| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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We've just walked the 74Km (46 miles) of the Peddars Way in Norfolk. I can report that the beer was excellent everywhere.
It was great to get out in the open air, even if we sometimes had to walk for fifteen miles without even seeing a shop to pick up water.
The places we stayed in - a hotel a B&B and a couple of pubs - were all very welcoming, though they all had different ways of dealing with the COVID-19 situation. One pub served all food in cardboard boxes with wooden cutlery. The food was great, but it was a bit like eating on a plane. My shoes fell apart on the trail (luckily I had a spare pair) and by the time we finished in Hunstanton, we reckoned we'd walked a good fifty miles.
I recommend a great walk to anyone, and I recommend any woman interested in walking to join Heather Waring's Facebook group - One Million Women Walking.
Most of all, at a time when many of us are holidaying at home, it's a real pleasure to see what natural wonders are on our doorsteps. |
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Guy Clapperton is a media mentor, speaker and journalist. Once upon a time, we used to do shows in adjoining TV studios in Wandsworth. These days, we are friends, speakers and trainers. I chatted to Guy a few days ago about his business as The Near Futurist, and of course, we discussed the near future, as you can hear in The Media Coach Radio Show.
There's also a great song from the 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco |
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In a change to our published programme this week, there is no MediaMug, but two MediaMaestros. I will explain.
The first MediaMaestro is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who made a superb speech rejecting the "apology" of Republican Ted Yoho who called her a 'f****** b****' on the steps of the Capitol Building. He declined to actually apologise.
She spoke about rejecting the power that some men think they have over women. I think it is superb, and I wish there were more women like her in politics to be a role model to our daughters.
She spoke powerfully, including this quote: "This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural. It is a culture of lack of impunity, of accepting of violence and violent language against women, and an entire structure of power that supports that."
See what you think.
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The second MediaMaestro is a blues guitarist who I regard as the greatest UK exponent of the genre that I have ever seen.
Peter Green died this week. He was the founder of an iconic band, Fleetwood Mac, though he left the group before they achieved their greatest success.
He was shy and modest, refusing to name the band after himself, even though he was the most talented musician and front man. Instead, he used the names of the drummer and bass player, since he thought they never received much credit.
He was looked up to by Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana, who recorded one of his compositions, Black Magic Woman, as a tribute to him.
I first watched Peter play at my grandfather's blues club in 1968. I served drinks to the band. He showed me a couple of blues chords. I bought a guitar the next day. Alas, I could never play it like him. |
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| Speaking Tip - Now, where was I? |
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Even the best speaker can lose their place during a speech. Of course, one thing to do would be to check your notes - but the Pros among us don't use notes do we? So how can you recover from temporary memory loss?
One way is to stall for time, using a phrase such as "Can you still hear me at the back?", while desperately searching your memory banks for the next link. However, this only works for a few seconds, and doesn't sound very professional. Another technique is to give the audience a brief exercise to do, giving you a little more time to gather your thoughts.
Another option is to simply ask the audience "Where was I?". Provided you only do it once (or maybe twice) in a speech, you'll get away with it. I've also seen it used as a deliberate ploy to check if the audience is really listening (it's a real problem for you if they weren't).
My suggestion, though is to use a strategy that I first read about in Dale Carnegie's book on public speaking. He says that you should take the last word of a sentence, and use the word or idea to begin the next one. For example, if you dry on the line "Networking requires practice", continue by saying "Practice - the only way to get better at anything is to constantly repeat it until it becomes ingrained." If you're still stuck, carry on thus "By ingrained, I mean that it becomes a natural part of your behaviour, requiring no conscious thought". Of course, this can't go on forever either, but at least you can sound fairly fluent while you are recovering. |
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| Media Tip - Cut the cliches |
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Cliches become well-used because they summarise concepts in a few words. People, especially when under pressure in media interviews, can use a cliche as part of their response.
They are often memorable, and sometimes funny. The problem with them is that their over-use becomes irritating to listeners or viewers, who will then miss the point you're making.
I suggest avoiding cliches as much as you can. (Yes, there's the old gag about avoiding cliches like the plague). Here are some examples of cliches, and how you can say it differently:
It's a no-brainer (It's obvious) If you can dream it you can be it (Actually you can't, so this is a lie as well as a cliche) Change is the only constant (More nonsense. Sometimes things stay the same for ages) A bad day at the office (A bad day) It's a marathon, not a sprint (It takes a long time) Thinking outside the box (Being creative) It's not rocket science (It's simple) Young and old alike (this adds no meaning at all, so may be dispensed with altogether)
As well as avoiding cliches, you might make up some of your own. For example:
As short as a tweet Less trustworthy than an inheritance email If life gives you lemons, hand them back. They aren't what you ordered.
You get the idea.
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| Social Media Tip - A touch of grey |
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My hair has turned grey, but I prefer to call it "distinguished". It's a sign of age (and hopefully wisdom). But that's not what I'm talking about here. I notice two aspects to "greyness" in social media. The first is obvious - a grey silhouette where your picture should be. That won't do. It's hard enough to make a personal connection online without hiding yourself in the shadows. So, please, a nice smiling head and shoulders picture. That's better.
The other aspect of greyness is simply being dull. You do have to make a bit of an effort. There's no need to go over the top and tell everyone how wonderful you are, but you do need to say something of interest. Focus on your expertise, and especially on what help you can offer others.
Mention some specific examples of how your expertise has been of benefit to people. Be careful of overt marketing (social media doesn't work for that), but make it very clear what you do. Don't be grey online. But no need to reach for the hair dye either. |
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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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