Arsene and Other Crimes

The Arsenal vs. Liverpool game on Sunday evening told us a lot about the game of football and, in particular, the ways in which managers can influence their players.

1-0 up in the 12th minute of injury time, Arsenal conceded a penalty with a blatant push by defender Emmanuel Eboue. Up stepped Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt and slammed home the equaliser, and with it dampened Arsenal’s Premier League hopes.

The awarding of Liverpool’s 102nd minute penalty irked Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to the point where he came out and publicly slammed referee Andre Mariner for allowing time to run so late.

Wenger told Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves immediately after the game: “We dropped two points. It was a difficult game against a Liverpool team who basically only defended”.

Contrast this to Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish’s comments: “Everybody will be sat there proud at having seen their team produce a performance like that with the attitude and commitment”.

In short, Wenger criticised his players for failing to win the game and criticised the Liverpool players for their caution. Dalglish, on the other hand, congratulated both sets of players and fans for their
effort and enthusiasm. Furthermore, he explicitly praised four members of his team for their outstanding efforts.

Now – what do the post-match comments really matter? In fact, what do reactions matter at all? Surely it’s more important to walk the walk than talk the talk?

It’s a fair question, but consider the following example:

You have recently started up your own business. You would like to open your own office and expand the business, but to do so you need to secure investment. No bank will loan to you, and you are thinking about selling your home to create funds. As a last-ditch effort, you decide to appear on BBC’s Dragon’s Den to secure an investment. Without the money, you may well go bust.

The pitch goes brilliantly. Four of the five ‘Dragons’ are hugely impressed by the business and show an eagerness to invest. However, one Dragon – Richard Farleigh – decides to speak up and tell the other
that your business model is seriously flawed. Richard convinces the rest of the Dragons not to invest. You walk away with absolutely nothing.

As is traditional on the show, BBC’s Evan Davis interviews you as you leave. What do you tell Evan?

“Evan – there’s no way my business model is flawed. That Richard Farleigh is a joke. He always gets decisions wrong and he shouldn’t be on the show. It’s difficult to secure investment from a bunch of
people who are so cautious”.

Or, do you take the Moral High Ground?

“Evan – I’m delighted with my pitch. I can understand Richard’s concern – and he knows a thing or two about business. However, today showed me that there is huge potential for my business, and I am
absolutely determined to secure investment to make this business the success that it deserves to be”.

This very scenario actually happened to Gavin Wheeldon, an entrepreneur from Yorkshire. By taking the Moral High Ground and making it clear he was open for business, Gavin managed to secure
investment from another investment tycoon. He refused to hit out at Richard Farleigh. In fact, he welcomed his objection and used it to his advantage.

Where is Gavin’s business today? He employs 30 staff and has an annual turnover of nearly £4million. That’s how powerful reclaiming the Moral High Ground can be.

Where would Gavin’s business be if he had done an ‘Arsene Wenger’? Well – let’s look at how Arsenal’s week has gone so far:

Sunday: Arsenal draw 1-1 to all but surrender the Premier League title.

Monday: A number of high-profile former Arsenal players, including Alan Smith and David Seaman, say there is a lack of leadership in the Arsenal dressing room.

Tuesday: Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas suggests that Arsene Wenger would have been sacked if he was managing in Spain.

Wednesday: Arsenal squander a 3-1 lead to draw with bitter rivals Tottenham. Wenger complains: “it’s hard to win two games in such a short period of time”, oblivious to the fact that London rivals
Chelsea had done just that.

Thursday: The Mirror, The Independent and various other national newspapers call for Wenger’s head, suggesting he has ‘lost the plot’.

As for Kenny Dalglish, the only thing he has heard since Sunday is players calling for his position to be made permanent.

All of this alludes to a Broadcasting Business time-honoured principle: claim the Moral High Ground when making your case. Praise and welcome your critics.

Only one of the above Premiership managers has taken part in a Broadcasting Business communication skills course. We’ll leave you to decide which one.

