WHAT TO SAY IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER

David Cameron has earned himself a series of unflattering headlines after failing to answer a couple of quiz questions on American TV. Mr Cameron - perhaps bravely, perhaps unwisely - agreed to become the first serving British Prime Minister to appear on the largely comedy-focused Late Show during a visit to New York. Now having watched the whole of his appearance, contrary to the headlines, it's fair to say that overall he did pretty well - and certainly avoided the biggest potential trap of taking himself too seriously in front viewers mainly looking for laughs. And as you might expect, on the occasional serious topics David Cameron was able to give some easy-to-follow answers to explain some of the finer points of the United Kingdom to a less than totally clued-up audience across the Atlantic. But the news media - being highly selective as they typically are - focused on those moments when he was completely stumped by host David Letterman's quiz questions.       First up, Cameron didn't know who composed Rule Britannia (understandably not being too familiar with the less-than-famous Thomas Arne). Then he couldn't give the translation of "Magna Carta" - a rather bigger crime for someone who presumably studied Latin at Eton. To his credit, Mr Cameron did make some self-deprecating remarks while admitting he didn't know the answers - the most drastic being "I've ended my career on your show". But he allowed himself to be portrayed looking far sillier than he needed to. There's a useful formula which anyone can use when being asked a question where you don't know the answer. Mr Cameron got the first bit right: admit you don't know. This is far safer than bluffing. But he didn't follow the essential next steps. The second step is to briefly, and without being defensive, explain why you don't know. "Well of course I'm only the prime minister, not the British historian-in-chief," would have been fine for the Magna Carta question. The third step is then to gently move the conversation onwards so that you say something on the same topic that you do know. The full Cameron-Letterman interview is here on Youtube: If you watch it you'll see that the prime minister had earlier in the interview demonstrated he knew quite a bit about the historic document, including the fact that it was signed in 1215. So all Mr Cameron needed to do was to move on and explain a little more about the significance of the Magna Carta for Britain, and the world. This would have made a far more impressive conclusion to his response and would have enabled him to avoid being hit by such Letterman barbs as "it would be good if you knew this" which were fired off during the embarrassing prime ministerial silences. The trick is that once you've dealt with a pesky question by saying you can't answer and explaining why, then you're perfectly within your conversational rights to add something you do know on the subject. If you get this right you'll look far more authoritative and in control than David Cameron managed.

