The MediaCoach

Hi John,

As I said in a recent Facebook post, if you want to tell interesting stories, you have to do interesting things. I'm now back from my sojourn in Northern Crete and I'm working as a volunteer at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Olympic Park in London. My role is to film the bouts so that video replays can be assessed by judges in case of disputes about points. I wasn't an expert on Taekwondo before I volunteered, but I now know several ways to kick people in the head and chest. Not that I would of course. Now all I have to do is to work out how to get my experience into a speech.

I'm delighted to learn that my friends Julie Holmes and Steve Clarke have now launched the app to go with their brilliant bluetooth mic for smartphones, Hey Mic. The app is in the App Store now, and the mics are winging their way to the first customers. One of the images in the App Store is of a distinguished-looking speaker at his desk using a Hey Mic. I've never been in an app before. You can order a Hey Mic here, by the way.

I often talk about a Hollywood screenwriter called Blake Snyder, who wrote a superb book called Save the Cat, which I recommend to all speakers. It's about the structure of film, but also applies to speeches. Anyway, I was asked today if I'd replay the interview I recorded with him a few months before his untimely death. Hear it in the Media Coach Radio Show. There's also a superb tune from Geoff Gibbons, who has a new album out - more news on that soon.
Go to the iTunes Archive of the MediaCoach Show
Follow me on Twitter

The MediaMaster this week, alas is someone who also died way too early at only 51. Sean Hughes, stand up comedian and all-round good bloke, wrote a poem in 1994. It's a fitting tribute to a very funny man. Here it is:
Death by Sean Hughes
I want to be cremated
I know how boring funerals can be
I want people to gather
meet new people
have a laugh, a dance, meet a loved one.
I want people to have free drink all night.
I want people to patch together, half truths.
I want people to contradict each other
I want them to say 'I didn't know him but cheers'
I want the Guardian to mis-sprint three lines about me
or to be mentioned on the news
Just before the 'parrot who loves Brookside' story.
I want to have my ashes scattered in a bar,
on the floor, mingle with sawdust,
a bar where beautiful trendy people
Will trample over me again

The MediaMug trophy goes to the creators of the squeeze jukebox. No, it's not those nice chaps who sang Up the Junction, it a jukebox that allows you to taste music. Honestly. It analyses the emotional content of any track and turns it into liquid form, the inventors claim. Happy is signified by sweetness, excitement by sourness, sadness by bitterness and saltiness for sentimentality. So Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry (Be Happy) would taste extremely sweet. As for Morrissey's back catalogue - well, I can't even imagine.

BEING FILMED

You'd think it was easy to be filmed while you are speaking. All you need to do is to pretend the camera is not there, and do your normal stuff, right? Well, not quite. I've seen too many videos where a camera has been set up, pointing at the stage, to record a performance. The resulting video often has poor quality sound (because the microphone in the camera is picking up noises from the audience as well as the echo in the room), and the video itself looks static and dull.

It makes sense to have a camera operator, preferably a professional. If you plan to use the video to promote yourself, or even to sell, you need to use either a hand-held microphone or a lapel mike (also called a lavalier). If you move around the stage, the camera operator can follow you, occasionally zooming in for emphasis.

Here are some more tips for being filmed while speaking -

WHY NOT BE NICE?

Controversy drives news. News stories thrive on conflict. Good news is dull. So how can you court publicity by being "nice"? Well, it all depends how you do it. One thing is certain - if you constantly criticise your rivals, you won't be perceived as anything other than a moaner - and who wants to do business with someone who complains al the time?

So, focus on the positive aspects of what you do, and be nice about the competition, while promoting yourself at the same time. For example, if you are asked whether you are "The best in the business", you could say "Well, you'd have to ask our customers that. But it seems from the number of people coming through our doors that they seem to think so".

Watch the way that someone like the Virgin boss, Richard Branson, operates on the media (even though he gets extremely nervous beforehand). He always smiles, engages warmly with the interviewer, and talks in everyday language - often referring to what his customers want. Even if you can't remember his message, you think "nice bloke", and feel warm about his company. It's as easy as that.

IF THIS THEN THAT

Anyone with a programming bent (and they are so hard to straighten) will tell you that "If" statements are very useful. Back in the dark days of the early 1970s, I used to punch a series of holes in cards to say something like "If A is less than B, move C to D", or some such nonsense. I'm much better now. Anyway, this tip is about a rather cool application that will do clever things for you "if" something happens.

Perhaps an example will help. Every time you post a new blog, you want to mention it on Twitter. You can do it manually by clicking a couple of times, but sometimes you may forget. This handy tool does it all for you. It's called (wait for it) "If this then that", and you can find it at ifttt.com

Once you have set it up with permissions to use your social media channels, it will perform tasks for you in the background. Some nice people have already set up hundreds of tasks that you can use, such as getting a tweet every morning with weather information, or updating your Twitter profile picture when you change it on Facebook, or - well. you get the idea.

I'm not a fan of sending automatic tweets thanking every follower, or automatically following back (both of which you could do with ifttt), but for some regular tasks, it's quite brilliant.

It'll be alright on the night.

One place is still available on my year-long one-to-one coaching programme for professional speakers for 2018. If you are a professional speaker seeking to increase your business, I will work with you for the whole year for a very reasonable monthly fee. Reply to this email to find out more.

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."