Find Your Voice, Bertie

I went to see the Oscar-nominated film The King's Speech this week and was enthralled by a masterpiece of cinema.

It captured the frustration and sheer terror of the Duke of York or 'Bertie' - soon to become King George VI - as he fought a debilitating affliction...magnified by the new need to communicate by radio.

It made me think of a conversation I had with the highly-personable Scotland rugby forward Kelly Brown.

He explained to the leadership group of Scotland's international rugby team - with whom I was running a media training session last autumn - that he had taken four days away last June for intensive treatment to reduce his stammer. He then volunteered to do the first TV interview rehearsal.

And there I saw devices similar to those portrayed in The Kings Speech.

What George VI and Kelly Brown share is tremendous courage and determination.

Kelly realises the value of explaining his feelings about rugby through the media - and has done what it takes to overcome his disadvantage. He has my undying admiration.

What I felt The Kings Speech also captured was the sense of blind fear and utter panic that can set in before a speech - a feeling I hear about every week in talking to some who attend The Broadcasting Business's Presentation Skills courses.

For those who feel confident in such situations, it's difficult to understand what that's like. But very many have felt that way.

I could relate to the quiet sense of satisfaction the film's other hero - unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue - took from witnessing immense progress. It's how I feel every day a participant leaves our course with a greater sense of self-belief than when they walked through the door.

Fear of public speaking may be in the mind - but it's as real as the microphone and audience in front of us.

But because it's in the mind, we have the power to overcome it - given the right techniques.

These techniques have helped business leaders, entrepreneurs, public servants and emerging sportsmen and women make great strides over the 22 years we've been running such courses.

Watching George VI overcome his stammer to deliver the keynote wartime speech that forms the climax of the film reminded me of a second parallel: the four presenters pitching Scotland's bid for the Commonwealth Games to 71 voting members in Sri Lanka in November 2007.

I had worked with some members of the team for six months and had seen their fear of failure grow into a genuine confidence in their speeches.

As the last one left the stage, a colleague turned to me and confirmed my feeling with one short comment:  'They nailed it!'

And they had. Glasgow won the vote with a two-thirds majority - and the Games were awarded to Scotland.

That is the immense power of public speaking - and it lies within all of us.

It just has to be brought to the surface.

'Find your voice', Lionel tells George. He could have been speaking to any of us.

Take it Personally

I'm taking my seat in the 10,000-seat MGM arena in Las Vegas for the start of the Arbonne Global Training Conference.

Now, I've attended hundreds of conferences on business down the years - usually waiting to take my turn as a speaker - but today I'm here to learn.

I should explain. Three years ago my wife Caroline was asked to become a consultant with an international network marketing skincare company. The person asking her was Sue Cassidy, whose husband David in the ‘70s had a bigger fan club than the Beatles.

Today 130 of Caroline's 7000-strong team have flown the Atlantic to attend the conference - so we've all spent a lot of money to be here.

I watch speaker after speaker tell their own personal story. You can hear a pin drop when they describe their struggles, their setbacks, their triumphs and their disasters.

What comes through time and time again transcends all that. It's their ATTITUDE that's taken them where they are.

But there's something refreshing about the presentation. What is it? What's different about this conference compared to many I've taken part in? 

Let me tell you - they're sharing PERSONAL EXPERIENCES which are gloriously free of business JARGON.

And there's something else. When they click to bring up another slide, we're looking at a child rather than a graph or bar chart.  We see a funny picture rather than a statistic we're unable to read from the back of this vast stadium.

So today we're hanging on every word as each consultant speaks from the heart.  They are ANIMATED and ENTHUSIASTIC rather than straight-jacketed and dull.

Is it because they're American and natural speakers?  No - one of the best presenters is Iain Pritchard - a hugely-successful friend from Guildford in Surrey, who is massively successful in my wife's business.

I debated for an hour last week with one group of clients in London how personal stories, great illustrations, emotion and enthusiasm will beat unreadable, unintelligible PowerPoint presentations.

At first our clients disagreed....before making splendid pitches without PowerPoint.  They've since changed their minds.

