Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Hi John,
Here's what I wrote in this ezine a few weeks ago:
"The MediaMaestro is cinematographer Roger Deakins, who I guarantee will win his second Oscar next month for his work on the Sam Mendes film 1917....There is no point any of the other nominees for cinematography turning up. He will win the Bafta and the Oscar. Trust me on this one."
On Sunday, Roger Deakins won the Bafta for best cinematography. On Sunday I am still convinced that he will win the Oscar. |
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The Baftas were hosted by Graham Norton. Alas, some of his gags didn't land too well, and despite being a great chat show host, he showed a few inadequacies as a MC.
The Oscars won't have a host at all.
So I will be sending copies of The Exceptional MC authored along with Guy Clapperton and Celai Delaney, to Mr Norton and the nice people at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
Grab a copy now at a ridiculously low price. |
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Leon Bamforth was the winner, in 2018, of the most prestigious speaking competition in the UK: the Professional Speaking Association’s SpeakerFactor.
He is an in-demand business consultant who makes change smooth and impactful. Leon specialises in resolving hidden conflict.
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The MediaMaestro is the host of the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show, Zoe Ball. After a tough start taking over from the very popular Chris Evans, the latest listener survey shows that she has increased her audience by 335,000.
Data from industry body Rajar shows her breakfast show attracted an average weekly audience of 8.24 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. It is a reversal of fortunes for the programme, which lost 1.14m listeners over the previous two quarters.
James Purnell, director of BBC radio and education, said: "Our brilliant stations are much loved by our audiences and in this quarter we've seen some strong numbers for our speech stations, including a record for Radio 4 Extra".
Zoe's had a rough time after the death of her boyfriend in 2017, and it's great to see her getting some really good news.
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The MediaMug is global superstar chanteuse Madonna.
She has accused the London Palladium of trying to “censor” her after the theatre pulled the curtain down when she went beyond her 11pm curfew on Wednesday.
She posted a video of the end of the show on Instagram, with the caption:
“It was 5 minutes past our 11:00 curfew–we had one more song to do and The Palladium decided to censor us by pulling down the metal fire curtain that weighs 9 tons. Fortunately they stopped it half way and no one was hurt………….. Many Thanks to the entire Audience who did not move and never left us. Power to The People!!”
The venue denied that staff had used the fire curtain, but did not directly comment on the show being cut short. "Contrary to a number of reports, at no point during last night's performance did staff at The London Palladium pull down, or attempt to pull down, the Iron Fire Curtain," a spokesman said. The video footage appeared to confirm that it was the main cloth curtains which were used closed, rather than the iron fire curtain.
So Ms Ciccone not only went over an agreed deadline, but also made up a complaint. I appreciate that she was just trying to express herself, but she was too far into the groove. |
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Speaking Tip - Seven tips for good humour |
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Using humour in speeches is generally a good idea, though care is require in funeral eulogies. Here are some tips for delivering humour well.
1) Don't wait for a laugh If the audience doesn't get it, just keep going. If the laughter does start, pause and wait for it to subside.
2) Don't repeat a punch line As just mentioned, go straight on. If you repeat the line, you're suggesting that the audience wasn't smart enough to laugh. That is never a good idea.
3) Never ad-lib a joke Humour needs to be carefully planned. Stand-up comedians rarely make up gags on the spot, and they are professional humourists. You may find humour in the moment, but never try to create a gag on the fly.
4) Know your audience Make sure that your humour is appropriate. What works at an after-dinner sporting awards event may not work at ten o'clock in the morning at a sales conference.
5) You are the best target If you want to make fun of someone, self-deprecation is the best course unless you know the "victim" really well.
6) Keep any jokes relevant Ideally, leave jokes to comedians. However, if you must, then make sure that they are relevant to the topic of your speech.
7) Don't overdo it You need to focus on your main message, and humour is not what you are there for. Make sure that you are remembered for the right thing. |
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Media Tip - Five ways to ruin your PR |
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Here's my list of things to avoid when writing publicity material for a release, brochure or website.
- Meaningless superlatives. "We solve all your problems, perfectly..", "The UK's leading..." (Says who? These phrases mean nothing)
- Jargon "We offer best of breed robust solutions in data-driven environments" (Eh?)
- Negativity "We can guarantee that you won't suffer disappointment if you chose our products" (Why not say you will be satisfied?)
- Vagueness "We've worked with a variety of organisations facing change issues around the world" (Some specifics would be nice)
- Wordiness "Needless to say, we guarantee every product for 10 years" (If it's needless to say, don't say it)
Alas, all those examples were real, but not from you or your company, obviously. Instead, use simple language, evidence, references, a positive approach and explain the benefits. It's simple really. |
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Social Media Tip - A tweet is a headline |
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Some of the most talented (and well-paid) journalists are the sub-editors. They are the ones who prepare a story for final publication, and often create the headlines. In the world of marketing, headlines are also critically important.
As the great David Ogilvy put it "On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar."
Here's one of his gems; "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock."
I believe the same principles that drive great headlines also apply to effective tweets. They need to be brief (obviously), eye-catching, enticing and ideally humorous too. Often, you will be using a tweet to encourage people to click on a link to an article or blog post. I suspect that the click-through rate is rather less than David Ogilvie's one in five, so you need to think carefully about what you say.
Obviously, not all tweets need to be carefully crafted. Some are just "of the moment". But for those that include a call to action, take a while to pause and think how they would work as a headline, and whether they appeal to the audience you are trying to reach. |
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Magician David Kwong breaks down magic into what he calls the "7 Principles of Illusion" and explains what goes into the execution of a magic trick. Fascinating stuff! |
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Need to deal with a media crisis? |
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Get in touch and we'll chat.
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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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