AND YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF Training to utilise this and other techniques is what we work on during my "Giving Great Answers To Tough Questions" sessions. These sessions can be run as keynotes at conferences or as workshops inside your organisation. They deal with tough questions from potential and existing customers, financiers, shareholders, public inquiries and the media. And there's an open session starting on the morning of Friday 30 November in Central London. In the afternoon of same day there's an open session of "Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch". This enables your business introductions become more powerful, effective and memorable when talking about what you do in formal and informal circumstances. It boosts your performance in conversations with new prospects, chance encounters in lifts and in those tricky 60-second pitches at networking meetings. And on Wednesday 5 December there's the opportunity to take part in the open master class on "Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz". This shows how to grab and hold audience attention - and boost your presentation content, structure and performance. All three sessions allow participants to feel more confident when in the spotlight. Details of the early bird offer and booking arrangements are at: http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/presentation_training.php Or you can book your place by emailing enquiries@michaeldoddcommunications.com UNITED NATIONS - THE NEXT MISSION It's been great to work over the past couple of weeks with United Nations officials based across the world - including some of the most troublesome of trouble spots. These dedicated people have to be ready to stand up to tough questions from CNN, the BBC, Al Jazeera and others in some of the most difficult circumstances you can imagine. As luck would have it, the training itself was done under rather easier conditions than their normal working environments. We ran sessions beside the Danube in glorious Budapest.   Photo credit: York Smith And training by the shores of Lake Geneva...allowing for a post-training excursion into the Alps. Photo credit: Rick Ives But it's not always so luxurious - for them or for me. Word has come through that my next training UN mission is in Iraq...yes, really. But before you panic and think your next training course with me will be the last, the good news is the sessions we're running there are in what's described as the relative safe zone of Erbil in Northern Iraq. Nonetheless, advice on security matters from any reader who has been there of late would be most welcome. MADAM BECKY FAILS TO SPANK SPEAKERS The story about ex-brothel owner, Madam Becky, in the last issue of this newsletter generated more reaction than any other item this year. (This clearly says something about some of the readers I manage to attract!) You'll recall that Madam Becky was taking on me and my fellow speakers in a bid to become the UK Business Speaker of the Year 2012.    Madam Becky was promising to enthrall us all by showing how the principles she utilised to build up the profitability of her prostitution operations could be applied to other aspects of business. Well to the disappointment of almost all, alas Madam Becky failed to show up when the rest of the two-dozen qualifying speakers gathered in Southampton for the finals. So our fears that Madam Becky would give us all a right spanking because of her more wide-ranging worldly experience failed to materialize. (However I have a suspicion that the sponsors of the contest may have been a touch relieved at her non-appearance.) The judges then had the rather less exciting task of interviewing the rest of us throughout the day. They had to gauge our speaking prowess in X-Factor style auditions to decide who should be selected to give their speeches in front of the live audience. At the end of their interviews, the judges whittled the survivor list down to a final nine. So it was a privilege to be selected amongst this group to convey our inspirational business message to the audience. There was a fascinating collection of speeches, with the winner being Richard Watts for a very polished performance entitled "The Morale Factor". So hearty congratulations to him. Richard argued persuasively that rather than squeezing suppliers, business leaders should concentrate their efforts on rewarding those they worked with...including sometimes giving them a big hug. Meanwhile one can only wait breathlessly to see whether Madam Becky will titillate the judges with an appearance next year. One can imagine that until then, Madam Becky may be acting on Richard's advice and giving all those she interacts with a big hug. DODD COMMUNICATION-BOOSTING SERVICES Meanwhile, if you decide against having Madam Becky at your next conference, and you need a to transform your people into inspirational business communicators click here: www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/international_speaking.php If you need to know how to perform at your peak in media interviews with the local newspaper, the TV news or anywhere in between then click here:  www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/media_training.php    And if you need a comprehensive communications-boosting programme for your key people click here:  www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/transform_communication_skills.php  CHRISTMAS 2012 COMES EARLY Ever since I can remember, it's been said that commercial activity for Christmas starts earlier each year. In Manchester in 2012 this is certainly the case. At a training gig near the Manchester United Stadium in Salford, the Beefeater restaurant has already begun the festivities - as I found when I had breakfast there. In case no one believes me, here's a diner holding a 24 September 2012 copy of The Telegraph to prove that it really is up.   Picture Credit: Jonathan Brind The presence of the tree is part of a promotion to get you to book there for Christmas dinner - more than three months before the big day. So in case I forget to say it in December... Happy Christmas, Michael

INTERVIEW FIRST MAN ON MOON - I KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS

I'm looking forward to speaking later this year at the European conference of one of the world's largest accounting bodies - CPA Australia.   It's a huge organisation - with a membership of more than 139,000 finance, accounting and business professionals (they're not all Aussies) in 114 countries. But despite its size, it's fair to say that outside the financial world, and certainly outside Australia, it's not a name that comes up on most people's radar. Until now! In the past week CPA Australia has found itself on the universal map in a bigger way than ever before. Why? Because it did the last interview with the first man to walk on the moon - Neil Armstrong - before he sadly left us to go beyond this universe.    Neil Armstrong's being interviewed by CPA Australia But hang on! Why would one of the most famous men ever - the first to walk on two different bodies in the universe - bother to give an interview with an accountancy organisation? Well part of the answer - wait for it - is because Neil Armstrong's dad was an auditor!!! In fact, this is confirmed by the great man himself in the interview which appears on the CPA Australia website. And the person who secured the first in-depth Armstrong interview in nearly 30 years, and which also turned out to be the last, played on this obscure fact to persuade him to come before the cameras ... something the more mainstream media didn't achieve.  Mind you, the interviewer - CPA Australia's chief executive Alex Malley - isn't perhaps what you'd expect as the man in charge of an accountancy body... as I discovered when I met him at a CPA coffee tasting event (yes it really was coffee!) that they put on in their Central London premises during one of Alex's visits. Apart from running the CPA, Alex is a weekly radio commentator on Australia's "Money News" programme and hosts a digital and on-line TV show called "The Bottom Line". He has almost inter-gallactic ambitions for his organisation. I haven't trained Alex, but I don't think he needs guidance on how to do interesting things. His four-part interview series recorded with Neil Armstrong is all fascinating. But if you only watch one section, go for Part 3 where Armstrong talks us through the lunar module's descent onto the moon's surface - while it's pictorially displayed with a pilot's eye view - and lands it, despite a computer malfunction, with just 20 second's worth of fuel to spare.   The Lunar Module in action Even though you know it has a happy ending, it's still heart-stopping stuff. Check it out at: http://thebottomline.cpaaustralia.com.au/ WHEN HARRY MEETS LIZZIE Britain's Press Complaints Commission has received more than 3,600 complaints so far about The Sun newspaper's decision to print pictures of the naked Prince Harry cavorting in a Las Vegas hotel room. And thousands have joined a Facebook group entitled "Support Prince Harry With A Naked Salute" - supposedly the fastest growing Facebook group of our time.                               Shock Picture of Prince Harry Fully Clothed Whether you think the media are right or wrong to publish, the lesson for everyone is clearly that in today's world of mobile phone cameras and the internet, the saying "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" can no longer apply - for princes or anybody. As someone who works in the area of helping people give inspirational answers to tough questions, what I'd like to know is what should Harry say to his grandma if she asks him why he revealed all? You can picture it now, with Her Majesty looking up from her i-pad saying "Oi Harry, how do you explain these pics I've just run into while surfing the net in Balmoral?" All suggestions on what is the best thing Harry can say are most welcome.

