Hi John,

My new Facebook group for Keynote Speakers - subtly titled "Keynote Speaking" is now open for business.

After the success of a group I set up at the start of the pandemic in 2020 - "Remote Speaking" - which quickly gained over 2,000 members, I decided that now we're back on real stages, it was time to build a community of experts in storytelling, rhetoric and performance.

If you spend all or any of your time delivering speeches on stage, come and join us. We have a team or world-class speakers as an Admin team who will be happy to guide you.

Please note there is no commercial activity allowed - not from members, not from the Admin team, and not from me. This is a community of like-minded volunteers.

Here's the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1198368414917240

See you there!

The Paralympics have started in Paris and I'll be shouting for Team GB, a number of whom I have helped out over the years.

There's an expectation that Team GB could reach a record haul of medals, and with the likes of Hannah Cockroft (left) in the team, I'm sure they will.

The opening ceremony was in my view, even better than that for the Olympics, and I'll be glued to a screen for the next ten days.

I'll be keeping a close eye on Claire Cashmore in particular, and you'll be hearing her soon on my web radio show, when she'll explain how we've been working together.

The news this week has been all about two blokes from Manchester who are getting a band back together.

It's even been the headline story on news bulletins - their PR team have done a fantastic job.

Meanwhile, two other blokes from Dartford never split their band up, and are still playing after over sixty years together.

My guest in the radio show this week is Dr Efrat Lamandre, known as Dr E.

She's a Family Nurse Practitioner that owns and operates her own Family Medical practice, EG Healthcare, in Staten Island, New York.

I was fascinated to learn about a concept new to me, called "Medical Gaslighting".

She's written a book on the topic called "It's not in your head"

Hear our fascinating chat in the in the radio show

Go to the MediaCoach Show

Follow me on X (Twitter)

And there's a terrific song by Cat Squirrel

The MediaMug of the week goes to the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek.

He posted this on X “Today, with the cost of creating content being close to zero, people can share an incredible amount of content. This has sparked my curiosity about the concept of long shelf life versus short shelf life,”

As you can imagine, musicians, songwriters and producers, among others have not responded with enthusiasm, pointing out the considerable cost associated with music, including training, equipment and production.

Also, the fact that Spotify pays a pittance to artists for thousands of plays of their music makes his claim look even worse.

Spotify posted record profits last year.

The "I have a dream" speech was undoubtedly beautifully constructed and brilliantly delivered, and is rightly held up as an example of great oratory. Doctor Martin Luther King was an accomplished preacher with a great knowledge and grasp of classical rhetoric.

The three-part construction into Ethos, Pathos and Logos is overlaid with at least half a dozen rhetorical devices, including:

• Anaphoraa repeated phrase or word at the start of a clause or paragraph ("I have a dream")
• Antithesis, where ideas are matched to contrasts ("..they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character")
• Metaphor , where something is likened to an unrelated object ("Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.")
• Simile, where two things are compared through a connecting phrase or word ("No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream")
• Synedoche, where part of something refers to the whole of something ("We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.")

Why do I think this is important for speakers? Because rhetorical devices are the tools of our trade. We need to know how to use them, and keep them sharp.

Sometimes, interviewers can be irritating. In fact, they can be downright annoying. They make assertions, impertinent assumptions, and ask questions that are nothing to do with what you want to discuss. How dare they!

Of course, they are just doing their job. They represent the viewer or listener, and they are asking the tough questions that their audience wants them to. They are also receiving instructions through their earpiece, urging them to push you a little harder. In short, it's nothing personal. The worst thing you could do is to get annoyed.

So how do you handle a tough interviewer? Here are my top ten tips:

1. Anticipate the worst question, and have an answer ready in advance
2. Expect to be given a hard time, and you will almost certainly be pleasantly surprised
3. Rehearse tough questions with a colleague in a role-play shortly before the interview. Tell them not to hold back
4. Stay calm and relaxed, however tough the question
5. Smile and pause before responding
6. If the question contains a factual inaccuracy, refute it calmly before answering
7. Never raise your voice or wag your finger
8. Practice the bridge - "That's a good question but the real issue is.."
9. When in real trouble, simply deliver your core message
10. Thank the interviewer at the end of the interview

Op-ed is short for "Opposite the editorial". It's newspaper jargon for a piece written by a named contributor, who may not be on the staff of the paper, and is placed opposite the Editorial (which states the opinion of the paper's Editor).

The purpose of an Op-ed is not to provide news, but to provide a personal take on the news which people can agree or disagree with.

I see social media posts as Op-eds, because they have these characteristics:

• Typically short, between 350 and 500 words.

• Has a clearly defined point.

• Has a clearly defined point of view.

• Represents clarity of thinking.

• Contains the strong, unique voice of the writer

So when you're writing a social media post, run a quick check against those criteria, and you'll be bound to get a good response.

I think this is about a politician....

You know I can help. 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."