You too can seduce the camera - Michael Dodd News - Aug 2014

MICHAEL DODD COMMUNICATIONS Helping you get your message across - through the news media and face-to-face YOU TOO CAN SEDUCE THE CAMERA Once upon a time it was only broadcast journalists - and recovering broadcast journalists like me - who needed to talk down the lens of the camera. The internet has changed this forever. Now there are loads of people who need to get it right when they’re seen and heard in video footage on their website, in electronic “town hall” meetings, on Skype calls and other webcasts. This could include you! The encouraging news is that coming across better on the screen is a learnable skill. With training and practice you can make a big difference to how you are perceived by your viewers. Here’s a word from our sponsor…

The number one trick with talking to the camera is to pretend “it” is a real person. In fact, some say you should treat the camera like a highly desirable sexual being and seek to seduce it. It could be Marilyn Munroe. It could be George Clooney.

It could be someone resembling James Bond… It depends on your taste. But you don’t have to go that far!!! TREAT THE CAMERA AS YOUR FRIEND If you can look at the camera lens and chat to it as if it were a friend then it becomes a whole lot easier. Planning, preparing and practicing is the key. In the sessions I run on talking to the camera, one of the key things is looking back on the footage after your original shoots and critiquing it. This way we can see what to change in terms of content and structure. And you can see what to alter in the way of your vocal delivery and your facial expressions as you deliver your script. Talking to the camera is a performance. And in the sessions I run with colleagues we can show you how to maximise that performance. Some sessions are just run for training purposes – and then you can go away and think about what you want to record for real on your website. But you can go a step further and we make your little web movie in the same session. In this way we use the footage where you are at your best – and edit this for maximum impact. It allows you to leave the session with a ready-made item which can go on your website on the same day. THE UNFOLDING TRAGEDY OF KURDISTAN A couple of years ago I had the good fortune to go to northern Iraq with UNESCO - the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation. I say good fortune because at the time that part of Iraq was relatively safe. As you’ve seen from your TV screens, you can’t say that now. I was in the city of Erbil – the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Erbil is a magnificent and highly civilised place, dating back to at least 6,000 BC. It’s one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. On my visit it was an oasis of calm amidst the bombs and turmoil of Bagdad, Basra and other parts of Iraq. The Kurds were able to use their independence to enable a city of order and rising prosperity to flourish once again. There was also a strong push for complete Kurdish independence – as underlined in this photo I took outside an Erbil school one morning. Revenue from Kurdish oil wells – enhanced by deals with the Russians – was fueling its independence from Bagdad and allowing it to build dazzling shopping malls and modern apartments around the ancient walled city at its heart. News that fighters from the Islamic State group are now threatening the security of Erbil and have forced tens of thousands of people in the surrounding region to flee their homes under the threat of savage death and forced religious conversion is tragic indeed. AN AMAZING DAY OF INSPIRING SPEAKERS If you want to be swept away by a day of top professional speakers, then put Saturday 20 September in your diary. The London Region of the Professional Speaking Association has an exceptionally strong line-up including Richard McCann whose career as an extraordinarily successful speaker has grown out of an extraordinarily tragic childhood. Richard’s mother was the first victim of the Yorkshire Ripper. He was brought up on the “At Risk Register”, being given drugs as a five-year-old and suffering years of abuse and becoming suicidal and on a psychiatric ward. Richard has had an amazing personal turnaround since then which you’ll hear if you come along. You will also get to hear the serial winner of public speaking contests, Philip Khan-Panni, who will address the question of why talented people often avoid doing what they are best at. The Richard Branson-endorsed business growth speaker, Robert Craven, will show the secrets of finding, winning and keeping clients - and illustrating his message with his amazing ability to juggle knives. Negotiation expert and author of “Why Do Smart People Make Such Stupid Mistakes” Chris Merrington will reveal how to up-sell and cross-sell as part of every sell. The London Professional Speaking Association of the Year, Jeremy Nicholas, will show how to craft introductions to ensure your speech always gets off to a flying start. And the day will be MC’d by the London Professional Speaking Association Member of the Year, the “Fabulous Impact” speaker, Nicci Roscoe. Tickets can be purchased at: Event Bright You will have to put up with usual Presidential Address at the start of the day, but I promise you it won’t last more than ten minutes and things will get better after that! Keep Smiling, Michael your message... on radio on TV on line in newspapers in magazines face-to-face ...Michael Dodd Communications will show you how International Communications-Boosting Speaker - Media and Presentation Coach Helping you get your message across...in keynotes, master classes, one-to-one Mobile = +44(0)7944 952835 Landline = +44(0)1442 831921 michael@michaeldoddcommunications.com www.michaeldoddcommunications.com Hyde House 82a Green Lane, Bovingdon, Hertfordshire HP3 OLA - UK