The MediaCoach

Hi John,

We just had a couple of days relaxing in Bristol (thanks to the splendid Hotel du Vin). It's surprising how even twenty-four hours in a different place can recharge your batteries. I came back having written down a bunch of ideas for 2018, including writing a couple of books and some online courses. I'll let you know more in a few week's time.

I mentioned last week that I've launched a group coaching programme for professional speakers in 2018, since my one-to-one programme is full. Half of the places on the group programme have now gone, so if you are interested, do get in touch. The programme includes a two-hour group video call every month, a one-hour one-to-one video call, plus reasonable email and phone support. The cost is 250 pounds a month plus VAT where it applies.

On the political front, there was a bit of a budget this week. I used the calculator on the BBC website to find out that I'm going to be 42 pence a month worse off. Never mind.
And in one of those mindless pieces of corporate endeavour that means nothing at all, I've had an email from Virgin Media that tells me in breathless terms that they are re-branding from 'Virgin Media Presents" to "Virgin TV Edit'. They seem to think I should care. Ho hum.

I love smoked salmon. How lucky I am that the oldest salmon smokery in the world, Formans, is just up the road. And even luckier that I spoke to the fourth-generation owner, Lance Forman. His insights into business plans are fascinating. Hear him in the Media Coach Radio Show. There's also a great song from The Lost Hollow Band, one of whom has been under the weather lately - get well soon, Tommy!
Go to the iTunes Archive of the MediaCoach Show
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The MediaMaestro is Adam Hargreaves, son of the author and "Mr Men and Little Miss" creator, Roger Hargreaves. Adam has carried on his father's work, and created the 36th character in the Little Miss series, a female engineer called Little Miss Inventor. The character, with pencils and a spanner in her hair, is described as "intelligent, ingenious and inventive". The book telling her story will be released on 8th March 2018 - tying in with International Women's Day and British Science Week. Adam Hargreaves said: "I always enjoy creating a brand new character for the series and it was fun coming up with lots of crazy inventions for Little Miss Inventor's home and silly ones for all her friends. It's also been nice to write a story that promotes a positive role model and to challenge a stereotype, if only in a small way."

Two un-named US Navy aircrew take the MediaMug award this week. The US Navy has confirmed one of their jets was involved in the drawing of a penis in skies over Okanogan County in Washington state. Now I would have thought that's quite tricky, but apparently the Navy aren't appreciating the skill involved. Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker, the commander of Naval Air Forces, told Sky News: "The Navy holds its aircrew to the highest standards and we find this absolutely unacceptable, of zero training value and we are holding the crew accountable". Make up your own jokes about Top Gun.

THE INTRO AND THE OUTRO

Some speakers leave their introductions to chance. They assume that the introducer will know who they are, what they do, and how to give them a good build-up. Alas, this is often a false assumption. You need to craft your own intro, and make sure that it is in the right hands. However, the outro - the words that are said after the end of your speech - is also very important. Back to that in a moment.

The intro should focus on what you are about to provide to the audience. It should be brief, relevant and enticing. There's no need to detail your awards, your clients or your long list of publications, since the audience has probably seen that already in the event publicity. Send a copy of your intro in advance, but also have a written copy to hand over when you rehearse. Make sure that the introducer is happy to read it, and ask them to run through it a couple of times while you are with them. The last thing said (and the only time it is said in the intro) should be your name.

Now, the outro. This is often overlooked, but is equally important. You want to leave the audience with the best possible impression of you, and highlight any follow-up. Though I tweak my outro for each event, here's a typical example:

"Thank you Alan, that's been a great help for those of us building and protecting our reputations - which is all of us. Alan will be around for the rest of the event and is happy to answer any questions you may have. If you'd like to receive his free weekly tips email, you can sign up at mediacoach.co.uk or simply hand him your business card. Thanks again, Alan"

Take control of your intro and outro so that you can focus on the bit in between - your speech.

HOW LONG HAVE I GOT?

There's a word that media interviewers say to interviewees that makes them talk at great length. The word is "briefly", as in, "So, tell us briefly, in the few seconds we have left, what your new business is about". Alas, on most occasions, the hapless interviewee will begin their well-rehearsed response with a history of how they developed their business, only to be cut off with the words "I'm sorry that's all we have time for". The interviewee leaves the studio annoyed and frustrated that they failed to deliver their message, and furious with the presenter for cutting them off.

Well here's the thing; the news bulletin waits for no-one. It will be broadcast on the hour, regardless of what else is going on. That's why you need to be able to condense (or expand) your answers to fill the time available. Over the years, I have developed a sense of timing that allows me to speak for 30, 45 or 60 seconds, to within a second or two. It has been invaluable to me in media interviews.

Before you go on air, it will pay to practice delivering your message in a limited time. Here's an exercise that I've used with media spokespeople. Take half a dozen sheets of paper, and write a different number of seconds on each. Turn them face down and shuffle them. Take one at random, turn it over, and try to deliver your message in exactly that time. Get someone else to time you - maybe a fellow spokesperson, so you can exchange roles.

When you learn to speak to a precise time, your media interviews will be much more effective. Not only that, you will be surprised how much information you can deliver in a few seconds.

DIGGING DEEP IN TWITTER

As Michael Caine might have said 'Not many people know that Twitter has an advanced search function". But it does. It's an incredibly powerful tool, and I find it surprising that Twitter hasn't made it more obvious. But now you know.

Here's how to use it:
1) Enter your search into the search bar on twitter.com.
2) At the top of your results page, click More options and then click Advanced search.
3) Fill in the appropriate fields to refine your search results
4) Click Search to see your results.

There are a number of ways to use Advanced Search:

So what is the point of all this? Well, here's an example. Suppose you were a car repairer based in Birmingham. You could search for all tweets in your region which mention car repairs, include a question mark, and exclude a link. The reason for the last condition is that car repairers may tweet "Looking for car repairs?" followed by a link to their site. What you need is someone simply saying 'Does anyone know a good car repair company?" or similar. You can search for variations of words too.

Why not try it out? You might find some business.

Why don't people dance like this any more?

A reminder that I have three places left on my group coaching programme for 2018. Reply to this email for details.

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."