The MediaCoach

Hi John,

We're in Ireland at the moment, heading to a wedding of a good friend's daughter in Donegal, before going down to Dublin to meet up with my best pal, the marvellous Sean Weafer and his family in Dublin. There's more than a chance of tasting an adult beverage at some point. Yesterday, we arrived in Derry (or Londonderry if you prefer) to see my mother-in-law and spend a bit of time in one of the most historic cities in the UK. Last year, our daughter Ellie was here making a short documentary about the impact of The Troubles on her mother, aunt and grandmother. If you haven't seen it, you might like to take a look.

A reminder that there are a few places left on my Storytelling Masterclass on October 18th at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, London - an iconic venue that's been the home of thousands of stories. I'd love to see you there - here's the link to find out more and reserve your place.

Speakers sometimes call themselves "award winning". It usually means nothing. In the case of my radio guest this week, it's utterly true. Bill Stainton has won twenty-nine Emmy awards.He talks about leadership and creativity. Listen to my chat with him in the Media Coach Radio Show. There's also a song from the 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco.
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This week's MediaMaster gong is a group award to a bunch of unsung heroes - those performers who go to the Edinburgh Fringe with their shows, that they've sweated over for months, only to have a tiny audience turn up. I performed at the Fringe five years ago, and I was lucky enough to have a crowd of several hundred, but many aren't so lucky. Sometimes the performers outnumber the audience. So I salute them all. Next year, a few of my pals are up there with their own shows, and I hope to go and support them. I hope you will too!

The MediaMug award goes to another sports channel this week. Fox Sports News in New Zealand aired an advert showing children struggling to pronounce the the 'funniest' player names in the NRL (National Rugby League), most of which were Pacific Islander surnames. But the "Footy Kids in Cars" video has not gone down well with players. Former Samoa international Frank Puletua told 9News he was "disappointed that a segment like that got to air without any sort of thought about how it might be perceived by people in Pacific Island league communities." Some former players called it "casual racism". Fox Sports removed the advert and apologised. I'm amazed it was ever broadcast.

PACE YOURSELF

Winners like Mo Farah aren't the ones who set off at a hundred miles an hour and then run out of steam. Nor are they people who start very slowly and then work like mad at the end. They are people who know how to pace themselves steadily through an event, so that they finish with a flourish, but are always in the race.

One of the most common faults that I notice in inexperienced speakers is the tendency to speak too quickly. That may be due to nerves, or to a wish to get the speech over as quickly as possible. The trouble is, you may be speaking faster than your audience is thinking, which means that your message will not get across.

You need to consider the pace at which you deliver your words. Here are a few tips:

You'll be a winner!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WILL ASK ME

One of the most common questions that comes up when I'm preparing people for media interviews is "I don't know what they are going to ask - how will I cope?". Well, preparing them for the questions is my job, so we work through how they can deal with whatever is thrown at them. Many questions can be anticipated and answers planned. However, the unexpected question may always arise. Here are a few ways to respond to those tricky ones.

1) The Mind-Reader question You may be asked why another company or individual took a particular decision. Of course, you have no idea, and to speculate could get you into trouble. The classic response is to say "You'd have to ask them", but that can come across as a bit rude, and even unhelpful. It's better to say 'Well I don't know about that, but what I can tell you is why we came to our decision"

2) The Yes or No Question This is a trap for the unwary. Though interviewers rarely ask closed questions, they may do so in order to create a headline. For example, you might be asked "You don't please every customer, do you - a simple yes or no?" If you say yes, then the reporter can say that you agreed not all your customers are happy. However, if you expand your answer, even to a closed question by avoiding yes or no, you will remain in control of the quote. So you could say "The satisfaction of every customer is important to us, and we do everything we can to ensure that we do whatever is necessary to maintain that relationship".

3) The Mastermind Question This is a question you couldn't possibly get right, such as "Exactly how many of your ten thousand clients are in the London region?". You might amaze the interviewer by knowing the exact number, but it's more likely that you won't have a clue. Rather than say "I don't know", which makes you sound as though you aren't on top of things, say something like "Many of our ten thousand clients are in London, and just like in every other region, the numbers are growing rapidly".

A THOUSAND WORDS WORTH

There's the old adage about pictures being worth a thousand words. Is that true on social media? I'm not sure, but one thing I am certain about is that pictures increase engagement. If you run a restaurant, pictures of food or happy customers will help people to understand your business. If you're a personal trainer, images of people keeping fit will encourage people to call. If you're a photographer - well, you understand the principle already

There's an increasing emphasis on imagery on social networks. Flickr provides a terabyte of space free for each account. That's enough for over half a million high-definition pictures. Instagram is still growing rapidly, as are the many applications to edit and modify images, such as Snapseed.

Simply adding a picture to your social media content is not going to do the trick. Here are some tips on using images:

This does exactly what it promises. It takes you to useless websites. But some are just fascinating.

On October 18th, I'll be sharing my storytelling secrets. Only eight places left, so book now

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."