Being Unique

June 6, 2008 at 11:20 am · Filed under Media Coaching

I want to tell you a story. There was a man throwing a starfish into the sea. No, hang on, there was a frog in a saucepan. Hold on, I’ve got a better one…

There are hundreds, if not thousands of stories that speakers use to make a point. Some of them work well, some fall flat. However, I would argue that telling a story that you heard from another speaker, or read in a book, is short-changing your audience. They have come to hear you providing unique insights, not recycling stuff that they may have heard before from someone else.

So you need to tell your own stories. You remember I told you last year about keeping a story file? If you have been using it regularly (you have, haven’t you) then you will already have a large fund of stories to draw on, and as you use them, you will find what works and what doesn’t, and develop your favourites. That’s when you move to the next level as a speaker. That’s when you become unique.

Media Tip of the Week

By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk

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The Inventors of Rock and Roll

June 6, 2008 at 10:44 am · Filed under Media Coaching

A lot of musicians over the years have claimed to be the inventors of rock and roll. Many of the claims were clearly overstated. However, a man who was a true musical pioneer, and who had a better claim than many, died a few days ago, aged 79. He even had a name that sounded like rock and roll rhythm – Bo Diddley. He was paid a heartfelt and glowing tribute by Mick Jagger, who said “He was an enormous influence on popular music in general, and the Stones in particular. We shall never see his like again”. Well said, Mick. A MediaMaster award for the big man.

The BBC Board of Governors wins the MediaMug gong for a bizarre piece of management (nothing new there then). They have employed a team of expensive consultants to find out whether they have been paying too much money to their big stars (J Ross, G Norton etc). The conclusion of the study was – er – no. Much the same conclusion could have been reached by stopping a few BBC staff in the corridors at Shepherds Bush and asking them what they thought (which is what I did). The upshot was that a lot of money was spent finding out that money wasn’t wasted (except for that latest exercise, of course). Oh dear.

Presentation Tip of the Week

By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

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Spring Cleaned Stories

May 30, 2008 at 9:20 am · Filed under Public Speaking

SPRING-CLEAN YOUR SPEECHES

OK, it may not be spring where you are. Here, it feels like summer one minute and autumn the next. Never mind. You can spring-clean your speeches at any time, so why not now? This is particularly important if you use slides, since people tend to use the same ones over and over again, and rarely think of updating them.

For example, look out for new stories to illustrate your main points. I always try to follow the rule of including something that happened in the last 24 hours. (Incidentally, one of the best exponents of this style of contemporary storytelling is my good friend Graham Jones). Sometimes a story will work, sometimes it won’t. That doesn’t matter. The mere fact that you have included something current will impress your audience.

Don’t forget your biography too. How often do you update it? I’d suggest at least every six months, adding any new achievements, and maybe removing elements that are no longer relevant. Most importantly, check your publicity photo. Is it still a good likeness? If not, get a new one, otherwise you may suffer the fate of a speaker I met recently who was told “We were expecting your daughter”.

Consider your presentations or speeches. How often do you update them? They were all new at one time. Why not create a new version again?

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Coldplay Floods & Gordon Brown

May 30, 2008 at 9:15 am · Filed under 1

Unlike Gordon Brown, who seems to be taking over this ezine (see below), I have never been a fan of Coldplay. I find their music is not to my taste. However, I applaud their action in buying a £3,000 piano for a Gloucestershire primary school that lost its musical instruments during last year’s floods. Head teacher Bob Forster said: “It is fantastic. I was impressed they cared enough to want to help. Music is important to St David’s and gives huge pleasure to people inside and out of the school.” Well said. And well done Chris Martin and chums. Here’s a MediaMaster trophy. Now, could you turn up the backbeat a bit?

Gordon Brown returns for a second week to out MediaMug slot. This time, he gets the award himself. He has launched (or rather his PR advisors have launched) a YouTube site called “Ask the PM”. It’s not bad, just dull. The idea is that people will sit in front of their webcams around the UK, and set up a kind of virtual Question Time. Worst of all is the list of conditions you have to fulfil in order to ask a question. Open government? Well maybe not. A MediMug award is on its way to Number 10.

By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk

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Passion not Drama

May 23, 2008 at 8:36 am · Filed under Public Speaking

BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY

You need to speak with passion and conviction. That doesn’t mean you need to go all theatrical, strutting around the stage delivering your lines in a booming voice, accompanied by grand gestures. But it does mean that you have to believe what you say.

Although that may seem obvious, I have seen speakers on stage who clearly aren’t convinced by their own arguments. It may be that they have been employed to promote a product or service that they don’t believe in, or simply that they are not enthusiastic about their topic. Whatever the reason, the audience could tell.

Signs that you lack conviction might be lack of eye contact, excessive use of notes, or something in your voice or movement that gives it away. Some of these symptoms may be caused by nervousness. So here’s what to do. Firstly, make sure, either by preparation, or training, or both, that you can control your nerves. Secondly, only speak when you believe what you are saying. That’s it.

By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk

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Monkeys, Beegees and Amazon?

May 23, 2008 at 8:30 am · Filed under Public Relations

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, doesn’t need any more awards. However, I’m giving him the MediaMaster award this week. No, not for book sales, nor DVDs, nor even MP3 players. It’s for Amazon Web Services. It may not appear to be much of an innovation, but it is one of the first serious appearances of “cloud computing”. In short, it provides an enormous, cheap, data centre for software developers, meaning that they don’t have to have expensive hardware in their offices any more. It will no doubt be sending shivers around the boardrooms of companies like HP, and could make Amazon far more money than books ever will. Nice move, Jeff.

