Pick the next best move

Were you writing on LinkedIn yesterday? Or delivering a speech, or giving an interview? And did you mention sport, Gareth Southgate, Wimbledon? Because if you did you won't be unique. You'll have been one of the very many people to adopt "sport" as the theme for the day. You might feel strongly about it but to the people reading or listening you've downgraded yourself to "one of the many".

It was pretty prevalent when it came to Covid. That probably feels like a screeching gear-change but it was similar; every pitch from everyone who wanted to sell a story in started "In these difficult times..." or "We are going through a pandemic" or something like that. It had the virtue of being true but also it meant people were starting their pitch off with something the recipient already knew.

It's not an approach our training advocates. There's a picture of a chess set at the head of this tip sheet. The thing about a chess game is that if there's an obvious move available to you and you're thinking "that'll do", the other player has already thought of it. And back in the world of pitching stories or attracting attention with social media posts, if the recipient has already thought of something and considers it obvious, putting it in the first paragraph or using it as a lead-in won't grab their attention.

If you have something to say then there's a good chance there's something unique about it, an insight only you can offer. Try to lead in with that - at least you know they haven't seen it before.

Sounding scripted

This afternoon I'll be recording a batch of video tips which will go out on LinkedIn every Tuesday. I try to hide the fact that I'm recording in batches by changing shirts and glasses but the keener observers (if they particularly care, let's be honest) will notice that over a period of ten weeks my hair stays resolutely the same length.

Someone said something interesting about the last batch. "You might want to stick to your script a bit more," they said. "It starts to sound as if you're making it up on the spot."

Well, that's what I do. I spend a lot of time in presentation sessions advising people not to sound as if they're delivering a stilted script, just know the points and talk about them. And that's what I do on my videos. I promise you there's no script.

That said, if they sound "scripted but not delivered slickly" I might have to have a rethink! Here's one from the last batch so you can make your own mind up.

Masterminding

I've joined a new Mastermind group to help me sharpen my approach to marketing my media training business. From the first meeting I attended I've been bubbling with ideas; I'd be interested to know what other people do about getting support when they work primarily by themselves.

A Mastermind group is mostly made up of peers and experts in the field, it holds you to account, helps with setting goals and a great deal more. I've shelled out a little and paid for this one. I've put a poll up on LinkedIn about whether other people are taking a similar approach - you'd be welcome to put your vote in here:

Tell the reader what they need to hear, not about you

I spent a day last week at a messaging session, helping a client with their new website. It's not my usual media training beat so I relished the challenge.

I won't go into details about the client but what was really apparent was that they were doing very interesting and vital stuff for a lot of businesses and they wanted to build on their (considerable) credibility so they could do some more.

The thing was, they were a little fixated on what they did rather than what the client needed. When you land on a homepage and the first headline is "industry insights" you know you're in trouble...

Read more on the following link

Get in touch

If you need or your client needs help with media training in order not to be misunderstood or misquoted by the press, if you want help with presentation skills, do get in touch - either through LinkedIn, with me directly or with my assistant Lindsay, [email protected] - speak soon and thank you!