FREE PLACE FOR HARRY Meanwhile - on the basis that he needs a bit of help - I've decided to offer Harry a free place at the forthcoming open course on "Giving Great Answers To Tough Questions" He can take part - subject to certain terms and conditions - and providing he doesn't wear that old Nazi uniform that embarrassed him last time he was in big trouble. "Giving Great Answers To Tough Questions" runs 9.30am to 12.30pm on Friday 7 September in Central London. It helps you give more impressive answers to questions from prospective customers, clients, financiers, journalists and others (including royal grandmothers). Later on the same day there's "Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch" which runs from 2pm to 5pm. This session enables your business introductions become more powerful, effective and memorable. Places are £97 for each, or £167 if you do both. Bookings can be secured by emailing enquiries@michaeldoddcommunications.com Both session are running at the Royal Institute for British Architects in Portland Place - just down the road from BBC's Broadcasting House.   The courses are guaranteed to be fun - but as applies to Prince Harry and all others - clothing is compulsory.    ONE SMALL PHRASE FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP Meanwhile back on the moon...   I'd always assumed that Commander Armstrong's famous first words on the moon were the result of a well-planned, much-rehearsed line from an earthbound public relations team.   However, in his last interview Neil Armstrong tells us this was not the case.   He says he thought up the words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" after the lunar module landed safely on the moon's surface, and just before he exited the craft for that much-watched walk.                  Neil Armstong pictured shortly after uttering the famous words     So he did plan and prepare, as I always advocate for big moments.   But he certainly didn't do it much in advance.   Life outside earth is full of surprises.   Though I bet the first person on Mars has their first words crafted for him or her well before they leave this planet.    Keep smiling,   Michael

GRAB AND HOLD ATTENTION - HOW EXPERTS DO IT

At the risk of upsetting Russia's President Putin, there's much we can learn about effective communication from his country's protesting feminist punk band, Pussy Riot. Three members of the band have just been jailed for two years for so-called "hooliganism" - after they stormed into Moscow's main cathedral in February and performed their raucous "punk prayer" at the alter. The band members, in their distinctive colourful balaclavas to hide their identities, called on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Mr Putin at the time he was poised for a less-than-perfectly-democratic return to the presidency. The band members insisted their aim wasn't to offend believers (though this they surely did). They said their intention was to highlight the uncomfortably close ties between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church.   Now if you're prepared to be sufficiently outrageous, it's not that hard to get loads of free publicity in the western world - or even in contemporary, still-restrictive Russia. But what impresses about Pussy Riot is how carefully planned their antics have been. Whether you support them or abhor them, here are three things that have been perfectly pitched to cunningly get their message across - by thinking through their communications strategy in advance. LESSON ONE: In marketing terms Pussy Riot has created an attention-grabbing name and an instantly identifiable look. Their brightly coloured attire is now being copied by supporters around the world -such as this group, pictured below, of London Amnesty International activists protesting against the Russian authorities.   Pussy Riot captivates attention by wearing feminine dresses which deliberately jar with their characteristically unfeminine dance moves and actions. Band members have staged their protests at strategically selected locations designed to steal Russian and world attention - Red Square, outside a jail, the Moscow underground and then, in a deliberately calculated step too far, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. LESSON TWO: Pussy Riot's timing is impeccable. This was exemplified minutes after the verdict, when publicity around the world was at its peak, they released their new single "Putin Lights Up the Fires". For a group that is yet to bring out its first album, its members know how to light the fires of free publicity. LESSON THREE: Pussy Riot's grace under pressure has been inspirational. When the verdict was announced they looked like winners. They smiled, they giggled, they were admirably defiant. In their self-sacrificing protest they had proved their point about Russian governmental repression.   Without arrogance, the Pussy Riot prisoners projected an impression that they will come to be recognized as heroines who've done more to assist the cause of free speech and genuine democracy in Russia than any protest march so far. In fact, Pussy Riot has so captured a chunk of Russian sympathy that even President Putin - perhaps sensing he wasn't winning on this one - expressed the view just before the verdict that their punishment shouldn't be too harsh. If you can get your enemy to feel as though he has to edge in your direction, you're doing something right. If the Pussy Riot appeal fails and they do spend two years in jail, it's a heavy price to pay. However they've positioned themselves to be potentially seen as the Mandela's of modern day Russia. Their "music", by the way, is pretty terrible - in my humble opinion. But that further underlines how brilliant their strategic communications must be.

