Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Hi John,
I wish you, your family and friends the happiest of Christmases and the most prosperous of New Years. I realise that in some parts of the world, the greeting is "happy holidays", but not here. I'm an unashamed fan of Christmas, so I will be celebrating along with my family, and I see every reason to wish you all the best too. It's been a roller-coaster of a year for many people, and for some, it's tough to see a bright future. However, I hope that for you, 2020 will be even better than 2019, and I will keep supplying free tips to help you make it so.
I often get asked what books I recommend to speakers, especially at this time of giving. Avoiding both my own books, and those of colleagues in the PSA and other speaking associations, here are my top six:
Get Slightly Famous (2012) - Steven van Yoder - an invaluable primer for getting just famous enough to get noticed.
Tunesmith (1998) - Jimmy Webb - though about songwriting, this is a great book about creating memorable stories.
Save the Cat (2005) - Blake Snyder - The definitive guide to screenplays, with superb advice for storytelling.
White House Ghosts (2008) - Robert Schlesinger - the story of how presidential speechwriters created memorable speeches for 20th century presidents
Just say a few words (1988) - Bob Monkhouse - should be on every speaker's bookshelf
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) - Joseph Campbell - read this to understand the hero's journey and the long history of global myths and legends |
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The MediaMaestro is a company of defence technology experts - QinetiQ.
They have discovered the perfect way to pull a Christmas cracker to make sure you get the largest half.
A lot of the success comes down to your set-up, and you should ensure you hold your end of the cracker lower than the other person's, so it is tilting downwards towards you.To prevent the cracker tearing, you should also use a firm, two-handed grip, as reported by the Daily Telegraph.
When it comes time for the action to begin, apply a slow, steady pull rather than a hard yank, which would compromise your section of the cracker.
You should also avoid twisting the cracker, which would add similar stress.Then all that's left to do is to place the paper hat on your head to crown yourself the champion of Christmas, gleefully read the awful joke aloud to your family and show off your new impressive collection of miniature tools.
Don't mention it!
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The MediaMug is U.S. Department of Agriculture. They don't often feature in this slot, but they made it this week for featuring the country of Wakanda as a trade partner.
Among the commodities listed under Wakanda were “live asses”, “mules and hinnies” and several other farm animals. Potatoes and chestnuts were also reportedly listed.
What's odd about that? Well, Wakanda doesn't actually exist. It's a fictional country featured in the film Black Panther. Until Wednesday, the made-up east African country was listed on the drop-down menu for the agriculture department’s foreign agricultural service’s tariff tracker along with Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru.
“Over the past few weeks, the foreign agricultural service staff who maintain the tariff tracker have been using test files to ensure that the system is running properly,” Mike Illenberg, a USDA spokesman, told NBC. “The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down.”
I wonder if there's any chance of a deal with Rurutania or Gondor? |
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Speaking Tip - It's not just a speech |
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I've just been listening to the Queen's Speech at the state opening of Parliament. Of course, she doesn't have to write it, just read it, but it's not just a speech. It's a statement of intent.
Quite rightly, speakers put a lot of work and effort into their speeches in order to make them as effective and entertaining as possible. That's what the audience deserves. However, simply turning up, delivering a speech, answering one or two questions and leaving again is not really enough. Speakers are expected to deliver much more than 40 minutes on stage.
Many event organisers now expect a speaker to be available to chat to delegates before the event, either via a live webinar, or in a discussion group on social media. The pre-speech discussions should be reflected in what you say to the audience.
In addition, the length of a question and answer session is increasing as the length of a speech is decreasing. Some conference organisers are now asking for a twenty-minute speech followed by a forty-minute Q&A, plus involvement in a panel discussion later in the day.
Finally, speakers are often asked to be available after the event to continue the debates that began on and off stage.
What does all this mean for speakers? It means that you need to be an expert on your topic, and not just someone with a great speech. You need to follow trends, engage in debates and read articles from other experts. You need to be able to think on your feet, organise your ideas, and offer solutions to local problems. You need to really know your stuff. It's not just a speech any more. |
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Media Tip - Why, Why, Why? |
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I was trying to think of a segue about Three Wise Men, but it didn't quite work, so let's go with just three Why's. These are the questions you should ask yourself before a media interview: Why me? Why now? Why this topic? If you prepare answers to those three questions (remembering to mention your core message), you'll do well.
1) Why me? The obvious answer is because you're an expert. But there may be other reasons. You could be a witness to something. You may have been accused of something. You may be representing an organisation that is suspected of behaving badly. It's important that you establish why you are in the firing line, rather than the CEO (unless you are the CEO). Knowing why you're there helps to give you confidence, and will also provide you with the angle you should take.
2) Why now? Again, the answer may be obvious, since it will often be in the aftermath of some news-worthy event. However, it could be an anniversary, a prelude to an expected event or something seasonal. There will have been a reason why the call came in from a reporter at the time it did. You need to know what that was.
3) Why this topic? A note of caution here. An interview may have been set up to discuss an issue which then becomes less important due to another event. If you're on your way to an interview and news breaks that you should be aware of, make sure you are properly briefed before you go on air. Never say "I'm not here to talk about that" It's not your call. |
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Social Media Tip - Act like a tabloid editor |
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When you are writing blogs or Facebook posts, my advice is to behave like the editor (and sub-editor) of a tabloid newspaper. Now before you start to think you have to tap phones and pay celebrities for "exclusives", perhaps I should explain. The art of both headline and article writing in a tabloid newspaper is to do with brevity and interest. The idea is to present something which is eye-catching, but also delivered in as few words as possible.
People tend not to linger long over online articles, so you face the twin problems of grabbing their attention, and then keeping it. The first is the job of a tabloid sub-editor, who is responsible for crafting the headlines. It is the headline, or first line of your piece that will make people want to read more, and so you should pay a lot of attention to it - perhaps half of the time you spend on the article.
The article itself should use as many words as necessary, but as few as sufficient to make your point. Here I turn to the man I regard as one of the greatest journalists of the last century, Alistair Cooke. I met him three times, and on the final occasion, asked him for his best advice to a journalist. He smiled and said "Never miss a deadline, and never waste a word". |
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Making a speech over Christmas? |
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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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