In short, they are following a Broadcasting Business principle: Use visual aids to engage your audience, rather than confuse them with unnecessary statistics and complex models.

I'm looking forward to the closing session of the Arbonne conference today - because the speakers will again ENGAGE me.

We need more conferences like this in the UK - but first we have to give up our addiction to badly-constructed PowerPoint.

Once we do that, we're liberated...free to use emotion, experience and enthusiasm to tell a story and win the audience over.

28 Days Later...

I like January.

We’re past the shortest day…in theory moving towards brighter, longer days.

It’s also time to turn over a new leaf – literally – in the diary.

And that’s the bit I like best about January:  a new year lies ahead and it feels as if anything is possible.

Of course, to make the possible happen, we often have to two things.  Firstly, plan what it is we want to happen.  Secondly, stop doing the things that have made progress impossible.

In other words – we have to set goals and resolutions.

I’ve always believed in goal-setting.  Why let the year happen to you rather than decide what you want to happen?

Or as one of my clients puts it:  “Create your own plan – or be prepared to be part of somebody else’s!”

But you have to write down your goals.

An oft-quoted true story comes from Harvard University in the States.

A group of students was asked if they had goals.  Of course most said they did.

But almost three decades later when researches revisited those they could trace to see if their goals had been realised, they found something remarkable.

The 3% who had written down their goals all those years ago were now worth more than the 97% who had not. 

The road to hell – they say – is paved with good intention.  If you fail to write down your goals, it’s simply an intention.  If you write them down – and follow your own plan – you map out your future.

So that’s goals.  But what about setting resolutions?

Well that can be more difficult, because it often involves resolving to break bad habits and replace them with good new ones.

Several years ago, I interviewed - for an RBS audio production – Dr Steven Covey, author of the highly-acclaimed “7 Habits of Highly Successful People”.

I asked him how long it took to make or break a habit.

“28 days” was his precise answer.

He then explained that we cut a groove in our thought process if we do the same thing repeatedly for a month.  It becomes our habit – and replaces other bad habits which also had been stuck in a groove.

The difficulty is cutting the new groove for 28 successive days – whether that’s stopping smoking, banning cakes from your diet or slowing down behind the wheel.

But, Dr Covey assured me, it only takes 28 days.

In mapping out our route to success, we follow a key Broadcasting Business principle:

Positive thinking, channelled by effective preparation, leads to success.

So this week – the first working week of 2011 – have you set yourself goals and have you embarked on habit-changing resolutions?

If so, good luck.  Enjoy your progress.

If not, may I suggest you resolve to set new goals in the first pages of your brand new 2012 diary?

And that, in the meantime, you prepare to be part of somebody else’s plan in 2011.

Wayward Hayward and the Worst Witch

A Yale University librarian’s list of top quotes of the year caught my interest for a couple of reasons.

Sharing Number One position were unlikely bedfellows – the Chief Executive of BP and a would-be US senator, representing the ultra-right Tea Party.

BP’s Tony Hayward’s “winning” quote – after the death of 11 oil workers in the Gulf of Mexico explosion – was unfortunate in the extreme:  “I’d like to get my life back.”  It was an off-the-cuff remark as he spoke with reporters.

Christine O’Donnell’s comment – “I’m not a witch” – was premeditated, as it was part of a TV advertising campaign.

What they have in common is that both were extremely short sentences and were extracted from much longer dialogue.  In other words, they are easily taken out of context.

But in this sound-bite era, both must surely have been aware that these 7-word and 4-word sentences can and will be sent around the world…left naked and exposed as the embodiment of their message.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair neatly summed up the sound-bite era at the Northern Ireland Peace Accord when he declared:  “This is not the time for sound-bites….but I feel the hand of history on my shoulder.”  Which was, of course, a sound-bite.

Everything’s a sound-bite…and the shorter the better, because it can then neatly become a newspaper headline.

We often remind attendees of our Broadcasting Business Media Training courses that the great thing about speaking on radio and television is that journalists can only take a snapshot of what you’ve actually said.

