Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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A very Happy Easter to you.
I hope you're fit and well and able to venture outside into the watery sunshine for a bit this weekend. Now that some restrictions have been eased, we're taking the opportunity to meet our next-door neighbours in the garden for a few cucumber sandwiches and glasses of Pimms.
Actually it's more likely to be beer and crisps, though I did manage a very middle-class conversation with our neighbour Matt (he's a head teacher) which included the phrase "It's better if you come to ours, since it's easier to bring your fire pit over than for us to bring our chiminea to you".
Whatever your plans this weekend, have a good time. |
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The best phone call of the week came from my hairdresser, Katrina. After almost five months of returning to my seventies hair style (the decade not my age), I can finally get a tidy up in a couple of weeks' time. I can't wait. I appreciate that in the hierarchy of importance, it ranks a lot lower than many things, but for me it's a blessing.
Come to think of it, in the 1970s I was desperate to avoid hairdressers. I wonder what changed?
I was thinking of getting my hair cut at home. But then I remembered the last haircut I had at home, done by my Mum with the kitchen scissors just before my first day at school.
As you can see, she tried to get the fringe straight, but failed spectacularly. |
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She's is one of the UK's most respected singer-songwriters. Her songs have won two Ascap awards, an Ivor Novello nomination, made UK No 1 and US No 4 while her 2017 album, Dark Matter won Best Album from the US Indie Acoustic Project.
She has also worked as an actress in theatre, film & TV, co-founded London Comedy-Impro venue, The Hurricane Club, composed scores for film & TV and written for BBC radio. Her song Pilot of the Airwaves remains a worldwide radio favourite.
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The MediaMaestro is Specsavers, the high street opticians.
They are masters of grabbing a news story and turning it into PR for themselves. Remember when they posted an image of Barnard Castle after Dominic Cummings' notorious drive, with the caption "Should have gone to Barnard Castle"?
This time they have picked up a story about Helen Newman.
She had ordered some daffodils from Asda earlier in the week and after not having received them, she went to complain and managed to get a refund.Turns out, however, they had arrived all along. Her partner, Dave, had mistaken them for spring onion and chucked them straight in the fridge.
The smart PR team at Specsavers responded to her photo and message on Twitter with the comment "See you soon, Dave".
Priceless. |
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The MediaMug is Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
He has given an insight into his working process, describing his unusually decorated office as ‘soothing’ and ‘like a boudoir’. He was quizzed on the colour scheme while being interviewed, and asked whether the bright red wasn’t a little bit angry. Holly Willoughby had told him it was ‘quite a brave choice of paint’ for the red room and he insisted: ‘I love it.’
‘It’s like a boudoir, it’s soothing,’ he told the presenters, as they sat outside the studio.
Philip Schofield, taken aback, asked: ‘It’s a boudoir?! What have you just said?!’ He then replied: ‘It’s just me and my paperwork…’
He could be in big trouble with Boris Johnson. There was no sign of a flag in his room.
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Speaking Tip - Why speakers need a bra |
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Many people use filler words in conversation. These include "er", "um" and "like". Provided they are used sparingly, they don't interrupt the flow of a dialogue. However if used during a speech, these vocal tics can become distracting and may even prevent the audience from hearing the main message. I've found from working with many speakers that it's fairly easy to eliminate these distractions from a prepared speech, but much tougher to eliminate them from answers to questions. That's when you need your bra.
It may not be what you're thinking. In this context, I use the acronym BRA to remind speakers of a three-part technique to remove the ums and ers. Here's how it works:
Break. Make a deliberate effort to leave a break between the question and your response. (You might remember it as B for Breathe if you prefer). There's often a temptation to rush in with a response, and in the moment while your brain is composing it, your voice is saying "um". Pausing for a few seconds is absolutely fine.
Reflect. The pause allows you time to reflect on your answer. There are no prizes for answering quickly. The idea is to give a valuable and appropriate response, and that requires a few seconds of reflection.
Answer. Once you know what your answer is, deliver it in a seamless manner. Giving yourself a moment to breathe and reflect will also make your answer flow more easily, since you will have time to compose a full response, rather than starting before you know how to finish.
In short, when you need support to eliminate those ums, use a bra.
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Media Tip - Can I check the story? |
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Don't show yourself up as a media dunce. There are a number of ways that you can do this, any of which can ruin your relationship with a reporter before it has even got off the ground. One of the ways (which reporters really hate) is to ask to see a story, whether in print or on video, before it goes public. You may have a good reason (at least in your own head) for asking - maybe a desire to check facts, or make sure you come across well. The reporter however, will see your request in a very different way. Some journalists may even be told off by their editors for showing a story to the people involved, since it could compromise their truthful reporting.
Another tactic guaranteed to remove you from a journalists list of good contacts is to pester them about a story, with calls such as "When are you going to run it?" or "Can you use the entire quotes, and not edit them?". It's a bit like standing over the plumber who has come to fix a leaky pipe and saying "Could you fix it another way?" I'm sure you can imagine the response, and reporters often have an even wider repertoire of abusive phrases than any other profession.
In short, give reporters the information you have, and let them do their job. If they make a factual error, it may be necessary to complain. If not, you have to live with what they write or broadcast.
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Social Media Tip - Share it around |
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Once upon a time, people in business used to keep their knowledge to themselves, thinking that it would give them a competitive advantage, and make them rich. That's not the way social media works. Arguably, it's not the way the business world works any more either. That doesn't mean that you have to give away everything you know, Knowledge still has a value. However, it does mean that you will become liked and trusted by sharing information and helping people to solve their problems.
It may be counter-intuitive, but the more information you share, the more likely people are to buy your products or services when they are really in need. Of course, there will always be those who are just "takers", but they would never have bought anything from you anyway.
When you find an article that is helpful, tweet a link to it. If you spot a brilliant "how to" video, put a link to it on your Facebook page. Make sure to give the originator full credit. By all means share your own articles too, but don't overdo it, or you will start to look like someone who only promotes themselves. The more valuable information you share on social networks, the more you will be seen as a trusted source. That's what leads to real business relationships.
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If the definition of fun extends to music (and it does), then allow me to pay a tribute to one of the greatest musicians, who would have been 75 years old this week. Alas, he left us over 20 years ago. But his music lives on. Happy Birthday Ronnie "Plonk" Lane. |
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An online or in-person speech to make? 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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