THAT VOICE!

Ok I have to admit having blogged on the wonders of Andy Murray's interivew technique - i now have to have a moan. Surely with all the money, coaching and advice that is available, could someone please make his voice sound just a bit more animated! Even after a gruelling 5 sets on Monday he still managed to describe his brilliant performance as if he were reading a shopping list! This is one of the key things we train people to do whenever they are doing interivews or presentations - is to show how passionate and enthusiastic they are so that the audience can connect with you!

MURRAY MEDIA MAGIC

One man who has definitely improved his interivew technique is the main man at Wimbledon this year - Andy Murray. At every press conference or interview - all attempts to be led off course into the dangerous territories of - do think you going to beat Federer, do you think its a given your going to be in the final - he calmy replies that hes taking each match at at time...all his competitors are playing at the top of their game . etc etc - a perfect example of confidence, clarity and control!

ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!

Yes, Wimbledon is here, exam time is nearly over and its raining at Glastonbury and so the nightmare of the silly season starts here. News editors around the UK are desperately seeking stories to fill acres of pages or airtime. So take heed all of you who have great postive news stories to tell - phone your favourite journalist now! He/she will greet you with open arms. So Carpe diem !

Its not just what you know its how you say it!

In these troubled times when we need the brightest brains to tell us how to work our way out of the worst recession for decades isnt it amazing that one of the reasons the electorate has lost faith in the system is that MPs just dont know how to communicate with us. Whether its the expenses scandal, or the collapse of the banks the lack of ability to engage with an audience and understand what the general pubic need to hear as to what is the way forward has been lost. Being able to get your message across in challenging times and demonstrate care and compassion is just as important as when there is a positive message to get out. So really its not just about knowing what needs to be said but how you said it!

VIRGIN DOES IT AGAIN!

Yet another piece of brilliant PR this morning on the radio by the chief executive of Virgin Trains. Despite the interivewer throwing every negative at him from late running trains, ,major disruption on the west coast, he still managed to turn every single response into a positive and ended up being a great 4 minute advert on travelling by train!

It could be you!

With all the headlines recently of ministers failing to cover up confidential documents - there was a brilliant example of seizing the moment by Rymans (the stationary company) on the radio. The Operations Director was on radio 4 outlining the types of folders they offer, costs and how they would even supply the whole cabinet with a range of folders for free. fantastic piece of advertising on national radio for free! Plus it wasnt the marketing director or the chief executive that did the interivew but the ops director which just shows even if the topic isnt your key responsibility you can still be called upon to push the message and be successful - so yes it could be you !

Fish tank - Feel good factor!

After my rant yesterday calm has now returned to the office as here at Media First we have decided to lighten the mood by having our TV in the reception area display not just any old image but the fish tank from 'Finding Nemo'. Smiles all round as delegates arrive and stand for a while taking in the soothing sights and sounds of the little tropical fish swimming gently by!Less stress with my team -so to lift the spirits .. go fish!