THREE DAYS TO GRAB YOUR PLACES...  Of course there are ways of grabbing and holding attention without risking two years in a Russian prison. One of these is to take part in one or both of the communications-boosting sessions on 7 September in Portland Place, London. There's an early-bird saving offer which runs until the end of this Friday. "Giving Great Answers To Tough Questions" runs from 9.30am to 12.30pm on 7 September. It shows you how to apply the magic formulae for dealing with nightmare questions from customers, prospects, staff, journalists and others. "Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch" runs from 2pm to 5pm on 7 September. This session enables your business introductions become more powerful, effective and memorable - and helps you attract the right clients. Under the early bird offer you can do either session for £97 including VAT. Or you can do both - and stay for lunch in between - for £167 including VAT. Further details and on-line booking arrangements are at: www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/presentation_training.php Alternatively, places can be reserved by emailing:                      enquiries@michaeldoddcommunications.com Both sessions are guaranteed to be fun!  Here's what Anne Summers had to say:  "An excellent session which everyone benefited from. Entertaining - yes. Really impactive - yes. Useful for each person in the group - yes, yes."  And before you ask, Anne Summers is the leader of the highly respectable Bristol group, Footdown, for business leaders - and is not associated with a racy chain of female underwear stores which adopts a similar name.  HUMAN LOGO FOR THE RIO OLYMPICS  Amongst the places I've been able to run communications-boosting sessions is Rio de Janiero...which competes with my home town Sydney to be most spectacular city in the world.  So I'm looking forward to the next Olympics there in 2016.      And of course we'll want to see what are the new "human logos" which are performed at the Brazilian Olympics.    Will they be able to compete with Mo Farah's "Mobot" M-sign gesture that he does with his arms - or Hussein Bolt's "To The World" double-handed pointing gesture? In my last newsletter I foolishly asked readers to suggest new human logo symbols that could be used at the next Olympics. To my amazement, British readers wanted to focus their human logos on the astounding fact that Australia finished behind GB in the Olympic medals table - something they are apparently expecting to be repeated in 2016. For example, a highly esteemed British retail expert called Greg sent in a suggested logo for Australian spectators in Rio with a disappointed Aussie banging himself on his head. According to Greg "It signifies the Aussie's reaction to the Poms winning yet another event in Rio and finishing above Australia in the medal table".    Another British reader - a widely respected marketing guru called Barnaby - had this description for his suggested human logo for Australian athletes:  "Bend over and poke your smiling head through your legs to give the impression of someone upside down." Not quite the dignified, confident, medal-winning image that Australia would like to project to the world in Rio, Barnaby, but thank you for your contribution, anyway! The topic is now closed (barring any amazingly positive suggestions for winning Australian athletes, which seems unlikely in the current climate). Keep smiling, Michael