But the downside is that – they have to use what you’ve actually said!  

So say the right thing every time – even in the shortest of sentences…otherwise the consequences can be dramatic.

It’s worth noting that would-be senator failed to be elected, the BP Chief Executive stood down from his position.

We Regret To Inform You…

As our delayed reduced-service train from Glasgow Queen Street ploughed through the snow to a blizzard-hit Edinburgh, a solemn female voice interrupted the combination of good-natured banter and general whines from commuters.

Sounding like an equally miserable wife to Ricky Fulton’s The Reverend I.M. Jolly, she plodded through an apology for the delay in a disjointed announcement that sounded as if it might end in suicide.

Wry smiles and tittering broke out among the commuters.

To me, it was an opportunity missed.

Firstly, the main artery between Glasgow and Edinburgh – the M8 – was at a frozen standstill…which is why we’d made our journey to Edinburgh to work on the media performances of a client in the capital by train, rather than by car.

Secondly, having set out very early to account for the delays, we still got to our clients on time.

In other words – job done!

The transport companies have learned to apologise when delays occur – but they often forget to put these hold-ups in perspective…and strike the right tone for the announcement.

Mrs Jolly could have said this…in a regretful – then chipper manner.

“Ladies and Gentlemen – we’re very sorry about the delay to your Glasgow-Edinburgh service this morning (regretful tone).

“I’m sure you’ll be aware just how severe the conditions are (perspective)…so we’re pleased to be able to beat the weather to get you through to Edinburgh (chipper).

“Please check before you leave tonight to find out how conditions are affecting services – but we’ll be pulling out all the stops to get you home in time tonight” (determined and optimistic).

In short, we call this Regret, Reason and Remedy…and it takes any organisation from inconvenience to solution in three easy steps.

Broadcasting Business clients have used this technique for 21 years in handling accidents, shut-downs and hold-ups.

It’s simple – and turns a missed opportunity into a professional, realistic and upbeat announcement.

A Leak in Politics...

So the Wikileaks revelations have proved to be something of a damp squib rather than an explosive firework.

But was the website right to blow the whistle in the first place – or should diplomacy be able to be carried on, without such interference?

Well that kind of debate has raged for as long as we’ve had newspapers – and some print journalists will air views on the rights and wrongs of their web-based cousins spilling the beans on some indiscreet remarks.

What’s arguably of greater concern is the fact that some diplomats have been less than diplomatic in the descriptions they’ve attached to world leaders and royalty alike….and then put their colourful thoughts in black and white.

Surely, by definition, diplomats have to bring tact and skill to work with them – whether their comments are made face-to-face or by the cables, some of which have become infamous by their publication.

Caricature-like opinions – such as those exposed – look like the opposite of diplomacy.

Quite simply, the fallout the diplomats may face in their next meetings with dignitaries could have been avoided by following a key Broadcasting Business principle: 

Only ever say in a text or email what you’re happy to see on the front page of a newspaper – because that’s where it may end up!

We’ll consider running “Communication Skills for Diplomats” courses in the New Year.

A Warm Welcome!

Welcome, welcome, welcome...

Bill McFarlan from the Broadcasting Business here with my new blog – my latest venture into the virtual world. From the Hot Metal Press - where characters were literally made of molten lead - to touch-screen iPhone apps and global conferencing, the world continues to innovate and communicate.

And so to the blog. I'll be giving my own weekly take on various news stories, commenting on the week's positives and negatives, heroes and zeroes of the world's news.

What's more, you'll learn a lot about media training and presentation skills, on which myself and Alan Douglas have personally run over 3000 courses at the Broadcasting Business. Each week I'll illustrate how to say what you want to say effectively, knowing your audience and reacting to developments in a sensible manner.

You’ll even see the Pink Elephant of the Week, the unwanted award for those who say the exact opposite of what they want to say, by using unnecessary negatives.

Check back here every Thursday for Pink Elephants, Watering Down Words and other basic Principles of Communication and see how the world could benefit from more effective communication.

Watch this space!