THE VELVET REVOLUTIONARY - AND ME

It was 22 years ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday...the time I got to talk to Vaclav Havel amidst Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution.

Havel - who has sadly died after an extraordinary career as a playwright, anti-communist dissident and president - was on stage at The Magic Lantern Theatre in Prague.

This was the place where the dissidents held their press conferences during the smoothest and quickest of the anti-communist revolutions which swept through Eastern Europe in 1989.

It was a time when 300,000 excited Czechs would pack Wenceslas Square to demand an end to communist dictatorship...and find that their wishes were being met more quickly than they could ever have dreamed.

If you strain your eyes you can almost see me in this photo - amidst the throng, holding my Australian Broadcasting Corporation microphone to the lips of my translator, Helena, who would tell me what the revolutionaries were saying on the balcony in animated bursts over the wild chanting and applause.

I say you can "almost" see me, because my broadcast location was actually out of this shot a little the right of Havel as he looked down upon us.

There was an especially jubilant moment when the revolutionaries announced the news of the resignation of the Czechoslovakian communist president, Gustav Husak, amdist demented cheering.

After that, the campaign for "Havel to the Castle" really got going.

HAVEL, THE MEDIA SUPREMO

The Havel presidential campaign was illustrated by big red, white and blue posters with his picture which went up suddenly all over Prague and beyond.

There were also Havel badges proudly worn in lapels by the victorious revolutionaries.

But Havel - known for his shyness and modesty - proved to be a rather coy potential candidate in the early stages.

So as the western media packed into the Magic Lantern press conference after the fall of Husak, we had one major question.

Was the much-jailed playwright willing to serve as president?

It was asked in various ways, as journalists are inclined to do.

I got to ask a version of the question myself, which - together with Havel's answer - was swiftly sent back via the phone in my hotel room (bugged by the secret police, the StB, though they did nothing to actually stop the broadcasts) and run around the world on Radio Australia.

Havel's answer to my question still sticks in my mind.

He didn't say "yes" or "no".

But being media savvy, he took the opportunity to spell out the kind of qualities the new president needed...wisdom, fairness etc.

It was done with style and a certain irony, since the revolutionary consensus was that it was Havel who possessed such presidential attributes more than anyone else on offer.

THE SPECIFIC TO THE GENERAL

When I later came to study the art of giving great answers to tough questions, I realised Havel was using the rule known as the "Specific To The General".

If you're asked a question and, for whatever reason, you're unable to answer it directly, then "no comment" doesn't work.

You're serving your audience and yourself much better if you say something - and you can do this by addressing the issue raised by the specific question, but in a more general way.

So while the heroic Vaclav Havel is no longer with us, we can still learn from his media technique - as well as from his principles, his persistence and his panache.

And bearded Australian media gurus - such as the one pictured here in Wenceslas Square some years after the revolution - are still known to talk of the great man's media wizardry when they return to run master classes in the Czech Republic.

Photo credit: Brian Underwood UK Trade and Investment

CHRISTMAS IN PRAGUE

And what's all this got to do with the Christmas issue of the Michael Dodd Media Christmas News?

Well as the revolutionaries took control of Czechoslovakia, they did something they couldn't do under communism.

They erected a giant Christmas tree in the old town square in Prague.

It's a tradition which continues to this day.

Seasons Greetings,

Michael

Now launching the latest master class for business leadership groups...

Equip each of your members to:

BECOME AN INSPIRATIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATOR

Your members make a lot of decisions – hopefully mostly good ones.

But how well do they communicate these decisions inside and outside their companies?

Extensive research with chairmen of business leadership groups about the communications skills of their members shows there’s considerable scope for them to do it better.

Sometimes hugely better.

One group leader who took part in the design-the-session survey rated some of his members’ skills at communicating with the public as low as 3 out of 10.

The new master class session - “Becoming An Inspirational Business Communicator” – has been formulated as a result of this research.

YOUR MEMBERS’ IMMEDIATE TAKEAWAYS

Business leaders taking part in this half-day session will get the following takeaways they can put into practice immediately:

# Getting into the minds’ of their audiences so they can connect more effectively with their targets

# Choosing the best channel of communication for the right situation

# Formulating the most appropriate messages for each audience – and summing them up more powerfully, clearly and succinctly

# Communicating more effectively on the most difficult issues which tend to find their way to the leader's desk

# Getting the follow-up right so they can tell if their message has been understood and acted upon in the way they meant it.

