Hi John,

Here's a great example of a positive aspect to social media.

There's a group of friends who discuss politics in a Facebook group. We have very divergent political opinions, and debate fiercely online. However, when we get together over a drink in a pub in London, we're all good friends.

We met up in a that London pub last weekend, and had a splendid time. Naturally, some of the conversation turned to politics, but more often it was about family, music, sport and other far more important things.

It's a pity that people on social media don't get the opportunity to meet in person very often.

It's that time of year when a few places open up for my speaker coaching.

Six-month or one-year packages are available, and I'd be more than happy to have a chat with you about options.

There's also an intensive package if you have an important speech looming.

Drop me a line on alan@mediacoach.co.uk or call me on 07986 852621.

Elise Quevedo is a social media expert. I met her a few years ago at a conference in North Macedonia where I was the MC and she was a speaker.

I was very impressed by her extensive knowledge and energy, and we've stayed in touch ever since.

I spoke to a while ago about social media strategies that people can employ right now to boost their businesses. It's time to hear our chat again.

Her advice was pure gold, as you can hear in  Media Coach Radio

Go to the iTunes Archive of the MediaCoach Show

Follow me on Twitter

And there's a terrific song from The Dustbowl Revival

The MediaMug of the week is the unknown cycling "fan" who caused a massive crash when he stepped in front of the Tour de France peleton to take a selfie.

Fans gathering on the sides of roads and in villages as riders pass by is part of the tradition - and charm - of the Tour, but many spectators can take too many risks, including when they run alongside riders in mountain ascents.

The Tour has been criticised for trying too hard to attract younger spectators by using social media campaigns and asking people to post their own pictures of the riders. It sounds as though things have gone too far.

William Shakespeare gives Hamlet a speech (Act 3, Scene 2) which provides advice to those about to go on stage. It's become known as "Speak the speech". His advice holds good today. Here are a few extracts:

"Speak the speech I pray you as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue"

How you deliver is of crucial importance, which is why you must rehearse a speech out loud. You need to ensure that you are comfortable with the phraseology, and that you know how to pronounce any technical terms.

"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature".

Stagecraft, or the way in which you use movements and gestures, can add power and passion to a speech. There's no need to be too "theatrical", but using gestures to emphasise your words will give them greater impact.

"And let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them, for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too"



Humour is essential, but beware of laughing at your own jokes. Some people, including me, tend to work "deadpan", but whatever your style, don't start laughing before the audience does (unless you're Jimmy Carr).     

Q. What do you call a business with no plans to cope with a crisis?

A. A former business

OK, it may not always lead to the demise of an organisation, but if a company has failed to take any measures to protect themselves from either operational or communication failure, recovery will be a long and rocky road. Even those organisations who have taken precautionary measures can find that the going gets tough when disaster strikes.

Take the case of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, in 2010. Flights were cancelled across Europe, and tens of thousands of passengers inconvenienced. There was strong criticism of the airlines, not because of a natural disaster, but because they didn't have mechanisms in place to communicate with customers (or failed to use them).

Preparing for a crisis need not be a complex or costly exercise, but it can literally save an organisation from collapse. Here's the minimum that every organisation should do:

• Have contact details for key spokespeople at all times
• Ensure that spokespeople are media trained
• Have plans in place to communicate with customers and staff
• Have template messages that can be amended and posted quickly on social media
• Test crisis procedures at least every two years



One day, you will have a crisis to deal with that may threaten your organisation. Will you be ready?     

My daughter is a producer in a film company. We talk a lot about films, so I thought I'd pick five films and see if they can offer lessons for using social media.



1) The Shawshank Redemption - Persistence. It took Andy Dufresne two decades to tunnel out of his cell. You don't need to wait that long for results on social media, but don't expect overnight success.

2) Pay it Forward - Helpfulness. Young Trevor McKinney decides to do favours for people without any expectation of reward. That approach works really well on social media.

3) Rain Man - Loyalty. Charlie Babbit looks after his brother Raymond. Be loyal to your connections and followers. Don't keep connecting and disconnecting.

4) Field of Dreams - Belief. Ray Kinsella believe "if you build it, he will come". I think there's a bit more to it than that (you have to tell people), but if you don't believe in what you're doing, people won't come.

5) Friends - Friendliness. OK, it's not a film, it's a TV series, but these are my rules. On social media, treat people as friends, and you will thrive. Treat them simply as customers, and you'll end up on your own.

You can't have much more fun than this!

A reminder to look no further. Just get in touch. 07986 852621

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."