Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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It's that time of year when I open up places on my annual coaching course for professional speakers in 2021.
The coaching and mentoring is delivered either face-to-face or via Zoom. The monthly sessions can be split into two sessions a couple of weeks apart if desired. There is work to do in between sessions, and the programme includes reasonable ad-hoc calls for advice and guidance at no extra cost.
The programme provides customised coaching around all aspects of a speaking business, including fees, getting bookings, working with bureaus, creating websites and show-reels, marketing strategies and of course creating killer keynote speeches. And of course there's an emphasis on remote speaking.
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Mike Weston, or "Adult Cinema" as he is known, is a musical genius.
His albums have echoes of a number of influences, from Pink Floyd to the Sex Pistols.
Naturally, there's a song of his in the show too. |
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The MediaMaestro is the BBC. They have strongly defended a decision to have a same-sex pairing on the new series of Strictly Come Dancing after receiving complaints from viewers about the move.
The corporation said Strictly was "an inclusive show" and that it had been "happy to facilitate" Nicola Adams' request to be partnered with a woman.
According to the BBC, "the sex of each partner within a coupling should have no bearing on their routine". The statement was published on the complaints section of the BBC's website in response to complaints received "from some viewers".
Olympic boxer Adams will become the first contestant to be part of a same-sex pairing.
Some applauded the show for the routine, but the BBC received 189 complaints from viewers who found it offensive. I guess they can waltz off.
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The MediaMug is TV chef Nigella Lawson.
She has divided opinion with a controversial pasta recipe after claiming she's yet to find a child who doesn't like it.It's hard to cause much offence with a simple pasta dish, but Nigella predicted the backlash which followed from some as she pleaded with Italians "not to shout at me".
The recipe only uses four ingredients, but includes the addition of one you'll either love or hate: Marmite. Sharing it on Instagram, Nigella wrote: "So many of you know and love this already, and the rest of you are probably horrified by it."
The post attracted more than 1,260 comments, as some raved about the dish. One wrote: "This recipe changed my life. I've never tasted anything so fabulous! Also a great hangover cure."
Another said: "Yes!! I have been eating this deliciousness my entire life, I love that you've posted this! It's tangy, it's carby, it's lush."
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Speaking Tip - How to have a long speaking career |
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A colleague of mine asked recently for some tips to prolong a speaking career. I've been on stage for quite a few years now, so I suggested a few things that I've found helpful. I thought I'd share them with you, right here.
1) Treat every audience as you would treat your most important client. When you speak, that's what they are. It''s really important to do your best speech, every time. It doesn't matter how many people are there, or how much you are being paid (if at all). That may be the only time those people hear you speak. You owe it to them to deliver the best possible value for their time sitting listening to you.
2) Throw away a third of your material every year, especially any references to things that happened more than five years ago. If you have a cracking personal story that stands the test of time, then keep it, but be ruthless otherwise. This one is tough. It's tempting to keep everything you've put in a speech, and simply to refine it. If you don't change, your speech will go stale, you'll get bored delivering it, and your audience will notice.
3) Outsource anything you're no good at. You're a speaker, not an accountant, diary manager, web designer, etc. Many speakers are one-person bands, and get bogged down doing stuff that will be done faster and better by someone else. If you're a speaker, concentrate on speaking.
4) Keep doing what you talk about, and be a shining example of it. Current experience trumps long-gone successes (see point 2). If your speech is about something that happened twenty years ago, no-one under thirty-five will remember it. That could be most of your audience.
5) (bonus tip) If speaking is no longer fun, give it up and do something else.
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Media Tip - How to be a perfect spokesperson |
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These days, every organisation needs someone who can speak to the media on its behalf. Large organisations need several such messengers. It's a good idea to have as few spokespeople as possible, for a number of reasons. Firstly, they are more likely to stay "on message". Secondly, they will get to know the specialist reporters well, and be able to deal with them more effectively. Thirdly, if people know who your spokespeople are, they are more prepared to wait until they are available, giving you some valuable breathing space.
Here's my checklist of what it takes to be a perfect spokesperson:
- Always have something positive to say
- Be first to address issues that affect your organisation
- Be very quick to correct any mis-reporting
- Be polite and professional at all times
- Condemn all forms of violence
- Be completely honest
- Be well-informed, especially about what others have said
- Always turn up earlier than promised
- Simplify every message
- Repeat the message until you sure it is understood. Then say it again.
OK, perfection is difficult to attain, but if you follow the guidelines above, you will be close to it. |
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Social Media Tip - How do you do everything? |
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There's an old saw "How you do anything is how you do everything". It's often attributed to T Harv Eker, but probably predates him by a few thousand years. In my view it's a handy maxim.
There's our public and private personas. They need to be congruent, if not identical. There's how we treat people in every circumstance. Word gets out. There's how we treat clients, and how we talk about them to colleagues (especially in open Facebook groups). It's all visible.
Then there's everything we post on social media. That's everything. I realise that some people want to keep their "social" use separate from their "business" use. However, many of our friends are regular referrers of business. They see our social posts. They know our favourite music, films and sports teams. They know exactly who we are.
Everything we do affects our reputations. It may be as well to stay your hand sometimes before you post that comment on a social network.
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A hybrid event to plan? I can help.
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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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