CONNECTING WITH THOSE VITAL AUDIENCES

Michael Dodd's new master class will boost your members’ powers of communication in dealings with their customers, their prospects, their suppliers, their staff and the public at large.

It will also help with the bank manager – and their company’s bottom line.

"Becoming An Inspirational Business Communicator" takes a learning-by-doing-and-reviewing approach.

It deals with the spoken word – and the written word.

“Becoming An Inspirational Business Communicator” has been formulated after hundreds of interactions and workshops with business leaders over the past three years.

Here’s what business leaders have said about Michael’s master classes so far.

"Michael is one of the newest and best speakers we have ever had in the Academy in the last 13 years. He puts an enormous amount of effort into the preparation and the final delivery is nothing short of brilliant. The workshop is compelling, engaging, entertaining and a must for any CEO in today’s world. Michael’s skill and experience as a journalist is brought to bear in ruthless fashion creating an unforgettable experiential learning experience." Simon Lester, Chairman, Academy for Chief Executives Group 7

“We were looking for someone to wow our audience of MDs and chief executives - somebody with a rare combination of being challenging whilst not pushing it too far.  Michael Dodd turned out to be just that man - challenging the executives where required, pushing them out of their comfort zone in a controlled way, then bringing them back again.” Tim Hawkes, Managing Director, Unlimited Potential

“Michael has worked with two of my groups of business leaders and they have all really appreciated the coaching he’s provided. It’s been amazing to see the improvement they’ve made.” Mike Wilsher, Managing Director, Executive Foundation

"Michael presented an excellent session for the Managing Directors in MD2MD. The feedback from the members was excellent. He clearly and measurably improved their confidence in handling tough questions from the media and elsewhere." Bob Bradley, Chairman, MD2MD

"Michael's preparation was flawless and enabled him to take everybody out of their comfort zone and put them under pressure, but in a safe environment. They all agreed it was uncomfortable, but highly valuable, and they have requested him back for a further session. Great fun, highly demanding and valuable for business leaders. I have booked him for my other two Vistage groups later this year." Alan Cook, Chairman, Vistage Groups 47, 3 and Key 205

“As well as being highly constructive, Michael’s presentation at our recent Executives’ workshop enabled members to deal with difficult questions in a session which was lively, entertaining and fun.   We very much look forward to having him back to work with our other Leaders’ Groups.” Chris Chater, Joint Chairman, Business Leaders Group

Michael Dodd has taught communications skills on six continents.

He’s the winner Academy for Chief Executives latest New Speaker Of The Year award.

Michael can equip your members to get their message across in a way that's better than they’ve ever done before.

Give your members the chance to supercharge their communication skills - in a way they can put into practice day after day, week after week, year after year.

Book now on:

Tel: 01442 831921
Mobile: 07944 952835
Email: enquiries@michaeldoddmedia.com

Have I Got News For Your Company.

The keynote media review for your next conference.

"It's 3am. Your mobile rings. Oh no. It's the media - with the worst possible nightmare for your company. It's already running on 24-hour news! What are we going to to do?"

So... How would your people cope if bad news hit your business?

Have you got the right media strategy?

Do ALL your people feel prepared and ready to deal with a situation like this?

Most crisis media training focuses on those at the top who need to react in interviews in the hours after a crisis when reputations are made or broken.

And boy do they need it.

But as Tony Haywood and Willie Walsh now know, in a crisis like the BP Gulf oil spill or the ill-fated launch of Heathrow Terminal Five, ALL your people need to know what to do - and what not to do.

Everyone needs the right mindset.


BE PREPARED FOR THE WORST


The new keynote will work wonders for your team – as it brings “blowtorch-on-the-belly” interviewing and reporting experience and focuses it on your post-crisis image.

“Have I Got News For Your Company” will be tailor-made specifically for your conference

It explores how your business might be perceived in your worst imaginable crisis… in The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Sun.

And how Newsnight and Watchdog could portray your company as they hunt for who's to blame.


UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF INSPIRED MEDIA RESPONSE


The keynote will focus your entire team on what they all need to do to deal with the media with aplomb.

They’ll be inspired by the good news: that when everyone knows what to do, your company can even enhance its reputation off the back of a crisis.

This is because if everyone acts quickly to put things right - and conveys that message with clarity, confidence and authority to the outside world - then your business can be admired for its performance in adversity.

By the end of the keynote the lessons will be clear for all.

