Building and Protecting your Reputation |
|
We're being introduced to new buzzwords on a weekly basis. Words and phrases we never used six months ago.
First it was COVID-19 and Coronavirus, followed by Pandemic.
Then it was Lockdown, Unprecedented, R number, Furlough, Social Distance and Shielding.
We also have Super-Spreaders, Fomite and Contact Tracing.
Any guess on next week's word or phrase? I'm betting on Covexit Strategy (fingers crossed) |
|
My good friend Andy Lopata has produced a new book - Connected Leadership- How Professional Relationships Underpin Executive Success'.
The book explores the core elements of a professional relationships strategy for people either in or aspiring to leadership roles.
The contents of Connected Leadership are:
1. Why Great Leaders Rely on Strong Professional Relationships 2. Building Professional Relationships 3. Managing Your Profile and Personal Brand 4. The Importance of Influence 5. How to Protect Your Reputation 6. Making the Room Work For You - Being Strategic Around Events and Conferences 7. How 'Social' Should You Be? 8 Nurturing Professional Relationships 9. Leveraging Professional Relationships - Winning Referrals 10. Loneliness in Leadership - The Importance of a Support Network 11. All Hands on Deck - How to Delegate the Relationship Role and Build a Relationship Culture Afterword: Professional Relationships and Covid-19
For a week, Andy is offering the digital book at only 99 pence (or 99 cents or equivalent) on Amazon. Grab a copy now! |
|
Marius Barnard is a retired South African tennis player. As a professional, he beat several world number one players, including Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin, won 6 tour titles and was an 8 time tour finalist. He reached the Quarter Finals at Wimbledon as well as The Australian Open.
Today, Marius works as an Executive Coach helping CEOs, Directors and Managers improve their performance with tailored development programmes and managing their work pressures with self-belief, optimism and resilience. I spoke to him about the current state of tennis and how he has focused on the mental side of performance. Hear our chat in The Media Coach Radio Show.
|
|
The MediaMaestro is actor Peter Gordon, who put a love poem under his wife Alison's pillow every day for 25 years. He has kept writing for her since her death, and his family have now put his poems online.
He wrote 8,500 poems over several decades about the life and love he shared with Alison.
He started writing the poems in the 1980s, but they became a daily fixture in 1990, and remained so until her death from lung cancer in 2016.
"She was very touched and used to look forward to it," he recalls."It started off as little notes and then little poems. I would put them under her pillow, she would come to bed, look under the pillow, give it to me, and I would read it to her.Then I'd give it to her and she would read it silently and then fold it up and put it back under the pillow."
Around 340 poems from his vast archive have now been put online by their daughters Cassie, a charity content creator, and Anna, a writer who has worked on Succession and Killing Eve.
What a wonderful romantic legacy. |
|
The MediaMug is the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), which records and audits newspaper sales, and usually publishes figures every month.
They have decided that newspapers are no longer required to publish sales figures. Apparently publishers were growing concerned about a "negative narrative of decline" in newspaper sales, ABC said.
It's no surprise that the sales of print titles have been falling due to the coronavirus crisis, as people go out less often. But then sales of newspapers have been falling for years, and declining to publish the numbers won't make any difference.
After the announcement that some papers would not publish their figures, the Guardian's media editor, Jim Waterson said "This is a genius move. Can't write about the decline in print newspaper sales if there's no longer evidence that print newspaper sales are actually declining!"
He may have had his tongue in his cheek, but he is spot-on. |
|
Speaking Tip - Seven ways to make an online event amazing |
|
There's a lot of competition for attention online, so if you organise or speak at an online event, you need to be amazing.
Here are a few suggestions:
1) Give the people what they want. The fact that you have access to a number of speakers who share a particular expertise does not mean you should build an event round them. Listen to the chatter on social media, talk to your clients and find out what problems they are trying to solve. Then look for experts to deliver the solutions.
2) Encourage interaction. Make it easy for attendees to share information round Twitter hashtags, on Facebook pages and in other online forums. They are the best advocates for your event.
3) Make a one-day event last three months. Start the chat on social media long before the event, and encourage it to continue long after. The event itself is merely a milestone on the journey.
4) Book speakers who get involved. Ideally, your speakers should attend the whole event, listening to other speakers and contributing to chats. It provides more value for everyone, since the speakers hear feedback and find out real concerns, and the delegates have more opportunities to get their questions answered.
5) Get the technology right. Too many events are ruined by poor sound, poor connections or presentations that just don't work. It's the reason why rehearsal time is important, and the need for a strong liaison between organisers, technical staff and speakers.
6) Copy the best There are are a number of models for speaking events, from TED to Takahashi. Take elements from other styles and adapt them for your use.
7) Never settle for anything less than exceptional. It's getting harder to get people to sign up for events. Make sure that every element of an event is as good as you can make it. The weakest link in the chain may be the thing that people remember, so always aim high. |
|
Media Tip - What will they ask me? |
|
Whenever I'm preparing a client for a media interview, their main concern is "What will the journalist ask me?". Of course, I can't read the mind of their prospective interviewer, but I can make a pretty good guess. There are three types of questions I suggest we work on.
1) The blindingly obvious. Most of the questions will be of this type, such as "How do you feel?" "What's your reaction?" "Can you tell us what happened?" These really are easy questions. If you aren't ready for this type of question, you shouldn't be doing the interview. Questions like this give you the opportunity to deliver your core message, and to repeat it several times. In short, this is an opportunity to make your case, as strongly as you can.
2) The irrelevant question. Remember that the journalist will know far less about the topic than you do. They may only have read the first line of a press release, or may simply know your name and job title. This presents you with an opportunity, since you are able to explain your point of view in some detail, as a way of correcting any misconceptions in the question. Never suggest that a reporter is ill-informed, though, since that will only make the remaining questions a lot tougher.
3) The question you don't want. Never go into an interview hoping that a particular question won't be asked. You should expect to be asked the trickiest question, and you should prepare to deal with it. If the question isn't asked, you could even refer to it yourself, as a way of demonstrating that you aren't avoiding the issue. You will earn a great deal of respect from listeners if you tackle the toughest question with confidence.
|
|
Social Media Tip - I saw your name somewhere |
|
Classical marketing relies on campaigns, measurement and evaluation. Different types of advertisement are tested, different mailing times evaluated, and even the position of a stamp on an envelope (honestly, I worked on a campaign that tested this) can be measured. However, social media doesn't work like that. While some marketers claim to be able to measure the exact return on investment (ROI) of money and time spent on social media, the jury is still out.
There's an old marketing adage "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it", and that's what often frustrates companies who engage with their customers on social networks. It's tough to measure, and very difficult to manage. That's why some companies dismiss social media activity as not being worthwhile.
However, some brands, like Nike and GoPro, make extensive use of social media to create buzz around their brands, and sell more products as a result. Not all of us have their resources, so what can we do to emulate them? One word - ENGAGE. It doesn't matter what social network you use. If you have the opportunity to help someone and demonstrate your expertise, take it. One day you will hear the words from someone enquiring about your services - "I saw your name somewhere, and I thought we should talk".
|
|
Our friends Foil Arms and Hog have made a wee video explaining how tough lock-down can be for some people that we don't always think about. |
|
Need some remote speaking tips ? |
|
A remote event to plan? I can help.
|
|
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." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
