Hi John,

Yes, I know. Last week I managed to mix up Beethoven and Mozart in my MediaMaestro of the week feature.

I should have been talking about Beethoven when I wrote Mozart. I even managed to include Beethoven's picture.

As it turned out, I discovered that many readers of this ezine are kind enough to overlook my classical error, and to let me know that they spotted it.

Thank you. I promise to do better in future!

There's no doubt that Quentin Tarantino is a remarkable film director.

Last weekend, my daughter took me to see his book launch at the London Palladium and it was quite an event.

You could never accuse him of not having an opinion. He delivered praise and blame in equal measure to his fellow film professionals in an interview more than liberally sprinkled with expletives.

I'll be taking his book with me for a few days in the sun over the coming week, and I'll now have his voice ringing in my head as I read it.

My radio guest this week is Penny Mallory.



As a leading authority on Mental Toughness, Penny is one of the UK’s top female motivational speakers, drawing from her years of experience in Motorsport as a Rally Driver, TV Presenter and Performance Coach.

Against all the odds Penny transformed her life form a runaway homeless teenager to became the first (and remains the only) woman in the world to compete in a World Rally Car, for the Ford Motor Company.

Penny is living proof that building and developing Mental Toughness are vital if you are to thrive. Not only has she competed in the World Rally Championship, she has run multiple marathons, climbed the worlds highest summits, and fought in two boxing matches.

Penny is currently preparing to row the Atlantic in Dec 2023. A mere 3000 miles, 2hrs on, 2hrs off for about 40 days. It’s the ultimate test of physical and mental toughness.

Listen to my chat with her in the Media Coach Radio Show.

And there's a terrific song from Slim Chance.

The MediaMugs this week are researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who are suggesting that sniffing other people's sweat can reduce anxiety.

No, this is not an April Fool's joke.

Armpit sweat was taken from volunteers who watched either happy or scary film clips - including Mr Bean's Holiday, Sister Act and The Grudge.

The samples were then used alongside more traditional mindfulness therapy to treat social anxiety. The study revealed mindfulness was more effective when combined with sniffing the body odour.

Patients who completed a mindfulness session while exposed to body odours saw a 39% reduction in social anxiety, while without body odour there was a 17% reduction in anxiety scores.

The researchers believe there is something about human sweat that affects the response to treatment - however said more work is needed to confirm the link. They thought there might be different effects on treatment depending on the volunteers' emotions while perspiring - which is why they got them to watch films to elicit particular feelings.

However, the effect was the same whether the sweat-giver had been watching a comedy or horror.

If all that's true, then the changing rooms I used to use on Hackney Marshes before football matches should have made me very calm, but they didn't.

A couple of points to ponder:

1) Do you ever do exactly the same speech twice?

2) Do you ever have identical audiences in the same few days?

If the answer to the second question is "yes", then the answer to the first could well be "yes". In any other circumstance, my answer to the first question would be "no". Every audience is different, and times change too. For me, that means I have to change my speech every time.

I may use some of the same stories, maybe even the same opening and closing lines, but there will always be something tailored to the listeners and something that acknowledges current events. I may completely change the content of a speech with the same title from one day to the next, depending on who I'm speaking to and what's going on in the world.

The needs of your audience are paramount. They will be the arbiters of your success or failure. Their interests and drivers should be in your mind every time you create a speech. How much customisation do you do?   

The pandemic meant that many media interviews were conducted online.

That trend has continued, so that if you are called for a TV interview, it's more than likely that it will be via Zoom or some other online system.

Of course, many of us are used to this, but here are a few reminders if you do find yourself booked to do an online interview.

• Tell anyone else in the house that you can't be disturbed for a while
• Put a note on your outside door to advise any delivery people not to knock
• Think what to wear and get ready at least 15 minutes before your call time
• Check your background - and no green screen of the Golden Gate bridge!
• Get online at least five minutes early
• If you have notes, place them securely near the camera
• Make sure you aren't muted
• Learn the name(s) of the interviewers (s)
• Stay in place until you are sure you are out of vision
• Be prepared for the interview to be delayed - it often happens
• Send a thank you email

Being There is a 1979 film starring Peter Sellers from a novel by Jerzy Kosiński. It's about a gardener who becomes an influential political advisor simply by being present and making clear and simple statements.

Sometimes you just have to be there. You don't have have a call to action on every social media post. You don't have to argue with everyone who has a different point of view. You don't have to offer sage insights and tips in every comment.

Woody Allen said "80 percent of success is showing up". In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell says showing up (over ten thousand hours) is a big part of who is successful and who is not.

Sometimes, simply being there on social media is enough. It gives us the opportunity to observe and listen. It allows us to simply "like" a comment. It means that we aren't trying to dominate the debate.

So don't feel that you have to be doing something active all the time you are on social media. Often, being there is all you need.

Whatever happened to Zlad?

If you're looking for a speaker coach, just get in touch. I now have all inclusive pricing.