| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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The gradual process of emerging from lockdown began round my way this week, with outdoor pub tables dusted with snow.
We decided not to rush out for a cold beer in a cold beer garden, but we did venture out for breakfast later in the week to our local coffee shop and bar, Kikirocs.
It felt a bit strange to be at a table ordering food and drink, but it was wonderful to see one of our favourite local haunts re-opening its garden so that we could sit under a heater with coffee and eggs Benedict.
I had a chat with Matt and Joe who run the place, and they told me that virtually all of their food and drink is from local suppliers here in East London. They've all been suffering over the past year, so I think it's down to all of us to eat and drink to help them out.
Whatever is happening near you, I hope you can get out soon and support your local businesses.
(And yes, I know I need a haircut - it's this weekend!) |
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And in the "news you may have missed" section this week, a legal dispute has broken out between two supermarkets over a cake shaped like a caterpillar (I'm not making this up).
Marks & Spencer has begun legal action against Aldi, arguing the supermarket's Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake infringes its Colin the Caterpillar trademark.
The retailer has three trademarks relating to Colin, which it believes means Colin has acquired and retains an enhanced distinctive character and reputation.
Yes, in a court somewhere a barrister is arguing that a cake has a "'reputation". I wonder if the jury get slices of it with their tea? |
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| My guest in the Web Radio Show this week is singer/songwriter Jessica Lee Morgan.
She is a whole-hearted singer songwriter who doesn’t beat around the bush. She’s been raised on rock and folk by legendary parents (Mary Hopkin and Tony Visconti) and writes songs that reflect her upbringing and jobs in the real world.
She's been doing gigs online with her partner, Christian Thomas, and has deservedly built a dedicated following.
Listen to our chat, and hear her music, in this week's Media Coach Radio Show. |
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The MediaMaestro is Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, who died this week at the age of 90. She was my political hero and role model. Many tributes have been paid to her, so I won't repeat them here, but I will share a story.
Back in 1982, just after the formation of the SDP, I was a local organiser and was invited to a meeting at party HQ, at 4 Cowley Street in Westminster.
There were about a dozen of us there and the meeting was chaired by Shirley Williams, who delivered a most inspiring speech about upcoming elections and our role as organisers. About 25 minutes into the meeting, the door opened and I was handed a note to pass round the table to Shirley. Naturally, I glanced at it. It read "David Owen wants the room. Be out in ten minutes".
The note made its way round to Shirley, who studied it for a moment, and scribbled a reply. The note made its way back round to me, to hand to David's messenger. Of course, I glanced at it again. She had crossed out the request and written "Shirley Williams has the room. Tell him to Eff off (politely)".
The meeting resumed without interruption. May she rest in peace. |
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The MediaMug is Canadian MP William Amos, who has represented the Quebec district of Pontiac since 2015,
He appeared on the screens of his fellow lawmakers completely naked on Wednesday.
“This was an unfortunate error,” Amos said in a statement sent by email.
“My video was accidentally turned on as I was changing into my work clothes after going for a jog. I sincerely apologise to my colleagues in the House of Commons for this unintentional distraction. Obviously, it was an honest mistake and it won’t happen again.”
“This is a warning to everybody,” Holland added. “You’ve got to really always assume that camera is on and be very careful any time you wander anywhere near that camera that you’re dressed appropriately.” Asked if he will be issuing a warning to all Liberal lawmakers to that effect, Holland said: “Oh, big time.”
At least he was showing the flag. |
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| Speaking Tip - How strong is your speech? |
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Delivering a strong speech depends on a number of things. Here are five elements that I think are very important:
1) Insight. Your audience expects you to be well-informed on your topic. You need to be general enough to get your ideas across, but show that you have an insight that no-one else has come up with.
2) Analogies/Parallels. You need to be able to demonstrate how a current situation relates to one that has gone before. This makes it much easier for your audience to understand.
3) Evidence. It's no good making statements that you can't justify. You need to provide examples to support your argument, rather than to make your argument.
4) Endorsement. This is like calling an expert witness in a court case. If you can cite (other) acknowledged experts who agree with you, it makes your case much stronger.
5) Humour. This is not (definitely not) joke-telling. Leave that to the stand-up comedians. Your humour should be natural and in context with the speech.
If you can combine all those five elements, your speech will be strong and purposeful. All you need to do then is to deliver it well.
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| Media Tip - Riff off the news |
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Musicians talk about riffing off a theme, by taking a melody and moving it on. You can do the same thing with news stories.
Regardless of your area of expertise, there are bound to be stories that you're qualified to comment on. The difficulty is bringing that to the attention of the news media, and doing it quickly. The news cycle can be very short - a matter of hours - and if you are too late, everything has moved on.
However, even if you don't manage to snag a media interview, you can still generate a lot of interest by publishing articles online. You can use your blog, or sites like LinkedIn. The trick is to make the headline relate to a current news story, and then use some of your slightly modified existing material as the body of the article.
For example, when the Volkswagen emission story broke a few years ago, it was obvious that their reputation was in jeopardy. I could have published my regular five-point plan about how to recover a reputation. By giving it the headline "VW=Very Worried", I was able to get on the front page of Google for a few hours, securing several radio and TV interviews in the process.
When you spot the chance to riff off a news story, act fast. You will find that your speed and expertise is noticed by journalists.
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| Social Media Tip - Who are you? |
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Depending on your age and musical inclination, you may have a song by The Who in your head, and no bad thing.
However, this tip is about how to present yourself online, or rather how not to. I accept the fact that some people want to remain anonymous. Fair enough. Don't post comments on social media then.
And if you do post comments, articles and images, it would be nice to at least see you. It's easy to upload a profile picture. Allow me to offer you a little guidance about what not to upload:
An image of your favourite celebrity An image of your pet A picture of you cropped from your wedding photo 20 years ago Any photo of you over ten years old A photo of you at ten years old A photo of you with someone you admire (which one are you?) An image that summarises your political opinion
Instead, a simple up-to-date head and shoulders shot with a nice smile will do very well. Thanks! |
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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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