The MediaCoach

Hi John,

I'm just back from Vancouver, where British political news was mercifully sparse. Even so, most conversations I had with Canadians included a question about Brexit fairly early in the dialogue. Alas, just like everyone else, I had no real answer. So instead, I focused on hosting a comedy night and delivering a keynote speech. They both went rather well, and I will share a bit more about them when my jet lag wears off.

One of the aspects that went really well was PowerPoint karaoke. This comes in various formats, but essentially requires a speaker to deliver a coherent narrative when faced with a series of slides they have never seen before. It sounds tricky, because it is, but whenever I have hosted a PowerPoint karaoke event, everyone has risen to the occasion. Why not try holding a game of it yourself? (it's a change from charades).

As you know, I love music. Wherever I go, I go to see music gigs, and if possible, chat to the performers too. The last time I was in Vancouver, I went to a bar and restaurant called Cardero's, where I met the resident musician Geoff Gibbons. In the five years since, I have played his songs in my show many times, so of course I went back to see him and recorded an interview - as well as taking a photo. He also played every song we could think of in a magical evening. Hear his interview in the Media Coach Web Radio Show. There is also of course a song from Geoff too.
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The MediaMaestro award goes to comedian Konstantin Kisin, who turned down a gig at a university after being asked to sign a "behavioural agreement" first. He was asked to perform at a gig at the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) in London, organised by university society Unicef on Campus. However, before appearing, he was presented with a contract saying that he agreed with a "no tolerance" policy with regard to "racism, sexism, classism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia or anti-religion or anti-atheism". Konstantin said "I didn't turn down this gig because I'm some racist, homophobic, xenophobic, ableist comedian. I turned down this gig because if you sign a contract like that, you're exposing yourself to someone's bad interpretation. If someone writes a contract like that, the chances are that they will be hypersensitive, vigilant and trying to catch you out. I'm just not interested in that." Well done to him.

The MediaMug Award winner was suggested by my good friend Niels Brabandt . It goes to a Russian robot called Boris, who danced and sang at a technology forum for school pupils. Unfortunately all was not as it seemed. Boris was not a real robot. He was a man in a robot suit. As Boris danced on stage, a presenter had said: "At the forum there's the opportunity to see state-of-the-art robots. Boris the Robot has already learned to dance, and not badly at that." However, images shared online from backstage at the event clearly showed a human inside a robot outfit. I wonder conversely if Boris Johnson is a robot in a human suit?

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU HAVE, IT'S WHAT THEY NEED

Many presenters do a great technical job on the platform, but far fewer seem to be effective in persuading their audience to a new point of view, or calling them to action. That's often because the presenters fail to understand the needs of their audience, and focus on what expertise they have to offer. You may be the most knowledgeable person in the world on your topic, but if your audience doesn't care about it, you are wasting your time (and what is worse, theirs) by just telling them what you know.

I was speaking to a business owner. She was telling me that she'd just been asked to do a presentation to a large audience overseas. I asked what she'd be talking about in order to delight her audience. "Oh, it'll be just the usual stuff" she replied "It always goes down well". It was evident from the rest of the conversation that she wasn't going to find out anything about the audience at all, other than where they were, and what time she was due to speak.

It may be possible to get away with just delivering what you know. But in my view, that's all it is - just getting away with it. A professional approach is to deliver what your audience needs to hear. The only way to ensure that is to do your research, by asking the organiser, and, if possible, some prospective audience members what they are interested in.

You are on stage to serve your audience, not to lecture them. You need to understand their hopes, dreams and interests. If you have nothing to say to them, don't agree to speak. But if you do, and you deliver what they need, you will be acting like a true professional.

TIME IS MONEY

Television time is expensive. Very expensive. A two-minute advert in prime time television can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds (dollars, euros or whatever). If you have the opportunity to be interviewed for a couple of minutes on a prime-time show, remember just what that opportunity is worth. If you had to pay for the privilege, you would make every second count, wouldn't you?

Although the interview is "free", you should still approach it with an awareness of its potential value to you. Of course, that doesn't mean you should treat it like an advert, and promote your products or services. You would never be asked again. However, it does mean that you should plan your message well in advance, choose your words with care, and deliver a well-crafted performance.

Make sure that you understand why you are being interviewed. Of all the people who could have been called, your name was top (OK maybe everyone else was away, but never mind that now). You should provide information which is useful, relevant to the viewers, and demonstrates your knowledge of the topic. As with a speech, if you have nothing useful to say, then pass the opportunity on to someone else.

Be sure that when the interview is over, you can say to yourself "Yes, that was worth it".

GO YOUR OWN WAY

Sometimes it's better to go against the trend of social media practice. It can make you stand out. Of course, there will be some who tell you that you're doing it wrong, but if it works, you're doing it right. Here are some ideas that go against conventional social media wisdom.

1) Make your posts hard to find Instead of posting a link to your latest blog or video, give people a clue, or send them on a route via several other locations. Some people love a challenge, and if they can find your material when some others can't, it makes them feel as though they've discovered a secret.

2) Forget the images and the fancy design Just deliver the information in plain text. One of my favourite experts on web design and usability is Jakob Nielsen. His site, Alertbox, is about as simple as it could be. It's text-based, with very few images, and has changed very little in over ten years. It just delivers information, and in a very effective way.

3) Don't measure anything Marketers will often tell you that measurement is the key to success. They have a point, but you could also focus on simply putting stuff out there, and not worrying how you are going to track the response. Some people put so much emphasis on tracking and analysis that they forget to put effort into the content they post.

It's that time of year when the penguin gets it. Can you beat my score of 321?

I can help.

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."