Stage Fright Is Not Nice But Necessary

In recent years I must have given hundreds of talks to different groups across Australia.

All have been about communications, PR or marketing. I have spoken to groups at workplace seminars, big conferences and, at times around kitchen tables in rural areas.

I still get nervous before each presentation, whether the audience is a group of critical professionals or enthusiastic volunteers eager to learn about the fundamentals of communications.

Over the years I have come to appreciate the value of stage fright before a presentation. It keeps you sharp, focussed and always keen to do your best. Complacency alongside poor preparation ranks among the worst things a speaker can display.

One thing that helps me before a talk is to visualise a happy ending where the audience leaves the room satisfied they now know something new that will help them in the future.

So while I may not like pre-event nerves, I have come to accept them as necessary.

How do you steady your nerves before talking to a group of strangers?

Australia's Olympians Are An Unhappy Lot

Australia's London Olympians are an unhappy lot.

Or so you would think looking at the Qantas signs in Melbourne Airport.

The airline is running a sponsorship promotion wishing our Aussie gold medal hopefuls good luck before they leave for London.

Concourse billboards present a short message of encouragement topped by rather sullen images of athletes representing popular sports.

The problem is the sports stars look positively intimidating and unapproachable in the images.

OK, we expect our athletes to be focussed on the upcoming competition. At the same time we also want them to enjoy the London Olympics which after all are a celebration of sporting achievement.

Which begs the question. Why do marketers routinely choose haughty or sullen images in their advertising?

Disdainful looking models, aggressive looking sportsmen and minor celebrities looking down their noses at the rest of us. They're everywhere in today's advertising.

Why would anybody want to buy or support anything associated with such unfriendly looking and pampered people?

I'd much rather a pleasant looking person conveying my messages. After all a friendly face stands more chances of winning friends, fans and followers any day.

Television and Twitter Twin To Woo Fans

 Right now Twitter seems to be everywhere .... particularly on our television screens.

This recent blogpost offers interesting insights on how popular TV programs and Twitter are twinning to woo fans. 

http://www.phonetvinternet.com/insider/10-ways-tv-shows-have-used-twitter/

Reporting ANZAC Day: Help Wanted

Sometimes it takes a different set of eyes to provide a fresh perspective on something familiar.  

And so it is with ANZAC Day, arguably Australia's most iconic day when Australians around the world gather to commemorate the lives of loved ones lost in war.

I have worked with journalists helping them to report ANZAC Day for five years.  Each year their questions are predictably the same and often their coverage repeats similar themes.  Each crop of young reporters is keen to get basic details right and a lot of effort goes to educating them.

This year Sharon Mascall-Dare, an independent researcher based at the University of South Australia  has produced an ANZAC Day Media Style Guide. Sharon who has worked with the ABC and BBC brings an independent and experienced perspective to ANZAC Day reporting.

The Guide provides journalists with a concise history of Anzac Day, as well as advice on identifying new story angles and avoiding overused clichés, words and phrases. It aims to be an objective resource for journalists throughout Australia.

Sharon's efforts were backed by a highly experienced editorial advisory board that brought together academia and industry.  The Narratives of War Research Group of the University of South Australia, also provided its expertise to the project.

I along with many others was pleased to share some thoughts with Sharon.

This year the Guide has been well received by the media, and as a living document it will become an even more valuable media tool as we head to 2015, the Centenary of the Gallipoli Landings.

Why PR Needs Bob Brown

Recently Australian senator and Greens Leader, Bob Brown, appeared on ABC TV's Q&A program. 

For almost an hour he took questions from the audience in the studio and from people on the net.

Brown, who will soon leave politics, spoke with conviction, clarity and force.  No one watching would have any doubt where he stood on the key issues facing Australia.  

Gone were the usual evasive, qualified and hedged comments which are now so common in public discourse. It was eloquent, straight from the shoulder stuff.

You may or may not like Bob Brown's policies, but you must admire the clear and consistent way he has communicated over his political career, irrespective of who he was talking with.

Good luck in retirement Senator.  Perhaps you should become the PR professor at the University of Tasmania and pass along your skills to the coming generation of young PRs and communicators.