PREPARE SOMETHING WORTH HEARING

Some of you are probably sliding into post-Olympic "withdrawal-symptom-depression" because London 2012 has been such a fantastic ride. Others may be in post-Olympic "thank-goodness-it's-over-ecstasy" because you couldn't stand another minute. Whichever camp you're in, you may like to think about the multitude of post-performance competitor interviews that have been hard to escape over the past fortnight. The really great ones open a fascinating window into the emotions, mindset and lives of the competitors - and maybe even say something insightful about the human condition. They can be a joy to absorb - such as some of the comments Somali-born British runner and expectant father of twins, Mo Farah, pictured here winning the 5,000 metres on top of his 10,000-metre triumph.    It was hard not to be moved by Mo's lines such as "Now I have got a gold for each of the babies." The more painful athlete interviews are with the ones that come out with less-than- enlightening lines like "I'm speechless" or "I dunno what to say". To be fair to both categories of athlete, their main job is to perform at their peak - rather than focus on their post-match media comments. But for the audience on the receiving end of their thoughts - or lack of them - there's a huge difference between those who've considered for at least a moment about what is useful for us to hear and what isn't. It's the same for the rest of we mere non-Olympians - whether it's a media appearance, a presentation, one of those self-introductions at networking meetings or key moments in critical conversations. There's a massive difference between how we come across if we've thought properly in advance about what is the best content at that moment for that particular audience. What's more when you get the content right - and you know how to structure your thoughts - you end up looking, sounding and feeling so much better when you deliver it.

GETTING YOUR CONTENT RIGHT    Figuring out how to find exactly the right content for your next performances is one of the key things we concentrate on in master classes to take communications skills to a new level. These master classes be done on your premises, in broadcasting studios, or at open sessions in Central London. The three open sessions coming up are: "Give Great Answers To Tough Questions" is scheduled for Friday 7 September 9.30am to 12.30pm "Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch" runs later in the day on Friday 7 September 2pm - 5pm "Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz" on Thursday 4 October running 9.30am to 5pm. Full details including the soon-to-expire early bird offer are at:         www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/presentation_training.php Here are the "graduates" from the open session that ran in July celebrating their success.     And here are some of their thoughts. More sensitive souls should be aware that one of the comments contains the word "buttock-clenching". "Thanks for a brilliant day yesterday. It was all so incredibly useful - practical, enthusiastic, constructive, immediately-applicable...oh and fun." Dr Lynda Shaw, Neuroscientist and Psychologist. "Michael can make even the most dull presenter or subject matter appear interesting. You will take away some gems of presentational insight that will give you confidence and make every presentation you do much easier." James Hickman, Managing Director, Caxton FX. "I thought I was a good presenter, but after this session, I have now seen the light. Following the steps that Michael has honed over many years does now give me the confidence that I can present with Impact and Pizzazz." Julian Dawes, Managing Director Huf UK Ltd. "Use Michael to get Focus, Clarity and Context in your presentations or elevator pitches. You will be delighted with the results." Frank Bastow, Chief Executive Officer, Bastows Ltd. "I just spent the day with Michael Dodd and discovered that presenting can be FUN. Instead of the usual buttock-clenching fear of standing up in front of people and feeling like an idiot, Michael gave me the tools and the confidence to PERFORM to my audience and it felt GREAT." Andy Mildner, Managing Director, Azure Financial Services Ltd.  EMBEDDING BEST PRACTICE IN YOUR TEAM  In today's competitive world there are huge advantages in having your team in peak form when it comes to getting the right messages across - inside and outside your organisation. This applies whether it's doing sales pitches, business introductions, presenting with slides, media interviews or handling critical conversations with clients, prospects, financiers and beyond. Michael Dodd Communications is now offering a seven-part programme to ensure that communications skills are enhanced - and embedded so they become the new norm for your organisation. The programme is either for your top team or for emerging leaders being groomed for increasing responsibility.   Performance is measured at the start and end - and along the way. Programmes are tailor-made to suit the requirements of those involved. Typically the programme would involve a mixture of group and one-to-one sessions for your key people arranged to suit their schedules. A sample programme is at:                      www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/transform_communication_skills.php   MOBOTS TO THE WORLD - THE NEW TV NORM    When advising clients about how to perform on TV there's always a big checklist. But it seems that checklist may be getting one step bigger. The normal list includes getting them to dress right - which in most cases means things like wearing nothing too fancy to distract from their message. And there's what they say, how they structure it and how they look and sound when they say it. The new addition since the Olympics seems to be the need for a specific gesture to encapsulate the TV moment. The world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, had already established his dramatic so-called "To The World" gesture at the Beijing 2008 Olympics with his two pointing arms...and he's had plenty of chances to practice it over the past fortnight. But London 2012 saw the arrival of the "Mobot" - an "M" sign with two bendy arms signalled by the world's fastest long-distance runner Mo Farah just after the gold-medal-winning climax of his races. To mix it up, one of the big moments of the games was when Bolt and Farah - who share the same agent - got together and performed each other's winning gestures for the cameras.   So the new life-sized living logo concept is now with us. There must be a job for someone between now and Rio 2016 to design these things for the next generation of winners. In fact, I'm trying to think of an Australian-style one I can use myself in case I ever win something. All suggestions welcome. Keep smiling, Michael

