The Media Coach

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Here's the second edition of my weekly digest of the speaking, media and social media tips here on LinkedIn.

Speaking Tip - 7 behaviours that can ruin your speech

From time to time (like now), I offer a few reminders of what not to do when you're delivering a speech. Not that you would, I hope. Anyway, here are seven traps to avoid falling into:

1. A messy technology change. This is when you're swapping laptops with the previous speaker, or switching from slides to video online, and something doesn't work. You say to the audience "just talk among yourselves for a moment"
2. Poor sound. The sound doesn't work, or works intermittently.
3. Over-running your time. You may be late starting, or you have simply misjudged the length of your speech.
4. Assuming too much knowledge. Delivering complex ideas in complex terms.
5. Using too much interaction. Trying to get the audience attentive and listening again can take as long as the exercise you gave them.
6. Too many ideas. The focus of your speech is lost if you try to cram in too much.
7. No clear finish. At the end, you look up at the timer and say "Er, that's it"

So here's how to avoid them:

1. Rehearse any technology change. Have some material to deliver out loud if there is a problem.
2. Do a sound check.
3. Always finish on time. That's it.
4. Research your audience in detail.
5. Don't use interaction, or just ask people to think.
6. Keep to one simple theme.
7. Plan a big finish with a powerful takeaway.

Media Tip - Have I got news for you?

What exactly is news? That's a question I often hear people ask when their media release fails to generate any coverage at all. The thing is, you need to think like a journalist. What you see as news may be very different from what news really is. For example, the fact that your company has a new chief financial officer may be very important to you and other staff, but the editors of papers and news shows couldn't care less.

Here's my take on characteristics of news:

• Something which just happened
• A story, not just facts
• Human interest
• Local interest
• A link to another big news story
• Exclusivity
• Scandal in high places (or even low ones)
• Controversy
• Powerful characters involved
• A message that's easy to grasp

That doesn't mean that every media release has to contain all those elements. Alas, I see many that contain none of them. Make sure whatever you put in a release, it's news

Social Media Tip - Which one is you?

For good or bad, people form an impression of us on social media from the picture we display. It lives with every post we make, and if we are only connected online to someone, it's probably how they always think of us. I've been looking at some of the images used by my online contacts, and I offer these observations.

1) The "not just me" shot There may be two, three, or an entire crowd of people shown. I don't know who I'm talking to. Who are those other people? There seem to be two basic types of this shot. The first is with a loved one. That's nice if you're running a dating site. If it's a business, is that your business partner? The second type is with a celebrity. Alas, not everyone will recognise the "celeb", so they're left wondering which one is you.

2) The "cropped from a party" shot This simply says to me "I can't be bothered to get a professional photo done". If that's the case, I wonder how you might handle my business? Would you rather be out partying?

3) The "over the hills and faraway" shot I'm sure you're in the picture somewhere, but I can't tell if that's you or a lamp-post.

4) The "it's not me" shot It's nice to pay a tribute to someone you admire by using their image, but it makes me a bit suspicious about why you don't want to be seen.

If you're on social media and want to look businesslike, get a proper photo taken. Let us see a bit about you. People do business with people. We want to know which one is you.