The MediaCoach

Hi John,

I'm a huge fan of political dramas - the West Wing, House of Cards (UK and US versions), The Thick of It (OK, a black comedy really), but Aaron Sorkin, Michael Dobbs and Armando Iannucci between them couldn't have come up with a script as extraordinary as what has happened in the White House in the last six months. Whatever your political leanings, I doubt that you would have predicted the goings-on in the Trump administration. I bet that there are Hollywood scriptwriters following every move for the TV mini-series that will appear in 2020.

Mind you, there are extraordinary political events happening all around the world. Maybe we'll discuss them another time. Back in the real (?) world, the person we now know to be the BBC's highest-paid star, Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans, lost half a million listeners in the latest Rajar figures released this week. A good job he's not on performance-related pay, eh?

Christine Cashen is not only a superb and funny speaker, she was also the co-chair of the recent National Speakers Association Convention in Orlando. She made time in her very busy schedule to chat with me about humour and her new book about life and business. Hear our chat in the Media Coach Radio Show. There's also a fine ditty from the 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco.
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Without doubt, the best wind-up of the week, if not the year, was in the Test Match Special commentary box when Jonathan Agnew played a joke on cricketing legend Geoffrey Boycott. "Boycs" has planned a celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of his hundredth test century, scored at his home ground of Headingly in Leeds. Jonathan set up an elaborate plan to pretend that it was only his 99th century. It will make sense when you listen. Thanks to Kim Lavely and a host of others for suggesting "Aggers" as the MediaMaster of the week!

I must mark Anthony Scaramucci's brief tenure as White House Communications Director with a MediaMug award before he becomes a footnote to history. He lasted but ten days, following a foul-mouthed tirade to journalists about people he intended to fire. Apparently he's one of the few White House staffers to be dismissed before his official employment start date. It's a shame in one way, since he was a gift to comedians, but maybe he will now find a role as an actor in the remake of The Sopranos.

TEN WAYS TO AVOID A STANDING OVATION

At the end of your speech, if audience members leap to their feet, clapping and cheering, it's so embarrassing, isn't it? It takes ages to calm things down again, and it ruins your walk off stage. Well here are ten ways to make sure it never happens to you.

There. That should guarantee that they stay in their seats, if they haven't already walked out.

KEEPING THINGS CLEAR

As the old saying goes "Jargon is a weed in the garden of language" How true that is, since it's prolific and hard to get rid of. But eliminate it you must, if you wish to be understood in the media. Many professional people use jargon all the time, since it provides a shorthand way of communicating with fellow professionals. Unfortunately, no-one outside the profession will have any idea what they mean. Every day, I see "experts" on TV, who clearly understand their topic, but fail to communicate anything useful to their viewers.

A good interviewer will always ask you to explain technical or complex terms. But they shouldn't need to. The trick is to imagine that you are communicating with an eleven-year-old - someone with a good grasp of language, but without a deep knowledge of your topic. The rule is very simple. If an eleven-year-old wouldn't understand it, don't say it.

Alas, there is also a tendency for expert interviewees to use initials without explaining what they mean. QED.

Simple really, isn't it? Well, apparently not for a spokesperson for house sellers Rightmove, interviewed by the BBC about house prices in the UK. He said "The substantial drops in asking prices are demonstrating, if proof be needed, further confirmation of the underlying trend of more sellers re-adjusting their prices in a downward direction". So prices are falling then? I'm glad that's clear. Taxi for the chap from Rightmove, please

LEARN TO PLAY ON EVERY SURFACE

The top tennis players have to learn to play on all types of surface. They may have a preference, but in order to reach the highest rankings, they have to have an all-round game that works on any type of court.

When you're engaging with your customers and potential clients via social media, you don't always get to choose the type of environment. If they like to chat on Facebook, that's where you need to be, even if Twitter is your network of choice. In other words, you need to learn how to adapt your social media game to the place where you need to play it.

Learning to use an unfamiliar social network is just like learning to play on grass if you only ever play on a clay court. You start slowly, watching what the other players do. You try a few things out and see what works. As you become more confident, you start to stretch yourself and try some of the more complex functions. You may find that you become more adept than the people who were there in the first place.

Don't be afraid to get involved on new social networks. People are often happy to help you. You need to develop an all-court game so that when you need to talk to customers, you are literally on familiar ground.

It's an outrage. At least, some Daily Mail readers think so. The Poke has created a Periodic Table of what winds them up.

My one-to-one speaker coaching program has just three places left for for 2018. Reply to this email for more details.

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."