The MediaCoach

Hi John,

Maybe it is of interest only to sports fans, but I have been fascinated by the slow car crash that has ensued from the ball-tampering activities (or cheating as we should really call it) indulged in by Australian cricketers in South Africa. We have now had two tearful press conferences from the disgraced captain, Steve Smith, and the coach, Darren Lehmann. The Australian prime minister has had his say, as have a whole host of ex-international cricketers. I doubt if we have seen the last of it. I predict that more allegations will emerge, more players will be involved, and there will be a few more damp press events. The only way to deal with a crisis is, as Lanny Davis said when he was White House counsel to President Clinton: "Tell it all, Tell it early, tell it yourself".

I doubt very much that Vladimir Putin's advisors are telling him what Lanny Davis told Bill Clinton. The Russian approach to crisis management has always been denial and counter-accusation. There won't be any crying at the Kremlin.

On a completely different note, I have been visiting a few pop-up restaurants and bars recently. These are often "advertised" only in a few places, presumably where the target market of the establishments hang out. There are also "secret" bars scattered around London and other big cities, as well as "secret" items on the menus of various fast food restaurants. It's not a new trend, but it does seem to be on the increase. See you in the Blind Pig.

All that chat about food has made me hungry, so it's time to replay an interview with Lance Forman, the fourth-generation owner of the oldest salmon smokery in the world. Hear our chat in the Media Coach Radio Show. and there's also a fine track from an old rocker I will be meeting up with next week - Russ Ballard.
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The MediaMaestro is Darian Lipscomb. He was a huge fan of a cruise line called Carnival Cruises, so decided to use that as the name of his Instagram account in 2012. However, the company recently decided to launch (pun intended) an Instagram account, so wanted to get their name. They knew from his posts that he lived in the small Virginia town of Prospect, so put up signs around the town asking if anyone knew him. He was found, and happily agreed to give up the name in return for a free cruise for him and his family on the company's newest ship, the Carnival Horizon. If a company ever launches the luxury MediaCoach hotel, I'm in...

The MediaMug is that fine actor, but less than fine author, Sean Penn. He has just released his first novel, "Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff", and it is fair to say critics have not been kind. He has a certain style (or lack of it) which is unique, as this excerpt indicates:"Behind decorative gabion walls, an elderly neighbour sits centurion on his porch watching Bob with surreptitious soupçon". Here is another bizarre turn of phrase:"Hence, his life remains incessantly infused with her identity-infidelity, and her abhorrent ascensions to those constant salacious sessions of sexual solitaire she'd seen as self-regard." I know. His book is available on Amazon, as if you cared.

TOO MUCH RABBIT

As I am sure you are aware, "rabbit" is Cockney rhyming slang for talking. (Rabbit and Pork...). I'm a Londoner, but not a Cockney, though I do remember my parents using the phrase "too much rabbit, son", when I was talking too much. Can speakers use "too much rabbit"? I think they can, and there are times when silence is the better option. Here are some of them:

The trouble is, we speakers love to speak. It's keeping quiet that's difficult. But knowing when to be silent is just as much a part of the speakers' art as knowing what to say.

AS SMOOTH AS CHOCOLATE

The way to answer questions on TV or radio is smoothly and calmly, without appearing nervous at all. To achieve a smooth and flawless delivery takes practice and preparation, of course. It will pay dividends to ask one of your colleagues to help you rehearse, by asking the most likely questions and giving you feedback on your answers. If you can video the rehearsal, so much the better.

Remember to rehearse not only the most likely questions, but also the most difficult ones. In practice, you are likely to be asked only the most obvious questions, but if you have already prepared for the worst, your answers will sound much more confident. Be aware of timing too. Allow yourself plenty of time for that last-minute bathroom trip (don't forget to check your appearance in the mirror), and wear clothes that look good, but are comfortable.

There's a difference between "smooth" and "slippery", but it can be a fine line. Your task is to exude quiet confidence, and to keep calm even if you feel annoyed inside. If you are in a debate with another guest, stay as calm and unruffled as possible. Smooth and easy does it.

A VIDEO SELECTION BOX

There are many apps for creating and editing video for social media. Here's a selection that I use.

1) Splice From the nice people who brought you the GoPro camera, this app is a very neat video editor for the iPhone or iPad. To be fair, it has crashed on me a couple of times, but the results when it works are worth seeing.

2) Cute Cut Pro An app that makes it very easy to incorporate all sorts of media into videos - photos, audio, voiceover, drawings etc. also handy for making portrait or landscape format videos for different devices.

3) Pinnacle Studio Pro A superb full-featured video editor for the iPad. Excellent for story-boarding and adding animations too.

4) Magisto A video and image editor that uses AI to produce videos for social media in a matter of seconds.

Easter Eggs are not just made of chocolate. They are also secret features hidden in films, books, music, TV shows and software. Many of them are quite amazing. There is a huge archive of them that will take you more than Easter to look through.

Make sure you are ready.

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."