Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Hi John,
I just landed in Cuba on a two-week break with my Honey. There is little or no WiFi here, so the next couple of missives will be of the pre-recorded nature. Don't worry, they will still appear on time, but if anything remarkably newsworthy happens, forgive me if I refrain from commenting on it until I return. Thanks.
So - back to this week. I stayed up to watch some of the Superbowl from Atlanta last weekend, but it wasn't exactly a riveting spectacle. I will return to that in a moment.
Here's a reminder that my Udemy courses are still available at an excellent rate:
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In the Media Coach Radio Show this week, there is a chat with my great friend Shaz Nawaz. He is an expert on pricing - a topic that makes many people quake with fear. I spoke to him a couple of years ago, and he offered some brilliant advice, which led to a lot of great feedback. So I thought I'd give people a chance to hear it again.
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| | The MediaMaestro is Anna Bergstrom. She has been talking to the press about her Swedish business, ReTuna. It is nothing to do with fish, but everything to do with recycling. Everything for sale in the stylish shopping mall, in 14 specialist shops covering everything from clothes to DIY tools, is recycled.
Anna Bergstrom's business mantra which she repeats to each shopkeeper is, "Do it like Hugo Boss." She wants the mall to stand toe-to-toe with a regular, commercial, glitzy mall.There is a sports shop stuffed with skis and (slightly scuffed) sledges, a kids' shop bursting with toys (a little faded), a bookshop, a DIY store, a homeware specialist, even a pet accessory shop.
"I realised that I needed to become a role model for my children, doing something good for the planet," says Anna. She calls the mall "my baby", and wants it to be a place her teenage children are proud to visit.And they do visit. Though she hasn't persuaded them to tag it as a location on an Instagram post yet she's working on that.
Anna's bigger hope is that what works for her family can work for Swedish society as a whole. And for the world too, I hope. |
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The MediaMug is, or are, Maroon 5, that somewhat bland band who played the half-time show at the Superbowl last weekend. They opted to do the show despite criticisms from singers like Rihanna, who reportedly turned down the show because she “supports Colin Kaepernick”
On the face of it, the selection of Maroon 5 for this year’s Super Bowl halftime show made a lot of sense. Led by Adam Levine—adult-contemporary cool guy, coach on “The Voice,” clothing designer, what could go wrong?
As it happened the performance was widely panned, and rightly so in my view. They had hundreds of millions of viewers, and blew their chance to impress.
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Speaking Tip - Seven ways to improve a speech |
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No speech is ever perfect, though some of the great oratory of the past comes pretty close. I'm not suggesting that Churchill or Lincoln should have punched up their speeches with these tips, but you may find some of then useful.
1) Make it shorter. It's a good discipline to consider what could be left out, in case you ever find yourself having to work against the clock. If you do, it may make you think of delivering shorter speeches all the time.
2) Lose the slides. OK, there are times when an image can enhance a presentation. But the best images are the ones that we help the audience create in their minds with our words.
3) Use all your own stories. You will have a much more powerful impact if you tell people how you felt when you were part of the story.
4) Tell them all you know. I've heard some speakers say "don't tell them everything, since you'll have nothing left to sell". I think that's nonsense. What you sell is your expertise in solving their problems, not your knowledge.
5) Slow down. I've never heard a speaker being criticised for speaking too slowly.
6) Be concise. People love advice that is clear and easy to use. Don't offer vague motivational statements, but give people detailed advice.
7) Finish early. Not too early, since people will feel short-changed. If you have 30 minutes, aim to finish in 27 or 28. Your audience will really appreciate it.
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Media Tip - The media pundit |
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We live in the age of the media pundit (a term which derives from Hindi and Sanskrit and means "an erudite person, often an advisor to the king").
Before, during and after ever event covered by the media, we are treated to the opinions of various pundits. More often than not, these people say exactly what we would expect them to, so their comments don't really add much to our understanding of the story. But they are essential players in the media game. Some pundits are so well-known, that we can guess they will appear before they are introduced. For example, any story about travel problems is bound to feature Simon Calder.
So how do you become a media pundit? Obviously, the first requirement is to have some knowledge about a topic, and a clear way of expressing yourself. Then you need to become known to the media. One way is to introduce yourself to local radio and local papers, which will give you both experience, and the chance to be "spotted". There are also some places where journalists look for pundits. In the UK, the most widely-used and trusted is Expertsources.co.uk. If you plan to become a media pundit, it's an excellent place to be seen (and no, they don't pay me to say that)
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Social Media Tip - How to stop people following you |
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Isn't it annoying when you set up a nice quiet site on Facebook, or a profile on Twitter, and dozens of impolite people keep trying to connect with you, become your friend, or want to follow your stream of tweets.
Here are some handy ways to make sure that you don't attract followers, and any who arrive by mistake are driven away quickly.
- Keep telling people what they need from you
- Never update your page
- Tweet "how to get hundreds of followers"
- Automate all your status updates
- Have a cartoon as your profile picture
- Argue with people continually
- Only post links to your website
- Never offer help
- Complain about your competitors
- Claim to be a "guru"
In fact, any one of the above should ensure that you are never bothered by potential clients.
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Are you about to deliver a pitch? |
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I can help. Just click the link |
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