important number for speakers too. In classical rhetoric, a set of three words or phrases is known as a tricolon. An example from the Gettysburg Address is "...government of the people, for the people, by the people...". Regardless of why this works, it definitely does work, and helps to emphasise a message, making it truly memorable.
Another important three is the three-part story technique. Many speakers use only the first two parts of the technique, some only the first. Here are all three:
Tell a story. Emphasise the point of the story, and explain the principle it demonstrates. Give the audience an example of the principle in their world.
It's the third part of the technique that really makes the message hit home and stay in their memories.
The third "three" is a complete speech structure, based on three stories, bracketed by a strong opening and closing. Speeches can be overloaded with too much information and too many stories, leaving the audience confused. On the other hand, a speech based on a single story can become too detailed. Using three appropriate stories, each of which makes a strong and related point seems to be about right. So there you have it. A hat-trick of hat-tricks. A meta hat-trick if you will. Perhaps we'll leave it there! |
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| Media Tip - Four Media Myths |
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Here are four things about media relations that are "popular wisdom", which are also "wrong".
1) Once I'm on national TV, I've made it. Wrong for several reasons. A one-off appearance is quickly forgotten. Your time will be limited. Local TV and radio has a more loyal audience. Being on national TV may be good for the ego, but may not be the best thing for your business
2) All publicity is good publicity. Try asking any organisation that's handled a media crisis badly if that is true for them (BP or Volkswagen, for example). Bad publicity is bad, and good publicity is good.
3) Getting press mentions is a matter of luck. Though there's sometimes an element of good fortune, most press mentions of an organisation or individual are the result of careful planning, combined with perfect timing. You won't get mentioned every time you contact the press, but there are a lot of things you can do to increase your chance of coverage.
4) Only bad news gets reported. While the old adage "it if bleeds, it leads" still has a lot of truth to it, there is also a demand for good news stories, especially about the economy. If you are creating jobs, increasing exports or building a successful company, your story will appeal to journalists, especially if you have a local angle. |
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| Social Media Tip - Seven ways to lose Facebook friends |
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There are many ways to gain friends on Facebook, but also many ways to lose them. I'm presuming that your aim is the former, so I've listed a number of techniques that I've seen people employ in the hope of getting more connections, but which end up having exactly the opposite effect. Not that you'd do any of these things, of course, but sometimes it's useful to observe how others get things wrong.
1. Tagging in unrelated images. I'm sure you've been a victim of this one. You see a notification that you've been tagged in a post, and when you take a look it's an image with a motivational cliche or an advert for an event.
2. An invitation to play an online game. If you're the type that enjoys Candy Crush, the chances are you are already playing it. Constant requests to join people you don't know playing a game you don't care for are pointless.
3. A personal attack. However strongly you feel about an issue, there's no point being rude to someone who disagrees (even if they started it). Just walk away, in a virtual manner.
4. One-track posts. Posting on one theme all the time, such as motivational quotes, is dull in the extreme.
5. Telling people what to do. Advice is fine, since people can choose to take it or ignore it. Instruction is quite different. Telling someone that they simply must take the course of action you suggest is arrogant and rude.
6. Sending personal messages to strangers. There's an etiquette here. If you haven't had any connection with someone, don't send them a PM.
7. Adding people to groups. This is incredibly rude. Adding people to your group without asking first is like online kidnapping. Don't do it. So there you go. On the other hand, if you are polite, helpful and respectful of the views of others, you'll have plenty of friends. |
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| 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." |
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