Do you copy, emulate or originate?

Do you copy, emulate or originate? Some would say that it's impossible to be original, since there are no new ideas, and concepts are simply recycled. I'm not so sure, though it's certainly not easy to be original. It's also arguable that no-one else has your unique take on things, so in one sense you really are an originator.

Copying someone else in detail can lead to accusations of plagiarism, which is unprofessional and the opposite of original thought. Most of us are emulators, taking elements from the people we meet, the books we read (to paraphrase Charlie Tremendous Jones) and what we encounter on the web.

I make no secret of my admiration for two of my heroes in particular - journalist Alistair Cooke (who presented 'Letter from America' weekly for 58 years - the longest-running radio show ever) and photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (whose style was coined "the decisive moment"). I base my weekly web radio show on the former, and try to embody the spirit of the latter in my speeches. It's my homage, not an attempt to copy.

It seems that popular chanteur Gary Barlow has decided that emulation is a great idea too, and though he's denied it, he's clearly been listening to Mumford and Sons before releasing his new single. 

The Media Coach 1st November 2013

The media on trial; How to handle a social media crisis; Farewell Lou Reed; Remember remember Katie Hopkins; Four things exceptional speakers do; Ten people  you meet in the media; Is twitter useful for speakers?; An interview with, and music from, Robbie Boyd

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The Media Coach 25th October 2013

Thumping a self-checkout; Don’t pay for radio; The singing policeman; Boris falls foul of Twitter; My friend Mike; Five more ways to get international publicity; Two-screening it; An interview with Jeremy Jacobs; Music from Robbie Boyd

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The Media Coach 18th October 2013

Reality shows - where next?; Plain English; Churchillian Insults; Laughing at Brucie; Drink in or Take Away; Five ways to get international publicity; The Oxford Circus Syndrome; An interview with Shelle Rose Chavet; Music from Shantalla

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The Media Coach 11th October 2013

New website; New book; Fun and games at Old Trafford; Carrie in a Cafe; Bridget or Del boy?; Who are those people?; Listen with your body; A casual glance; An interview with Allegra McEvedy; Music from Mick Wilson

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Are you sure that's a good social media idea?

There's an avalanche of social media advice dished out every day on the web. Some of it is helpful, some neither here nor there, and some is, in my view, just plain wrong. Yes, I'm aware I'm setting my self up by offering advice here, but I've never been one to duck controversy. 

Here are three bits of advice that I think are very questionable. 

1) Automate your posts There are all sorts of tools for posting messages when you're offline or doing something else. It can be a good way of reaching people in different time zones. Alas, some people take things too far and automate everything. It soon becomes obvious that someone is sending and not receiving, because they never become part of the conversation. Even if you do automate some of your posts, be prepared to deal with the responses, even if it's a few hours later.

2) The more "likes" the better On the face of it, this seems pretty good advice, since if people are liking your Facebook page, it must be a good thing. That's why companies use competitions where the entry requires you to like their page. The trouble is, people are liking it just to win something, and they couldn't care less about your business. OK, so they have to visit your page, but the real prize for you is to get them engaged and talking about you. That's a much better metric.

3) Delete negative comments Again, this is something that appears to be a good idea. It isn't. Removing criticism is guaranteed to set off a storm of protest. Instead, respond to any criticism so that your point of view is also seen widely. Remain respectful and deal with the issues raised. If you're seen to be handling a problem with care and concern, your reputation will be enhanced.

The Media Coach 2nd October 2013

The conference of the year; Leader’s speeches; Dance your resignation; Paul Dacre; As I really shouldn’t have said; Use your opponent’s strength; Is your post worth reading?; An interview with Tony Hawks; Music from Mick Terry

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#CPC13 Conference Speechwatch 2013 - David Cameron, Conservative

David Cameron delivered his fifty-minute response to Ed Milliband and Nick Clegg (but mostly Ed Milliband) at a lectern in the Manchester conference hall. Gone was the barnstormimg in-the-round no notes speech of years past, replaced by a statesmanlike delivery. Somewhat surprisingly (to me at least), he delivered some of his lines directly into the TV camera, straight towards the voters at home. That's unusual for a political leader, and sometimes appears desperate. However, he got away with it.

