The MediaCoach

Hi John,

It's rare in politics for someone to walk out of a job before they were forced out. I therefore give high praise to the (now) former sports minster, Tracy Crouch, who resigned her post over "delays" to a crackdown on maximum stakes for fixed-odds betting machines. Ms Crouch said the Chancellor of the Exchequer had pushed back the date in an "unjustifiable" way in his budget this week, and it could cost problem gamblers' lives. She tweeted: "Politicians come and go but principles stay with us forever." Well done to her.

Every year, on November 5th, the Edenbridge Bonfire Society in Kent selects a well-known figure to be the guy on their bonfire. Past "victims" include Donald Trump, Tony Blair and Harvey Weinstein. So who would they choose to go up in flames this year? None other than the former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson. Artist Andrea Deans, who painted the effigy, said Mr Johnson was "the obvious option", with his hair, love of cycling and association with Brexit meaning the "possibilities were endless" when it came to the design. Mr Johnson has not commented, which in itself is a bit unusual.

I have a webpage with all the details of my professional speaker coaching programme for 2019. As of now, I have two places left on the one day a month option, and two places left on the two hours a month option. If you want to increase your fees, boost your bookings, and create killer keynotes, let me know very soon!

One of the UK's greatest writers of hit songs is Russ Ballard. He wrote classics such as "God Gave Rock And Roll to you","You win again", "Since you've been gone" and many more in a 40 year plus career. I spoke to him last year, and you can hear our chat in the Media Coach Web Radio Show. There is also his version of a hit he wrote for Rainbow - "Since you've been gone". Get those arms in the air!
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The MediaMaestro award goes to someone who stars in his own podcast (which is even more popular than mine), as well as being no mean dancer. Peter Crouch, the statuesque former footballer is the presenter of "That Peter Crouch Podcast" (nice name eh?), which now runs to seven episodes and in my view at least, is great radio. He links up with Tom Fordyce and Chris Stark to chat about football, fashion and nights out. i think it's one of the best shows around.

The MediaMug of the week is the editor of Waitrose Food magazine, William Sitwell. He was forced to step down from his role after suggesting a series on "killing vegans, one by one". Of course, no-one is suggesting he was really advocating violence, but his comments were daft. Waitrose said: "William's email absolutely doesn't represent our views about vegans and vegan food." They also said that even though it was a private email, "William's gone too far" and that his words were "extremely inappropriate". An interesting case. Given his position, I think he had to go.

ONE, TWO, THREE

I'm sure that by now you know the speaker's "rule of three", or as it's known in classic rhetoric, a Tricolon. Whenever you are giving a list of items, always try to make it a list of three. It's easy on the ear, and is also easy for both you and the audience to remember. The "speaker's triplet" is also often used to trigger applause (known as a "claptrap") in political speeches, since the audience recognises that the list is complete as the third item is spoken.

Why does it work? I don't know, and don't really care (though I'm sure that I will receive some explanations as a result of this article). The thing is, it does work, so you should use it. You can use the same word ("education, education, education"), three different words ("faith, hope and charity"), or three phrases ("Government of the people, by the people, for the people") You can even use three complete sentences ("The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us" - Nelson Mandela)

Even in debates, if you are unsure about how to deliver a list, just give the first two that you can think of. Other listeners, aware that the list cannot be complete, will wait for several seconds before speaking, giving you time to gather your thoughts.

Finally, consider making the last item longer than the others ("life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness").This gives an implicit emphasis on the importance of the last in the list, and allows you to finish with a flourish (or maybe three flourishes)

Excellent. That's it. Very well done you.

A SOUND BITE IN TIME

- can save nine, as my Gran would have said if she'd been a PR expert. However, you may have very little time to react and craft a perfect message when a reporter calls. It is more important to be responsive to the media than to spend hours deciding the best possible response. If you don't supply a statement or quote quickly, someone else will, and they may be a rival, or someone with a grudge against your organisation. You need to establish yourself, very quickly, as a prime source of information that the media can approach to for a viewpoint.

If a journalist tells you that they need a response by eleven o'clock in the morning, you need to supply it by five to eleven, not ten past eleven. A few minutes late can mean that your brilliant quote may never be heard. Of course, you can sometimes prepare your quote in advance, such as when a report is due for publication, and you know you will be asked to comment. In the apparent "heat of the moment" you can then deliver your carefully crafted message.

The best way to deal with a sudden media request is to have a list of agreed "position statements" in the hands of anyone who might be confronted by a camera or microphone. Update these statements regularly - say every three months - and your spokespeople will be able to deal with most issues without having to call a meeting first. When I was a media spokesman for a large organisation, I could recite any one of ten position statements on various issues, and could adapt them for any situation. That's what you need to do too, otherwise you could be caught out.

Time, as they say, is of the essence. You need to be on the ball, all the time.

ARE YOU SURE THAT'S A GOOD IDEA?

There's an avalanche of social media advice dished out every day on the web. Some of it is helpful, some neither here nor there, and some is, in my view, just plain wrong. Yes, I'm aware I'm setting my self up by offering advice here, but I've never been one to duck controversy. Here are three bits of advice that I think are very questionable.

1) Automate your posts There are all sorts of tools for posting messages when you're offline or doing something else. It can be a good way of reaching people in different time zones. Alas, some people take things too far and automate everything. It soon becomes obvious that someone is sending and not receiving, because they never become part of the conversation. Even if you do automate some of your posts, be prepared to deal with the responses, even if it's a few hours later.

2) The more "likes" the better On the face of it, this seems pretty good advice, since if people are liking your Facebook page, it must be a good thing. That's why companies use competitions where the entry requires you to like their page. The trouble is, people are liking it just to win something, and they couldn't care less about your business. OK, so they have to visit your page, but the real prize for you is to get them engaged and talking about you. That's a much better metric.

3) Delete negative comments Again, this is something that appears to be a good idea. It isn't. Removing criticism is guaranteed to set off a storm of protest. Instead, respond to any criticism so that your point of view is also seen widely. Remain respectful and deal with the issues raised. If you're seen to be handling a problem with care and concern, your reputation will be enhanced.

Would anyone bother to scour the internet for the worst websites? Yes they would. And they have. Your site is not here of course.

Only a couple of places left on my professional speaker coaching programme.

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."