Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Hi John,
So the votes are in. As I write this, I have no idea how they have fallen. So let's not worry about it. You'll be bombarded with analysis and punditry for days.
So let's move on. 'Tis the season for reality shows to reach their end, so that yet another hopeful comes to the end of their journey, and after a heart-thumping wait, finally hears their name called out as the fireworks explode and the tinsel falls from above. Why are reality shows so popular? It's because of a concept that commissioning editors call "jeopardy". This has three elements. Elimination, conflict and a race against time. All such shows have the first and manufacture the second. The third is rarer, and may explain why The Apprentice has lasted so long.
Of course, you may not care at all for reality shows. I'm not that bothered myself. However, I will be watching the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, which is nailed on for England's cricket hero Ben Stokes.
The Guardian has run a piece called the Anti-Sports Personality of the year, featuring sports stars and teams that have not exactly covered themselves in glory this year, including Derby County with "spygate", and England’s Eddie Pepperel, who was disqualified from the Turkish Airlines Open when he ran out of golf balls (“I thought he lost four or five,” said the watching Martin Kaymer. “I have never seen anything like that before”).
But my favourite sporting non-excuse of the year concerned Leicester City's James Maddison. He left England’s squad to play the Czech Republic because of illness, so spent the night of the game in a casino instead. “He went to a casino on his own to sit and watch the second half of the game by a poker table" his manager, Brendan Rodgers, said. “The suggestions are he left England and then goes to a casino but that’s totally not the case at all.”. |
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As I often do, I went to a gig at the Green Note in Camden last week. One of the singers I went to see was Peter Donegan. His late father, Lonnie Donegan, was known as the "King of Skiffle" and influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. As a contemporary of Sir Tom Jones, Lonnie wrote a number one song for him, which Peter sang as a duet with Sir Tom this year on The Voice.
There's a wonderful song from Peter as well. |
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The MediaMaestro is a young woman who has just been made Time Magazine's person of the year - Greta Thunberg.
In April, she made an appearance at the Extinction Rebellion protests in London, telling the crowd: "For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything. We will make sure that politicians will not get away with it for any longer."
In September, Ms Thunberg travelled to New York to speak at the UN Climate Conference. She made her way there on a zero-emissions boat in a journey that lasted two weeks. The week of her arrival, millions of people around the world took part in a climate strike, underlining the scale of her influence.
President Trump said she had an "anger management problem" and should go to "a good old fashioned movie with a friend. Chill Greta, Chill!" he added. She then adapted her Twitter bio to say she was "a teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend".
Brilliant - well done her. |
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The MediaMug is Walmart, which has apologised for selling a pullover on its website that appears to show Father Christmas doing lines of cocaine.
Santa is seen sitting behind a table with three lines of a white substance in front of him, captioned with the slogan: "Let it snow".
The product's description on the Walmart Canada website said: "We all know how snow works.
"It's white, powdery and the best snow comes straight from South America. That's bad news for jolly old St Nick, who lives far away in the North Pole. That's why Santa really likes to savour the moment when he get his hands on some quality, grade A, Colombian snow."
Walmart has apologised for the sale of the product and said it had been taken down from the company's website.
A spokesman for the retail giant said: "These sweaters, sold by a third-party seller on Walmart.ca, do not represent Walmart's values and have no place on our website".
Apparently they are not dreaming of a White Christmas. |
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Speaking Tip - Are you interesting? |
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It's impossible to hold the interest of every member of your audience for every second of your speech. Your job is to engage as many people as possible, for as long as possible (assuming you have something interesting to say). Obviously, you need to have prepared well. That's a given, as far as this tip is concerned. Now let's think about some techniques to make the audience sit up and listen as your speech progresses. Here are some that work well:
- Fascinating facts. These may appear to be, literally, trivial, but a surprising piece of information will spark interest.
- Rhetorical questions. These also make people think, but be prepared for an answer from the audience, which can generate a laugh too.
- Using humour. Not jokes, which can fall very flat. Smile as you are telling a story, since it gives "permission" to laugh
- Brief personal stories. Ensure they make a point.
- Something that happened today or yesterday. This may already be on their minds, so will help to make a connection
- Visual aids and props. (Not PowerPoint slides)
Anything which breaks up the flow of your talk can work to revive peoples' attention. I was watching a speech last year when a speaker talked about thunder and lightning, and special effects of flashing lights and crashing sounds began. That worked. |
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Media Tip - I wasn't expecting that! |
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Many politicians during this election campaign have been stumped by questions that apparently came as a surprise. They should have done more planning. But sometimes, despite the best-laid plans of mice and men (apologies to R Burns), a tough question can crop up in an interview that no-one could have predicted. How on earth do you deal with that? Here are four possible strategies:
1) Acknowledge the question, bridge to a related topic you're confident on, then refer back to the question. This requires a nifty piece of verbal choreography. If you can pull it off, it will make it appear that you have answered the question. If the interviewer persists, so must you, which can look like avoidance (because it is). However, it's better than looking embarrassed and fumbling through a response.
2) Treat it as a joke. Reply with "Where did that come from?" or "Are you sure we're in the right interview?". You need to know your interviewer well if you adopt this approach. If they were just "trying it on", then you will escape unscathed.
3) Find a reason not to answer. This works if you have a valid reason, such as you are being asked why someone else has acted in certain way ("You'd better ask them"), it's part of a legal enquiry ("You know we can't talk about that"), or there's no reason you should know the answer ("I've no idea").
4) Deliver your core message. If none of the other options is appropriate, simply look your interrogator in the eye and tell them your core message. |
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Social Media Tip - Are you vacant or engaged? |
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I don't mean to be rude. I'm sure you're not vacant. It just made a better headline. Engagement is one of the social media buzzwords. But what is it, and how do you know if you are engaged, or engaging? For some people, it means "talking to customers". For others, it means "getting involved in online conversations" Both are correct, it seems to me, but neither is a complete picture.
Anyone can set up a social media profile. Many do. That's not engagement. Some people send dozens of automated tweets. That's not engagement. For me, engagement is about taking the time and trouble to send and receive messages from a range of sources - friends, experts, clients, potential clients, journalists, etc. I try (but sometimes fail) to respond to every email or direct message someone sends. I try to avoid just "broadcasting".
You need to think what engagement means for you (and I don't mean that you need rules of engagement). Whatever it is, be consistent, polite and reliable. Let people know what to expect of you. Be nice. |
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Things not going the way you planned? |
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Whatever your problem, talk to me first...
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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." |
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