WHY YOU MUST EXPLAIN!  With the London Olympics looming, there's been a smorgasbord of appalling and excellent communications skills on public display. The early gold medal winner in the appalling category is Nick Buckles - a man who has lived up to what his name promises. Mr Buckles is the chief executive (for now) of the security contractor G4S which has had to admit that its contractual obligation to provide 10,000 Olympic security guards won't be met. When called before a parliamentary committee to answer some obvious and predictable questions, Mr Buckles acknowledged that his company's provision of only 4,200 of these staff was a "humiliating shambles". As discussed in the last ezine, telling the truth and showing humility are to be commended in such circumstances. But when admitting to something damaging or saying something controversial you need to couple it with a more positive message. This could be to say what you're doing to fix the problem - or putting it in a wider context. Mr Buckles totally failed to do this when asked a killer question by the committee about whether his company would still be claiming its management fee of £57-million on the project which it clearly hasn't properly managed. Controversially Mr Buckles said it would all be claimed - not something which went down well with committee members or taxpayers.  Mr Buckles had no justifying message or apology to accompany this answer - which is why he comes out of the exchange so badly.  Whether you are going to appear before a parliamentary committee - or you have to face challenging questions from prospects, customers, staff or financiers - there are techniques to ensure you come out better than Nick Buckles. The next open session of "Give Great Answers To Tough Questions" is scheduled for Friday 7 September in Central London. And the next open session of "Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch" runs later the same day. Details of the soon-to-expire early bird offer are at: http://www.michaeldoddmedia.com/presentation_training.php

