Building and Protecting your Reputation |
|
What a difference a day makes eh?
This week, there was a regime change in the USA, as President Biden and Vice-President Harris took their oaths of office.
It was a good day for rhetoric. Sentences all began and ended, had verbs in, and made sense. There were some remarkable pieces of delivery, and one in particular I will return to in a moment.
What struck me about the inauguration ceremony was its uniqueness - everyone wearing masks, fist bumping and then social distancing, and its normality - hundreds of years of tradition carried on as usual, with everything in its place.
It made me wonder if we should do things a bit differently here in the UK when a new Prime Minister takes over - a song from Ed Sheeran, a poem from Benjamin Zephaniah and the National Anthem sung by Adele. On reflection, probably not. |
|
Bigger doesn't always mean better.
However, I hope in this case it does. The revised edition of The Exceptional Speaker, by Paul du Toit and me, has gone from 243 pages its now 350 pages, including a chapter on remote speaking.
The first copy arrived from our printers in India (thank you Replika Press) this week.
I'm expecting a delivery of 500 copies in the next few weeks, and then I will tell you how you can get your hands on one.
Professor David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English language, said of the revised edition "An enlightening blend of clear explanation and sound practical advice"
I won't argue with him. |
|
 |
And since Professor David Crystal was so kind about our book, I'm replaying the interview I did with him a couple of years ago.
He has written over one hundred books, including a number of best-sellers.
|
| |
|
Geoff's had a long career as a singer/songwriter, producer and writer of film scores.
If you like his music, buy a track or even an album - it all helps to keep music alive. |
|
The MediaMaestro spoke to an audience of millions this week, and is now a global sensation.
She is Amanda Gorman, the United States' first-ever youth poet laureate, and she recited a powerful poem she wrote at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
It was a stunning and emotional performance, perfectly capturing the mood of the nation, and bringing the whole crowd to their feet in a standing ovation.
We will be hearing a lot more of her in years to come.
Take five minutes to watch the video. Have a tissue handy. |
|
The MediaMug, or rather MediaMugs, are the QAnon conspiracy theorists. The bizarre collection of people who don't get out much were despondent on Wednesday as their prophecy of an Inauguration Day coup to keep Donald Trump in power failed again as President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
Oops.
QAnon supporters believed Wednesday's inauguration was an elaborate trap set by the former president, wherein Democrats would be rounded up while Trump retained power. Various other doomsdays theorised by the QAnon community have also come and gone without incident.
While Biden took the oath, a top post on a QAnon forum read "I don't think this is supposed to happen" and wondered, "How long does it take the fed to run up the stairs and arrest him?"
One of the largest QAnon groups on Telegram closed comments to let everyone "take a breather" after Biden's inauguration. When it reopened after it was accused of censorship, thousands of users expressed a range of reactions: confusion and realization that QAnon was in fact a hoax, as well as renewed commitment to the conspiracy theory, despite its unreliability.
Ah well. Time to invent another ludicrous theory, gang. |
|
Speaking Tip - Writing for someone else |
|
Sometimes, I write speeches for other people. You may be asked to do that too. On the face of it, it's a tough task. In reality, it's a very tough task! You need to be able to get inside the head of the other person, to understand the way they think, the impression they like to create, and the phrases they like to use.
Many politicians employ speechwriters. Most of Ronald Reagan's great orations were written by his chief writer, Peggy Noonan. Even JFK's "ask not what your country can do for you..." actually came from the pen of Ted Sorensen. Joe Biden's main speechwriter, Vinay Reddy, crafted his inaugural address.
When I'm writing a speech for someone, I go to see them speak, or watch videos of their speeches. Then I meet with them, and ask them these questions:
- What do you want to achieve?
- What is your key message?
- Can you explain that to me simply?
- Why is this important to your audience?
- What challenges do you expect?
- What is the practical application?
- Can you give me some stories and examples?
- Are you sure of your position?
- What do you want to leave out?
- Why is this important to you?
In other words (pun intended), it's not sufficient to simply take what a person says to you and re-word it. You need to go a lot deeper. Then you can call yourself a speechwriter.
Actually, it's not a bad idea to go through the same process, and ask yourself the same questions, when you are writing your own speech too. |
|
Media Tip - The edit point and the sound bite |
|
The news media thrives on sound bites. Although many people dismiss the "sound bite culture", it's simply a fact of life. If you want your words to be repeated on news bulletins and in newspaper stories, you must be able to deliver a short, pithy quote.
But there's another important element; the edit point. In order for a sound bite to be used, it needs to be clean sound. In other words, it should be your voice only, preceded by a short silence. Unfortunately, many interviewees start talking before the interviewer has finished the last word of the question. It may be down to nerves, enthusiasm or simply lack of awareness. There is also a tendency to interrupt the questioner in order to make a point. Alas, there's no way of extracting a sound bite from either interaction.
Keep the edit point in mind at all times, in all interviews. Anything you say might become a great sound bite, so you should ensure that you never interrupt or talk over someone else.
Finally, there's nearly always an opportunity at the end of an interview to deliver a sound bite. Your cue is often the word "briefly". Take note, and deliver a ten-second summary of your argument. There's an excellent chance it will be used again, giving you extra media coverage. |
|
Social Media Tip - Plough your own furrow |
|
A couple of years ago, I was in Leeds speaking to a group of fellow professional speakers about storytelling. After the event, we gathered in the bar for a couple of adult beverages, and I was asked whether I could tell a story or offer any tips based on any topic. I suggested that might, so "tractors" was suggested. I said I'd put it in my ezine one day, so here it is.
1) Get the timing right. My first grandfather-in-law (yes, that does make sense) was a farmer. I used to walk the fields with him in the Cotswold hills. One morning, we spotted another farmer with his tractor immovably stuck in a muddy field. My grandfather-in-law sighed. 'There's a time to plough" he said. In a tenuous link to social media, there's a time to post too. Get it wrong and your tweets will just stick in the mud and go nowhere.
2) Use the right tools. On a farm, everything has a purpose for which it is fit. That's why there are so many attachments for tractors lying around. Online, you need to use the right tools to create and monitor your posts.
3) Don't damage the crops. Farmers always use the same size tractor throughout the year, so that the wheels run on the lines between the crops. When you are creating online content, don't contradict or undermine material you have posted before. Cultivate all your content.
OK, some of those links were a bit stretched. But I think I met the challenge, |
|
One of the events that didn't get much (or indeed any) coverage at the London 2012 Olympics was the Cute Bunny Jumping Competition. So I'm fixing that. |
|
An online or in-person speech to make? 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." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
