| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Hi John,
Here in the UK, it's Bank Holiday Monday on a Friday, on account of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day at the end of the Second World War. However, because of the coronavirus outbreak, events have been cancelled anyway. But at least I have a day off.
So I've been musing about speaking, and found evidence that I gave my first TED talk in 1956. Yes, I really am that old. Admittedly, I was only three at the time, but I have found photographic evidence of a chat with an extremely large teddy bear. Complete proof. |
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You can't have failed to notice the over-use of the term "New Normal". As a bit of an amateur etymologist, I've looked into the origin of the term to find that it dates back almost a thousand years
It was first coined in late 1066, just after the Battle of Hastings in October, and before the coronation of William in December. The defeat of the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold (an ancestor of mine as it happens) heralded the Norman takeover of England.
It's unclear who first used the phrase. The chronicler Ereward the Bede places it on the 15th of October at Waltham Abbey where Harold's body was taken. Other scribes such as Antward and Decima say it was first heard some days later.
Whatever the chronology, it's clear that the most oft-used phrase in 1066, in response to "Who is our King?" was "The New Norman". Over the centuries the phrase has been corrupted to "The New Normal", but kept its meaning.
You're welcome. Some elements of this story may not be true. |
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Dr Sue Mitchell is the author of “The Authority Guide to Engaging your People” and specialises in mindset for success in work and your whole life.
She has led expeditions to remote parts of the world, sailed across the South Pacific Ocean, was an international research scientist, is a National Instructor with the British Sub Aqua Club, is on the Edinburgh board of Women in Banking and Finance, and is Director of an award-winning leadership company, Aeona.
She has been giving organisations superb advice about remote working.
In our interview, she offered some great tips, as you can hear in The Media Coach Radio Show.
There's also a great tune from Jim Boggia. |
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The MediaMaestro is Florian Schneider, founder of the German band Kraftwerk, who died this week.
Their impact on popular music has been massive. They heralded the coming of electronic music as well as genres such as synth-pop, techno, hip-hop and electronica.
Kraftwerk (German for “power station”) reached their pivotal moment with the release of their fourth album, Autobahn (1974), whose 23-minute title track – a euphoric electronic ode to the joys of driving on Germany’s high-speed motorways, delivered with a light and whimsical touch – became emblematic of the group’s sound and approach.
Tributes flowed from the music world. Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp said Schneider was "such an important influence upon so much of the music we know", and had forged "a new Metropolis of music for us all to live in".
Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes remembered hearing Autobahn and "how radically different it sounded from everything else on the radio".
OMD said they were "absolutely devastated" at the news, and Jean-Michel Jarre also paid tribute.
“Kraftwerk is not a band,” said Schneider in 1975. “It’s a concept – ‘Die Mensch-Maschine’, the human machine. We are not the band. I am me; Ralf is Ralf. Kraftwerk is a vehicle for our ideas.”
And what amazing ideas they were. |
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The MediaMugs are Kent police, who sent armed officers and a helicopter to tackle reports of a tiger on the loose, but were left red-faced after it turned out to be a sculpture, and not a very good one at that.
Officers responding to the call in Underriver, Kent, on Saturday were met by the sculpture's creator.
"I took them down to the sculpture where they all had a good laugh and took a lot of photographs," artist Juliet Simpson said.
Kent Police said it found there was "no animal and no risk to the public".
The wire and resin artwork has been in place in woodlands near a public path for at least 20 years and is now "rather dilapidated", she said.
"When I put this one in the wood behind my house, he seemed to sort of own the wood, so I never sold him, so he's just sat there." |
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| Speaking Tip - The promise of the premise |
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Screenwriters often talk about "delivering the promise of the premise". In other words, the film has to provide the audience with the resolution of the problem that's stated early on.
It's the same with speeches and presentations. When you begin a speech, you give the audience a good idea what it will be about. That's the premise. It needs to be simple and easily understood. To take an example from a film, a premise could be "A small fishing town is terrorised by a huge shark" The promise is that something will happen in the film to remove the threat. That's exactly what happens, though a lot of other stuff happens too.
When you set out the premise of your speech, you also make a promise to your audience. In return for their attention, you will provide them with new ideas, a new way of doing things, or some great laughs. A speech that fails to deliver on this initial promise is simply a waste of time for everyone.
When preparing a speech, write down what the premise is (what it is about), and the promise you are making to the audience (what they will get from it). Make sure that at every stage, you are working towards fulfilling that promise.
The best speeches, however, don't just fulfill the promise of the premise. They exceed it. That's when you know you've done a great job. |
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| Media Tip - I'm not here to discuss that |
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A common complaint about media interviews, often from politicians, is that they were "ambushed" by a question they didn't expect. They appear on a show to discuss a particular topic, and things go to plan, when the interviewer prefaces a question with the phrase "While you're here, may we ask you about something else?" Sometimes the interviewee will respond with irritation, replying that they came to discuss another topic, and don't really wish to talk about anything else.
Wrong approach. If you're faced with a journalist, it doesn't matter what topic you thought you were discussing, they can throw in a question about another, probably more topical, issue. So how should you react to the off-topic question?
Firstly, keep calm, or at least maintain a calm appearance. There's no benefit in getting or looking annoyed. Secondly, take a short pause, and think of the appropriate way to deal with things. Regardless of the question, you should be able to deliver at least a holding response. Don't attempt to answer at great length, and never speculate. A brief, confident response is all that is required, even if it is "That's news to me - I must go and find out more before I make a comment"
As you may have guessed, the best approach is to prepare well by thinking what other subject might come up. It's always something in the latest headlines or breaking news. Keep an eye on the news feeds in the few minutes before your interview, and decide what your line would be.
After all, you're a smart person. You're not going to be thrown by a question about what's in the news are you?
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| Social Media Tip - Robby the Robot goes social networking |
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The other day, I chanced to meet someone online that I will call Robby the Robot. That's not his real name, of course, and he's not really a robot. I made the mistake, after chatting with him, of giving him my contact details, following him on Twitter, befriending him on Facebook and connecting with him on LinkedIn. Here's what happened next:
1) I received a Twitter direct message which read "Hi there, I'm so excited that you followed me! I love your profile! Let's see if we can do business!"
2) I received a LinkedIn message which started "Hey Alan, I know you'd like to hear about my new way to make thousands of pounds from home. Could we have a chat so that I can find out more about your business?"
3) I received a Facebook message inviting me to his club about Internet Marketing that I didn't know I was interested in.
4) I looked at his Twitter feed and noticed that he sent 40 tweets in the space of two minutes, all simply links to news articles about finance.
I'm not friends with Robby the Robot any more. I don't think you should be either.
Social networking is not about who ends up with the most connections. It's about who has the best quality connections. |
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| Need some remote speaking tips ? |
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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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