KEEPING IT IN PERSPECTIVE    Meanwhile one man who has been around the running track and the media track more than a few times is doing a better job at putting the London Olympics in perspective. Gold medal runner and now Olympic organising supremo Sebastian Coe has made a couple of excellent fightbacks at a time when sections of the media are hunting just a bit too hard to find things going wrong.  Sebastian Coe winning gold in the Olympic 1500 metres in Moscow I was alerted to this when London's LBC Radio Station interviewed me to get my take on "news" that some Australian and American athletes had a delayed and circuitous coach journey from Heathrow Airport to the Olympic village. This was being portrayed in some quarters as a massive scandal rather than an unfortunate minor mishap. I predicted on air that the athletes (at least the rugged Australian ones) would get over it pretty quickly. And I advocated that - given the rare privilege of being in a city which is hosting the Olympics for the third time - we folk in London should guard against seeking out the teeniest things going wrong and blowing them out of proportion. Sebastian Coe did a much better job than me of making this same point the next day. "Out of 100 journeys, one coach driver missed a turning" was the way he successfully took on the "tall poppy syndrome" which seeks to unfairly drag down successful people and institutions. He went on to highlight the scale of the task facing Olympic organisers, saying "This is the ability to stage in 19 days in this city 26 simultaneous world championships." Lord Coe has sewn a bit of confusion by imprecise answers about whether the sponsorship rules will allow people to wear Pepsi shirts to an event backed by Coca-Cola, so he hasn't won communication gold yet. But he is showing some early medal-winning form in the Olympic media stakes. TURNING AROUND PERCEPTIONS OF YOUR SCHOOL Schools can get a rough time in the local media. Often this can be quite unfair, if one of the laws of bad journalism takes hold. The law states the first duty of the media is "to reinforce existing prejudices". The consequence of this is that where schools make a heroic and successful effort to turn around poor standards and results, it can go unrecognised. I've had the privilege in recent years of working with over a hundred head teachers and other education leaders to show them what they can do to more effectively convey positive impressions through the media - and to put things in perspective when something goes wrong. One school in particular has stuck in my mind for achieving a massive and rapid reputational turnaround. It's the Freeston Academy, located in the former mining area of Normanton in Yorkshire. When I visited the school last year it had just learned that plans for a large and much-needed building programme had been scrapped as part of government cutbacks. But despite this, there remained an overwhelmingly positive spirit in the school, demonstrated by the impressive work in all subjects spectacularly displayed on the classroom and corridor walls. However the achievements and spirit within the school weren't being reflected in the newspaper coverage outside. This reinforced a view of some parents in the potential catchment zone that the school hadn't improved since their time at the place, and that they therefore wouldn't want their own children to go there. So the school feared a drop in enrolments which would lead to unaffordable cuts in funding. I spent a day at the school working with the inspirational head teacher, Dr Gill Metcalfe, her senior staff and governors. We practised how to deal with conversations with sceptical parents and pupils, and how to convey positive points in media interviews. Freeston team members threw themselves into the task of coming up with positive messages they wanted to convey - and building a "Treasure Chest" of stories which they could use to illustrate their points in conversations and interviews. They came up with the idea of making "message cards" with punchy slogans such as "The right attitude brings the right results". These were backed up with examples on the reverse of the card with specifics about former pupils such as: "Louise Whiteley has started a course in Biological Science at Girton College, University of Cambridge, after achieving A-star in her A levels. She recently completed a 12-day trek in the Himalayas as part of her world challenge community project." Dr Metcalfe is pictured here with some of her students holding up the cards which were distributed throughout the Normanton community.    Freeston Academy now has an expanding collection of dozens of positive articles which have been run after learning how to write effective press releases and produce attention-grabbing photos. "Basically it's a mindset change," says Dr Metcalfe. "No longer do I think of media contact as an inconvenience, but as something I feel more confident to tackle and try to make it into a positive for our Academy. "The impact of our campaign is being seen in an increase of twenty students, plus a public perception that the school is definitely on an upward trend." So Gill Metcalfe's advice to other schools: "I would suggest having your Treasure Chest of good news stories always and hand, and be ready with a positive attitude to seize the moment." BOOSTING YOUR CHANCES IN JOB AND UNIVERSITY INTERVIEWS There's one more thing schools can do to boost the prospects of their pupils. And that's to equip them with skills to shine out in interviews for their first job or that university place. Having sat on selection panels for university places, it can be quite disturbing to watch how some pupils shoot themselves in both feet - while others can make a lot of themselves notwithstanding less-than-impressive results. My colleague in the training world - Jane-Emma Peerless (pictured below) - reports much the same story in the business scene after conducting countless job interviews.    Together we can help schools maximise their pupils' prospects by showing how to prepare their CVs and covering letters - and how to showcase themselves at their best in those challenging early interviews. Just as with media interviews, presenting yourself at your best is a learnable skill which can boost prospects hugely. And practice interviews - and real ones - become far more comfortable when you know what you're doing.  PRESENTING BETTER THAN GEORGE Showing yourself at your best is also something we do in sessions of "Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz". The next open session this month is now full - but places are available in the following one on Thursday 4 October. Details are towards the foot of the page at: http://www.michaeldoddmedia.com/presentation_training.php But however bad your presentation skills might be, you can at least be encouraged that there's always someone who makes more gaffes than the rest of us do. Here's a compilation of the presentational "mis-speaks" of former president George W. Bush - including some you probably haven't seen before.  Don't you miss him! Everyone on the presentation master classes is guaranteed to come away better than George. Keep smiling, Michael

WHENEVER POSSIBLE, ANSWER THE QUESTION. British TV watchers have just witnessed one of the most excruciating examples of a "car crash" interview. The victim was Treasury Minister, Chloe Smith, who floundered throughout an eight-minute cross-examination with one of the world's greatest interviewers, BBC rottweiler Jeremy Paxman. Some might say Jeremy's a bit soft by Australian standards, but he's ruthless nonetheless and has a well-practised line in disbelieving looks in order to put his interviewees under extra pressure - as you can see.   Ms Smith by contrast is a telegenic thirty-year-old Conservative politician who was enjoying political success at a remarkably early age. And to her credit she by-and-large maintained her physical composure throughout her Paxmanisation - though a couple of little coughing bursts signalled some internal stress. But the actual content of Ms Smith's answers - relating to a deferral of a petrol tax rise - were universally regarded as completely hopeless and unconvincing. You can watch here - if you're tough enough to withstand something which really should have a health warning. The vital learning point is that the crash was entirely avoidable...especially as the minister was effectively being interviewed about what was good news for British motorists (albeit arguably not so good for the fume-choked environment). Lesson One is that Ms Smith was the wrong person for the government to put forward to be interviewed. As became gruesomely clear, Ms Smith was too junior to be seriously involved in making the decision, so she was sent out as something of a lamb to face the beast. The real decision-makers - the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister - were far better placed to answer the obvious questions... had they been courageous enough to have faced the Paxman experience themselves. Lesson Two is that Ms Smith could have made life a lot better for herself if she had obeyed one devastatingly simple lesson: Just tell the truth. The first of the questions she was unwilling to give a straight answer to was remarkably easy. When was she told of the decision? Sure, it may have been a touch embarrassing to have to admit that she was so low in the hierarchy that she was only told on the day of the announcement. But still, far better for her to get this out of the way in one go and take the sting out of it, rather than come up with a pack of pathetic obfuscations. Best practice media advice is to answer the question - or give a powerful reason why you can't. Once you've done this you then effectively have a license - under the normal rules of conversation - to go on and make a positive point related to the question. It will be fascinating to see whether Ms Smith takes this advice next time - if her political masters ever let her near Mr Paxman again.