I always thought that Coldplay and the Arctic Monkeys were Gordon Brown’s favourite bands. At least, that’s what he said last year. But now comes a claim from Robin Gibb, one of the two surviving BeeGees. He told The Times “Gordon listens to our music every day. He said, ‘Your music is absolutely timeless’. Gordon likes our music and I like Gordon.” He added “The Prime Minister likes our songs because they talk about human relationships and human experience, and reach out across the decades”. That’s enough for me to give Mr Gibb the MediaMug award this week. OK, I now have an image of Gordon striding around the corridors of number 10 singing “Tragedy” at the top of his voice. Makes sense, actually.

By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk

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YOU SIR – NO – THE MAN IN THE RED TIE

May 16, 2008 at 9:14 am · Filed under Presentation, Public Speaking

Media Tip of the Week

Handling questions at the end of a presentation is often the worst fear of new (and not so new) presenters. But like everything else in life, planning is the key to success. Before you give a presentation, write down the five worst possible questions, and how you would deal with them. Rehearse them with friends and colleagues. And remember that you don’t have to answer everything in public – it is quite acceptable to say “That requires a fairly complex response – if you come and see me afterwards, I’ll be happy to talk it over with you.

Staying calm is very important too. There is no such thing as a stupid question, and you should always show respect to your questioner. It can be difficult, especially if you know that the questioner has a particular bias. Even worse, they may make remarks which you find irritating. You must keep calm, and ignore any unpleasantness. Answer the question directly and factually, without being drawn into criticising someone else’s opinion.

Never use sarcasm, or belittle the questioner. If you do, onlookers will side with the questioner, not you. Focus on what they have said, not on them. If you disagree strongly with their stance, say something like “I understand your point of view, but I don’t share it. Let me explain how I see things” Don’t make any assumptions. Simply accept the questioner’s presuppositions, correcting them gently if necessary.

Always smile, and thank the questioner for making their point. Even if you are seething with rage and indignation inside, don’t show it. You will win far more respect if you maintain a professional image.

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MediaMaster award to Ms Mazzmatazz

May 16, 2008 at 8:53 am · Filed under Press Releases

Presentation Tip of the Week

A Doctor Who fan has been banned from giving away knitting patterns of the show’s characters. Let me repeat that – she was giving away knitting patterns of the shows characters. The 26-year-old woman used a website to share designs for the woolly toys, reports The Sun. But the BBC told her to take them down as she had no right to use the Doctor Who brand. The woman, known only by her online ID – Mazzmatazz, said: “I’m an ordinary fan who happens to like knitting and sci-fi. The patterns weren’t for sale.” But a BBC spokesman said: “We were not heavy handed. People were using the patterns to make a profit.” Boo to the BBC, and MediaMaster award to Ms Mazzmatazz.

The Virgin Group has collected the MediaMaster Award on several occasions, but this week they win the MediaMug trophy instead? Why? By mistakenly inviting up to 76,000 customers to a day at a golf resort. The company sent an email inviting people to an event at The Grove Golf Resort Hotel, Herts, reports the Daily Telegraph. The offer was intended only for the 75 members of its first class Traveller club. But a spokesman admitted it went out to “quite a large number of people”. Whoops. Virgin apologised quickly, and offered a free draw to win a round of golf. Poor show, chaps – you can do better than this.

 

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A Lot Of Love And Affection

May 9, 2008 at 11:21 am · Filed under Personal Branding

Francisco Guerra, whose company, Snowmasters Inc, makes machines that churn out fake snow for Hollywood films, is the man behind “Flogos”. What is a Flogo? Well, obviously, it’s a flying logo, or to put it another way, a corporate cloud. His company has developed a machine that makes 4ft high “clouds” out of soapy lather and helium. The clouds can be made in any shape, and then launched into the air, where they can rise to 20,000 feet, and travel up to 30 miles. Unsurprisingly, his first customer is the Walt Disney Corporation, who has ordered hundreds of Mickey Mouse clouds to hover over Florida. Perhaps he can launch some MediaMaster Trophy shaped ones too, because that’s what he’s won this week.

Robbie Williams (you remember him, patron saint of singing drunks – and through it all she offers me protection, a lot of love and affection…. ) has been chatting to journalist Jon Ronson about aliens. Apparently the Robster has had three close encounters, and is now obsessed with finding out as much as possible about UFOs. He says “They are there all the time but only show themselves on Earth when they make mistakes and their protective shields come off.” Fine. A MediaMug award and taxi for Mr Williams, please.

Presentation Tip of the Week

By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk

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Leadership Skills

May 9, 2008 at 11:14 am · Filed under Press Releases

If you’re following me on Twitter, thanks. Since I mentioned it a few weeks ago, I’ve picked up a small band of people who know what I’m up to (or at least the bits that I tell them). I’m not sure how this stuff will develop, but as a speaker, it gives me one more thing to talk about, so thanks again.

Don’t you wish leadership skills in this country (and everywhere else, come to think of it) were better? I do, and that’s why I agreed to chair a conference about it in Edinburgh in a couple of weeks’ time. It features top speakers from the UK and Ireland, and is called the Re-Birth of Leadership. If you have any interest in leadership, or want to know more about the event, click on that link to find out how to attend.

Bringing together leadership and speaking (see what I did there), I interviewed the schools minister, Jim Knight MP, about the quality of speaking in schools. Find out what he had to say by clicking this link. Remember – you can hear it directly through your PC’s speakers – you don’t need an iPod.

By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk  

 

 

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