Michael Dodd Media's recommended media response approach can be witnessed at:

Treat your next conference to "Have I Got News For Your Company" - and set your people on course for a heroic, co-ordinated, inspirational response in a crisis - whatever is thrown at you.



Book "Have I Got News For Your Company" on enquiries@michaeldoddmedia.com
or call 44 (0) 7944 952835

EXAMINING THE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF BUSINESS LEADERS

I'm looking at introducing a new workshop session to boost the general communications skills of business leaders.
If you run one or more business leaders groups, you are most welcome to copy and past the survey into an email and send the completed version to me at michael@michaeldoddmedia.com
Your thoughts will be much appreciated as I plan the new session.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Survey for chairmen of business leaders groups on improving the communications skills of your members.


1. On a scale of one to ten, where one is very poor and ten is excellent, how effective do you think your typical members are when it comes to communicating with:

A. You

B. Other members of their group

C. Their staff

D. Their customers

E. Their prospects

F. The public


2. Looking at the poorest communicators in your group(s), what difference do you think it might make to the performance of their companies if they were able to communicate more effectively?


3. Looking at the best communicators in your group(s), what difference do you think it might make to the performance of their companies if they were able to further enhance their communication skills?


4. Without identifying specific names or companies can you briefly outline a story you’ve come across through dealing with your members where poor communication from a business leader had a big negative impact?


5. Can you outline a story you’ve come across from dealing with your members where excellent communication from a business leader had a big positive impact?


6. Looking at your members in general, what aspect(s) of their communications skills most needs improving?


7. How useful would a workshop session – or a series of workshop sessions - aimed at boosting the communications skills of your members be for your group(s)?

A. Highly Valuable

B. Valuable

C. Of minimal Value

D. Not worth contemplating

8. What is your name?

9. What's the name of your group and where is it based?

10. What is your email address?


Please send completed form to michael@michaeldoddmedia.com


Many thanks for your time and thoughts. Michael

Giving Great Answers To Tough Shop-floor Questions

The toughest professional questions to business leaders come primarily from just three areas.

They’re asked by customers, prospects and your own employees.

These rate even higher than tough questions from bank managers, journalists and other sources.

The information comes from the pre-session surveys that I’ve been conducting with members of business leadership groups before running master classes on “Give Great Answers To Tough Questions”.

Out of all the sources, it’s the nightmare questions that come to you from your own people which are often the ones which are the most challenging.

There are two particular reasons for this.

                      INSIDERS KNOW THE TROUBLESPOTS

One is that questions from your own people can spring from a much more detailed factual basis than questions from outside.

Your managers and staff often know where the bodies are buried (metaphorically speaking only, one would hope).

So living in the business day-to-day as you do, they know the challenges and the underlying facts in their specialty area as well as - and in some cases better than - you do.

When I run exercises preparing leaders to answer tough questions in press conferences I like to get some of their own people to pose as journalists.

This is because, however much research I’ve done on their organisation or industry, their own people have the inside information to lob especially explosive verbal hand grenades at the weak and uncomfortable spots.

If your people ask “Are you going to lay off staff in this particular area?” or “Why can’t we have a pay rise given the great demand forecasts?” then they may well have solid underlying reasons for asking.

So the answers you give to inquiries from your own experts need to be particularly bombproof.

                         YOU NEED TO LIVE WITH YOUR ANSWERS

The second reason that questions from your own people can be particularly tricky is that you have to live with your answers day-in day-out, in a way that isn’t quite so obvious with a prospect or customer who you only see occasionally.

If you promise something you can’t ultimately deliver on, or predict something that turns out not to be true, then you can be potentially reminded of it on a daily basis….or an hourly basis if it’s your PA!

As you’re effectively on show with your own people in all your working time, there’s a particular need to get the answers to their questions spot on.

The need is all the stronger in these days when your answers can be tweeted, emailed and blogged to a wider audience in an instant.

                              PLAN, PREPARE AND PRACTICE

And the best way to ensure this is to approach the nightmare in-house questions in the same way as a sports professional approaches a big match – you plan for it, you prepare for it, you practice for it.

There are various formulae for satisfying your questioner and getting your positive point across – but they all work best when you’ve worked out what to do in advance.

In this way if one of your people asks “Is our company going to survive the current downturn?” you won’t to be giving an answer off the top of your head.

But neither do you want to say “I’ll go away and check the figures and get back to you on that.”

