Hi John,

A bit of a beer theme today.

We've been hosting some friends from the USA before they head off to the Camino de Santiago in Spain, with a group led by my wife Heather.

Naturally, we showed them some of the delights of London, including some microbreweries in Stratford and one of the country's oldest inns, The George in Borough.

And while Heather is in Spain, I'll be heading off to Munich for Oktoberfest. I'm not saying that a beer or two is the answer to the world's problems, but in moderation it certainly helps a friendly chat.

Cheers!

Places are going quickly for my 6 month or 12 month speaker coaching programmes starting in January 2024.

As someone who has been through the programme, Guy Clapperton says:

"I engaged Alan for a year's coaching and although I was already an experienced speaker and media trainer he helped me to increase my confidence and also my fees. He is easy to work with and a genuine listener - you'll get sessions based on what works for you rather than what everyone else gets. Alan has been instrumental in helping develop my keynote, transform my business with the addition of a VA and he helped enormously with the development of my podcast. This is why I extended our year's coaching to two years and added periodic consultations for a third; selecting Alan Stevens as a coach and mentor has been one of the best investments I've made."

If you'd be interested in learning more, and having a free 30-minute Zoom call, which will give you plenty of tips whether you sign up or not, just get in touch.

My guest in the web radio show this week is my old friend Will Kintish.

Since 2000 Will has established himself as a leading UK provider of professional development training, having presented to over 80,000 people Europe-wide.

‘I’ve been Kintished’ seems to have been taken on as a phrase well-known to people who have heard his presentations.

We had a fascinating talk about The Power of Relationships. Hear our chat in the in the radio show.

Go to the Apple Podcasts Archive of the MediaCoach Show

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And there's a superb song from award-winning Americana artist Hannah White.

The MediaMug of the week is GB News presenter Dan Wootton, who has been suspended by the channel and fired from his job at Mail Online, following an interview with Laurence Fox, who made very offensive comments about journalist Ava Evans.

Arguably, Laurence Fox is the bigger mug, but Wootton was in charge of the interview, and apparently had a pre-interview chat with Fox to find out exactly what he intended to say.

A TV presenter who allows such comments to go unchallenged, and even joined in a laugh about them, has no place on national TV.

In your speech, which is the important element? Is it the delivery, the message, the visuals or the reaction of the audience? It's everything. Your speech will be remembered for one of two things. It may be the takeaway message, which resonates with the audience and calls them to action, or it may be the thing that didn't quite work.

Alas, it is often the one element that fails which becomes the memorable feature of a speech. It may be poor acoustics, poor sight-lines from some parts of the room, or failing to deal properly with a question. That's why a professional speaker checks and re-checks everything. That's why they arrive early and test every piece of technology. That's why they have a backup device or procedure for every foreseeable failure. That's why they rehearse.

Murphy's Law (whatever can go wrong will go wrong) doesn't always apply. However, Stevens' amendment to Murphy's Law (the thing that you didn't test will fail) often does. Leaving any element of your presentation to chance is opening yourself up to potential disaster.

The trouble is, you may be too close to your speech to spot the errors. It's a good idea to ask someone else to check things out with you. A fellow speaker is a good sounding board (sometimes literally), and then you can help them in the same fashion.



The important thing is everything.     

There are a few remarks that you should remove from your vocabulary when you are being interviewed by a reporter. Here are five phrases that don't pay, and why to drop them.

1) As I was saying earlier If you deliver a superb answer to a question, and preface it with this phrase, it can't be used as a clip on its own. One of the elements of a great interview is to give answers that can be clipped and used later in the day. It also sounds a bit dismissive, suggesting that the reporter wasn't paying attention. Treat every answer as your only answer.

2) Your view is completely wrong No it isn't. The reporter is not there to express their personal view. They are there to offer an alternative view to yours, so that you can respond. Never get personal with an interviewer, but focus instead on what they say.

3) I've answered that in many other interviews That doesn't matter, since you're in this interview now. It may be the only time that a listener hears you speak. You may be tired of saying the same thing in one interview after another, but you have to keep it fresh every time.

4) I have no opinion on that Oh dear. Then you need to think of one, and quickly. You've been booked because of your views, and probably had a briefing chat about them. If you stonewall when you go live, it may be the last interview you ever do.



5) You're asking the wrong question There are no wrong questions. You are there to respond to whatever is asked. If you can't think of anything, simply repeat your core message. Never, ever complain about a question.     

What's your social media strategy? You don't have one? No, nor do I.

I rely on a couple of principles - Ubiquity and Propinquity.

Ubiquity is being everywhere. Now, obviously that's not possible, so I simply post content on all sorts of social networks. I don't target any network in particular. I just put it out there.

Propinquity is the state of being close to something or someone. I rely on my content being seen by people that I'm connected to, and may well have regular contact with, whatever network they are on at the time.

I'm not suggesting that it's the best way to market yourself. But I can confirm that it works.

More one-liners. This time from the wonderful Milton Jones

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."