There were 26 mentions of Labour, few of the LibDems and none of Nick Clegg. There was no mention of UKIP. It was clear where his target was. The first time he mentioned his opponents, he used the phrase "the mess that Labour left" which I suspect was no accident. He tends to deliver in short, sharp sentences, which are not sentences at all, simply phrases. Some of his phrases had an odd message. For example, he said  Michael Gove is "a cross between Mr Chips and the Duracell bunny". I'm still trying to work that one out.

One of the repeated phrases, appearing in every topic, was "land of opportunity", presumably as a counter to "Britain is better than this" from Ed Miliband last week.

He tried humour, but like almost every politician, didn't have them rolling in the aisles. He made a reference to pictures of him looking a bit portly on holiday. He directed a comment to Ed Miliband "I'll keep my shirt on if you keep the lights on". He also mentioned "Red Ed and his Blue Peter policies". Hardly a rib-tickler.

He delivered well, and has developed a distinctive, choppy style that delights his audience. However, applause was often muted. He still has the verbal tic common to politicians "Let me say this". A standing ovation for the armed forces lasted almost a minute, but Mr Cameron asked people to stand.

He finished with a rousing piece of on-theme anaphora "Together we've made it this far, together we'll finish the job we've started, together we'll build that land of opportunity."

Overall, a competent performance. No rousing elements, no cheers, but plenty of solid points. Far from being his best speech, but perfectly workmanlike. I'd score him six out of ten.

The Media Coach 27th September 2013

More political speechmaking; Football howlers; More 007; Asda goes mad; A lucky bag of speaking tips; Don’t Crick up your interview; Are you sure that’s a good idea?; An interview with Carolyn Strauss; Music from Jim Boggia

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#LAB13 Conference Speechwatch 2013 - Ed Milliband, Labour

Ed Milliband walked through a crowd on stage to a huge welcome. He received a standing ovation before he spoke a word. Once again he worked without an autocue, and away from a lectern. In most camera shots, he was backed by a group of what appeared to be very tidy sixth-form schoolboys and young women.

He began with a personal story about Ella Phillips, who he picked up after a bike accident, and who called him an "action hero". He was using a typical stand-up comedy opening, and had a good punch line; "She was concussed". Nice timing too.

His opening message, repeated three times, was "Britain can do better than this", with the third part of the tricolon being a variant "We're Britain, we can do better than this". He then quickly returned to last year's One Nation theme, and another slogan "Are you satisfied?". However, he returned to the "Britain can do better.." many times. I lost count after the first twenty mentions.

He made full use of triplets: "This is what I believe, this is where I stand, this is the leadership Britain needs". He also used one of his favourite call and response gambits "Do the Tories get it?" "No" was a quiet response. "Oh come on, you can do better than that" "No" they roared. Panto time.

It was a wide-ranging speech, pointing out times when he did what was "the right thing to do". He thanked the troops, the police, the teachers, the doctors and nurses. He thanked ordinary blokes, market traders and ambulance drivers. Each delivered applause in what speechwriters call a "claptrap". The speech was clearly designed to be punctuated often by applause.

There were other themes too "A race to the top, not a race to the bottom", and "Not under my government". That last one obviously a signal to those who don't see him as prime ministerial.

However, it took some time to get to policy statements. He promised "One million new green jobs by 2030", whatever that means. He made a well-received commitment to freezing energy bills until 2017. He also gave a pledge to build two million homes (though it was a bit of a mystery what he meant by "use the land or lose the land" - is he going to confiscate property?). He called the NHS "the greatest institution in our country", and said we must "raise our sights about what the NHS can achieve as a truly integrated service". He surfed the applause a couple of times when bashing the Conservatives over health policy, and received a mid-speech standing ovation for it. That threw him off his step for a moment.