Contrary to what is often thought, when people are really good at answering tough questions without notice it usually isn’t because they are good at “thinking on their feet”.

It’s more likely to be because they’ve anticipated the question and worked out a factually correct, practical and hopefully inspiring answer in advance.

You can do the same – and impress those people who are hardest to

impress – your own people.

Michael Dodd now on Twitter.

Follow Michael Dodd on Twitter  www.twitter.com/michaeldodd111

BP And The Media - What Businesses Of All Sizes Can Learn

It’s been hard to keep up with the multitude of ways BP mishandled the media over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

But for BP and everyone else in business, the critical thing is to learn from the errors rather than repeat them.

Being prepared before bad things happen is a key part of this, even if your worst business nightmare is something less catastrophic than an oil spill.

Incredibly, for the chief executive officer of such a large firm, Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive officer at the time of the spill got it wrong at practically every stage.

If Tony Hayward had been through a media crisis training course – and had been fully receptive to the learning points – it would have saved BP literally billions in share price losses and reputational damage.

So to stop you from following in his wake, I’ve identified BP’s top seven gaffes – and put below each the key lesson which would have minimized rather than maximized the fallout.

Gaffe 1: “There's no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back." Tony Hayward talking to reporters on 30 May 2010 in Florida.

Lesson: When your company has been responsible for something bad, never use an encounter with the media to express sympathy for yourself. All the more so if people have died in the disaster – not to mention a devastating impact on countless other living creatures. Keep your concern entirely fixed on the victims and their friends and family.

Gaffe 2: "The drilling rig was a Transocean drilling rig. It was their rig and their equipment that failed, run by their people and their processes." Tony Hayward in an interview with NBC on 20 April 2010.

Lesson: Don’t blame others when your company is at least partly responsible. The key thing when something bad has happened is to demonstrate a responsible attitude – and you can word this, if needs be, in a way without admitting legal liability. You look responsible by taking ownership of dealing with the problem, regardless of whether it was 100 per cent your fault or not.

Gaffe 3: "The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume." Tony Hayward in an interview with The Guardian published 14 May 2010.

Lesson 3: Put things in a wider context by all means, but don’t be ridiculous. Trying to talk away a problem which is appearing day after day on our screens is never going to work.

Gaffe 4: “I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest." Tony Hayward in interview on Sky News on 18 May 2010.
Lesson 4: Don’t deny the bleeding obvious. Your audience isn’t stupid. Admit the size of the problem and speak about what you’re doing to tackle it.

Gaffe 5: On 17 May 2010, BP fitted a siphon to the wreckage which managed to collect around a thousand barrels of oil day. According to BP, this was roughly a fifth of the oil leaking out, though some scientists suggested there was much more oil escaping than the company was admitting. The siphoning effort, which was later abandoned, prompted Tony Hayward to declare "I do feel that we have, for the first time, turned the corner, in this challenge."

Lesson 5: Don’t declare light at the end of the tunnel when you aren’t certain. If you’re wrong, you just build public expectations higher for the subsequent big let down. Be cautious, and if things turn out better than predicted so much the better.

Gaffe 6: As billions were wiped off its share price, BP issued a statement on 10 June 2010 saying “The company is not aware of any reason which justifies this share price movement.”

Lesson 6: When you have a problem, don’t pretend it isn’t there. You come across so much better in the media if you’re talking about how you’re seeking to solve the problem rather than denying it.

Gaffe 7: On 17 June 2010, Tony Hayward watched his boat take part in the JP Morgan Asset Management yacht race around the Isle of Wight – a decision defended by a BP spokesman saying Mr Hayward had not had a break since the spill began and was merely “spending a few hours with his family at the weekend”.

Lesson 7: It’s not good to be seen leaving the scene and certainly the country where your problem is located without very good reason. But if you want to spend a little time with your family during a media storm there are ways of doing it which don’t involve flaunting yourself before the world – especially in an activity seen as one for the rich when victims less well off than you are suffering.

Underlying these gaffes – and the many I’ve had to leave out - is a fundamental. Whatever you’ve done and whatever you’re doing, you really have to care about the impact of what you do.

Then in media interviews you can seek to demonstrate how you care.

Trying to tell us you care first, before totally convincing yourself that you really do care doesn’t work.

If this is what you choose to do, battalions of problems will flow.

Being prepared is everything.

And there’s another bonus in going through this process. Preparing for the worst can sometimes even prevent the worst from happening