| Building and Protecting your Reputation |
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Welcome to the first billet-doux of 2022.
The Australian immigration service has been caught up in a row for allowing the England Cricket team to enter the country when they clearly weren't fit. And there's a bit of a to-do about a tennis player, but we'll get to that later.
I hope that you are well and happy and looking forward to a much improved year. It's still hard to tell, but I'm very hopeful that we'll be getting back in in-person speaking events.
As ever, I'm keen to hear from you about what you'd like advice on, what questions you have about speaking, media and social media, and if there are any guests that you'd like to recommend for my web radio show. Just drop me a line.
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There are still a few places on my annual one-to-one speaker coaching programme. This is a rare opportunity to work with me personally for a year.
Whether you are a professional speaker who wants to get back in the game in 2022, with more gigs and higher fees, or a speaker who wants to raise your game in your business, I'm here to help.
There are several options to choose from to fit your needs and your budget.
I've been boosting the careers of professional speakers for many years. It could be your turn next. Just drop me a line, or check out my website. |
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| My first interview guest of the year is one of the most experienced musicians around. He's was a member of 60s pop band The Move, along with pals Roy Wood and Carl Wayne, he toured with Black Sabbath, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Electric Light Orchestra.
He is the superb rock drummer Bev Bevan.
He had a few stories to tell, including about the superb new band he's in, called Quill
I interviewed him alongside the lead singer from Quill, Joy Strachan-Brain
You can hear our chat in the Media Coach Radio Show |
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| MediaMaestro, MediaMug of the Week |
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The MediaMaestrois fossil expert, author and conservationist Richard Leakey, who died this week.
His first job was studying fossils. His parents, Louis and Mary, were famous archaeologists and palaeontologists who spent decades exploring Kenya's Rift Valley, searching for the origins of mankind.
In the late 1980s, Leakey switched careers to take over as head of Kenya's Wildlife Service (KWS) at a time when the organisation was close to collapse and poachers were busy wiping out the country's entire elephant and rhino populations.
His no-nonsense style made him many enemies, and a plane crash in 1993 nearly killed him, with rumours of sabotage being rife. Despite losing his legs as a result of the crash, he forged a new career in Kenyan politics, eventually becoming head of the Kenyan civil service, where he fought against widespread corruption.
A remarkable man.
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The MediaMug of the week is Novak Djokovic, the world number one men's tennis player.
He's got himself into a very long rally in his match against the Australian immigration system.
He announced on social media on Tuesday that he had been given a medical exemption from the COVID rules that would allow him to play in the Australian Open. That unwise post ignited a storm of protest.
Djokovic, who has previously expressed anti-vaccination sentiments, has been a polarising figure during the pandemic. In 2020, he apologised after organising an event where he and other tennis players contracted Covid-19.
After broadcasting the apparent decision that he would be playing, he has now decided to keep very quiet about why he is exempt from the rules.
It is still not clear whether he would still play in the event, even if he is allowed to stay.
He certainly won't be the most popular player on court. |
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| Speaking Tip of the week - Did you really mean that? |
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No-one expects us to use perfect grammar when we speak. It's not literature, it's a conversation. However, it may be an idea to review certain things that we may say, just to make sure we are making sense. For example, here are a few usages I've heard speakers deliver in the past few weeks:
- "The proof is in the pudding" No it isn't. The phrase is "The proof of the pudding is in the eating". The word "proof" in this case is used in the sense of "test".
- "This is the exception that proves the rule" This doesn't mean that an exception to a rule makes it true. That would be ridiculous. It's the word "exception" here that matters, used in the sense of "the part left out". For example, "No swimming after dark" is an exception that proves the rule "Swimming allowed only in daylight".
- "That's ironic" It's often used in the sense of an amusing coincidence. It doesn't mean that at all. It means the outcome is the opposite of what you'd expect. If a speaker decides to travel by car rather than train because they dreamed the train would be delayed, and the train is delayed, that's coincidence, not irony. However, if the car was held up for hours at a level crossing because the train broke down that really is irony.
- "There's a plethora of speaking opportunities" They meant that there were lots of opportunities around. However, "plethora" means "too many".
Do these usages matter? I think they do. Speakers should mean what they say, and say what they mean. |
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| Media Tip of the week - Inspired by true events |
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It seems that a lot of films (or movies if you prefer) have a tagline "inspired by true events". In most cases, this means that they are a load of complete rubbish, thrown together by a screenwriter who once read a story in a newspaper about a person who claimed to been abducted by aliens. To put it another way, it's a sign of a lack of true creativity.
So what has this got to do with the media? Well, it's about telling the truth. When you are interviewed by a reporter, you need to tell the truth, all the time. You should never ever guess, let alone tell untruths. Of course, you're a trustworthy soul, and I know you would never lie on air. The trap is when a reporter asks you a question like "So what do you think may have happened to cause this?" Never speculate. It's a prime rule of media management.
There are many stories of public figures being undone for knowingly giving false versions of events. The truth always comes out. The only thing to do, when faced with a difficult truth, is to take advice from Bill Clinton's former spin doctor Lanny Davis, who wrote a book called "Tell it early, Tell it all, Tell it yourself".
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| Social Media Tip of the week - Go narrow, go deep |
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There's a belief around that you need to be on as many social networks as possible, and automation can help you to do so. The theory is that having a presence in dozens of places will help to raise your profile to generate business. I'm not convinced. It seems to me a much better strategy to concentrate on a handful of networks, and become really well-known by a much smaller audience.
It's widely accepted that business comes from strong, trusted relationships. It takes time and effort to build and maintain such links, and you need to be taking part in the conversation, not just broadcasting messages. I focus on just three social networks (as do many people); LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. OK, Instagram from time to time, but over 80% of my social networking time is spent in the big three.
You may have one network only that you spend almost all of your time on. If it works for you, stay there. Becoming well-known in a single community will lead to a high level of trust, especially if you don't indulge in constant self-promotion. Visit your preferred network regularly, offer help, answer questions and get to know others in the community.
It's perfectly OK to mix business and social postings too. If you are happy to share your interests outside your line of work, it helps people to see you as a well-rounded individual, and further increases your authenticity.
Having a narrow focus, and demonstrating the depth of your expertise, will pay dividends.
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| I'm sure you never get bored at your keyboard, but if you want a little lift, here are fifteen things that may surprise you when you type them into Google. Especially the Friends trick! |
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| Speaker coaching - a reminder |
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A reminder about my speaker coaching programme for 2022 - find out more at the link or reply to this email
SPEAKER COACHING |
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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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