GIVING GREAT ANSWERS TO TOUGH QUESTIONS     If you'd like to discover how you can best answer your nightmare questions - from Jeremy Paxman, your clients, your prospects or your staff - then there is a solution. I'm running an open session in Central London on Friday 7 September. You, your colleagues and Ms Smith are entitled to book and come along. And on the same day you can also have the option to take part in a session on "Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch" A bad elevator pitch might be something like "I'm Chloe and I get chopped up on TV when my bosses aren't brave enough to appear themselves". A really good elevator pitch can help you stand out from the crowd and win new clients by highlighting what you can do for people better than anyone else. A well-crafted, well-delivered pitch helps you come across impressively during those sometimes nerve-wracking introductions at networking events. It also helps you shine in less formal situations. After one of these sessions, business leader Gary Jeffries emailed to say "I've already putyesterday's learning on pitching over the telephone to good use, by making successful calls to two key prospects and securing the meetings I wanted to." Details of both open sessions are at: http://www.michaeldoddmedia.com/presentation_training.php HOW NOT TO DO IT - THE AUSTRALIAN WAY If you're one of those people who thinks any publicity is good publicity, then here's reason to think again. This is the latest news on Australian Trade Minister, Craig Emerson, who I knew when I was working as a political correspondent in Canberra in the 1980s. At that stage Craig was an environmental activist who went on to become an economic advisor to Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. But it's only now that he's really made his indelible mark on the world. In what looked at the start like a bog-standard political interview, Craig Emerson suddenly started to dance and then to sing. The song was Craig's response to a claim by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that the government's new carbon tax would wipe Whyalla - a South Australian steel-making town - off the map. His song was a parody version of the 1970s hit "Horror Movie" by the Skyhooks.   (OK you can be forgiven if you don't remember Skyhooks.) Now you might think that Craig Emerson's karaoke-style performance was merely a moment of madness. But if it was, it was a planned moment of madness. Craig had got his staff to set up a beatbox to provide the backing music - and had even gone to the trouble of seeking permission from one of the old Skyhooks members to utilise the song. And he'd written some fresh lyrics with the line "No Whyalla wipe-out there on my TV." The result is a glimpse of political theatre like you've never seen before. The video has now gone viral...but Craig Emerson has received no shortage of political flak. The most severe has come from the Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, who says he's appalled by the behaviour. "This guy is meant to be our representative on the international scene," Mr Hockey declared. "And he is treating as a joke the concerns of everyday Australians about something he has done. I can't believe he is still on the front bench." In fairness I should point out this is the same Joe Hockey who when serving as the government's Workplace Relations Minister a few years ago went on TV dressed as a wand-waving Shrek and dancing with a pink tutu to Abba's Dancing Queen.   At the time, Joe Hockey explained that one away by saying "People will suggest if you're going to be taken seriously you shouldn't be doing these things. But that is the nature of life, really. I am who I am." It all makes my years in Canberra - where the high point was Bob Hawke bursting into tears at a press conference - seem rather lacking in colour. PRESENTING WITH PIZZAZZ Meanwhile there's no excuse for a lack of colour in your future presentations - despite the fact that my July open session on presentation skills is now full. A new open session of "Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz" is now scheduled for Central London on Thursday 4 October. Bookings can be made at: http://www.michaeldoddmedia.com/presentation_training.php By the end of the day it's expected that your speech-making will sparkle. But in the light of recent Australian political experience, all singing, dancing and the parading with pink tutus will be banned. Keep smiling, Michael