In a sotto voce section, he spoke about party reform to muted applause. There was much more cheering for his call for votes for 16 and 17-year-olds. Now it was obvious why those young people were behind him.

His style was more conversational and relaxed than usual, though the odd political non-phrase slipped out; "Now hear me on this", "Now let me tell you something"

There was a nice piece of antithesis when referring to David Cameron, "He's strong standing up to the weak, but weak standing up to the strong". His closing phrase was "I will lead a Britain that fights for you".

Overall, it wasn't the set-piece oration of last year. It was more relaxed, with more audience engagement, and at times almost like a stand-up act. There were lots of personal stories, but this time not about his family. To his credit, he received several standing ovations during the speech. My assessment was that though it was it good, it wasn't his best performance, so seven out of ten from me.

The Media Coach 20th September 2013

Party Conferences; Form and function; A twerk hoax; Where’s my iPad?; Please give it up for; In the TV studio; Don’t gamble on a social media expert; An interview with Robin Speculand; Music from The Good Suns

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Conference Speechwatch 2013 - Nick Clegg, LibDems

Nick Clegg faced a tough task in front of his party today as he tried to establish both his success as a party leader and his achievement as a deputy prime minister. He began with a "joke" about his first day as deputy PM, talking about the "utter chaos" at the start of the coalition.

His first "claptrap"  - 'Fixing the economy" drew muted applause. He began confidently, stressing most of the words in most of his sentences. His first triplet "Feel proud.." was followed by "Liberal Democrats - we are a party of Government now!" Again, the applause was muted.
He used a rising series of phrases, well emphasised to generate a good reaction, to return to a softer tone when talking about income taxed. He surfed the applause, and used the "just one more..." tactic twice.

He made a strong plea for coalition government, asking people "not to give the keys of number ten to a single party". He then turned to comments of a more personal nature, and his upbringing in the seventies watching adversarial politics. This set up the speech's core message - that coalition and collaboration is the way forward. He was earnest and animated, but still for me, came across like a deputy head delivering a speech to the sixth form at the end-of-term assembly.

He was relaxed and confident throughout, with the occasional coughing break during the applause, which grew stronger through the speech, as his voice grew weaker. He made a sustained attack on Labour, with the repeated phrase "..just to score points against us".

In a less than ringing phrase, he stressed his party's commitment to Europe with  'We will be the party of in". The audience looked confused, perhaps just by the tortured grammar. He told a story about his father-in-law being elected mayor of a small Spanish village. It wasn't clear what  the point was.

He also made a strong plea for a "no" vote in the Scottish constitutional referendum, with a promised of a "new settlement for this nation".

There was a cheer for "I'd like to be Prime Minister on my own, thank you very much". He clearly has his party onside, if not over-excited. However, he applause-surfed into a great phrase: "We’re not here to prop up the two party system: we’re here to bring it down."

The closing section of his speech was about his personal circumstances - his parents, his brothers and sisters, his wife, his children. It was sound stuff, if not that inspiring.

His speech finished just before his voice gave out. His closing tricolon, before the obligatory standing ovation, was not very memorable: "Liberal Democrats take that message out to the country. Our mission is anchoring Britain to the centre ground. Our place is in Government again."

Overall - six out of ten. 

The Media Coach 13th September 2013

An exceptional week; Video in Florida; Radio in London; Nigel Kennedy; A dog not a lion; One two three; A sound bite in time; Change your thinking; An interview with Diane DiResta; Music from Ayd Instone

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The Media Coach 6th September 2013

Back to school; The Exceptional Speaker; David Jacobs; David Frost; John McCain plays poker; Think like your audience; Ten tips for writing articles; Twitter rocks!; An interview with Susan Luke; Music from Jennifer Haase

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