Your Unique Festive Gift - Well Sort Of MICHAEL DODD COMMUNICATIONS Helping you get your message across - through the news media and face-to-face IT’S FESTIVE, IT’S FORWARD-LOOKING, AND IT’S HERE G’day, It may seem too good to be true, but you’re getting something you desperately need for Christmas that you didn’t know existed. Yes the Michael Dodd Communications 2015 Calendar is here in this festive ezine edition. Put together by the 14-year-old technical and creative genius, Lucinda Dodd, the calendar has a deeply moving, inspiring and – let’s face it – ever-so-slightly ridiculous picture for every month of the coming year. Here’s Mr October - one of your 12 pictures-of-the-month to tempt you to keep it on your wall throughout next year (though no offence taken if you choose not to do so!!!). The full set of a dozen monthly pictures can be obtained for free: Download the calendar here now! (6.2 MB) As you take action over the next twelve months to become an even more inspirational communicator, your days will be numbered as never before…

OBAMA AND CLOONEY VS KIM JONG-UN Whatever else you get for Christmas, you’re probably doing better than the Sony corporation who have received a festive-time bollicking from President Barrack Obama as their gift. The President says Sony made a mistake in bowing to pressure from North Korea by pulling a their movie which sends up their leader, Kim Jong-un (pictured). In the strongest possible language an US president can utter, Mr Obama declared: “That’s not what America is about”. And to make matters worse for Sony, Hollywood star George Clooney (pictured) also weighed in, saying that bowing to North Korea was “insane”. The criticism has certainly had its effect, as Sony has begun muttering aloud about finding an alternative means of distribution other than in the cinema chains that were nervous about screening it. As a courageous role model, they could do with checking out Charlie Chaplin. As Nazi Germany was wreaking havoc on humanity, Chaplin courageously went ahead with his first talking movie, The Great Dictator. Chaplin proceeded to make the film during the late 1930s despite pressures to abandon it from Britain where the appeasement policy towards Nazi Germany was in place. After appeasement was overturned and Britain declared war on Nazi Germany, the pressures eased – and the movie proved highly popular in both the UK and America when it was released in 1940. The movie’s climactic moment comes when Chaplin, dressing and acting in a Hitler-like manner, gives a surprisingly enlightened speech in a dream sequence. I was alerted to this amazing cinematic moment by the world’s greatest geography teacher (in my experience), Rosa Kloczko (pictured), who I’m delighted to say is a regular reader of this ezine.   I was a beneficiary of Rosa’s captivating lessons in Sydney which fostered a greater understanding of the world, the desire to explore it and the importance of looking after it. Her lessons continue – and long may they do so! Rosa has a great sense of history, so enjoy this Charlie Chaplin clip thanks to her: SUCCEED IN THE NEW WORLD OF BUSINESS If you need some holiday reading – and you want to improve your business at the same time – I strongly recommend the new book by chief executive guru, Roger Harrop. Roger - one-time national president of the Professional Speaking Association – maintains that business should be simple, and his book is in line with this belief. “Win! How To Succeed In The New Game Of Business” enlightens readers on how to utilise ground-breaking rules that have come with new technology. Roger makes the point that digital innovations have levelled the business playing field – both internationally and between companies that are small and large, old and new. For a man who is rich in white hair, what is particularly admirable is Roger’s identification of the importance of capitalising on the skills of the new high-tech generation. “For the first time in history,” he writes, “young people have more knowledge than older or more experienced employees”. “We have got to find a way to bring millennials into our company and have them respected and listened to – and not just in the traditional way of ‘start at the bottom rung of the ladder’.” Here’s hoping Roger succeeds on this mission - to the advantage of tech-savvy millennial Lucinda and her friends! Roger’s book is at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Win-How-Succeed-Game-Business/dp/1909116386 Here’s hoping the younger generation – coupled with your ever-enhancing communication skills - add to your success in 2015. Keep smiling festively, 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  Copyright © 2014 Michael Dodd Communications, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

LEARNING FROM THE GIANT OF AUSTRALIAN ORATORY

MICHAEL DODD COMMUNICATIONS Helping you get your message across - through the news media and face-to-face LEARNING FROM THE GIANT OF AUSTRALIAN ORATORY G’day, When you think of Australians, the first thing that comes to mind may not be great speech-makers. But there’s one giant Australian speechmaker who we can all take something from. Gough Whitlam - who has just died at 98 after an amazing roller-coaster of an innings - was Australia’s larger-than-life prime minister for three exciting, tumultuous and unforgettable years from 1972 until his controversial dismissal by the Governor General on Remembrance Day in 1975. This photograph records the moment when he made his most famous speech. It was to the crowd that gathered outside Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra to protest with him immediately after he was sacked. Aptly described as Australia’s most loved and most hated Prime Minster, no one could dispute Gough Whitlam’s supremacy in his way with words – and his ability to deliver them. As a member of the Manly Boys’ High School debating team in the 1970s, I and my team mates used to regularly insert send-ups of the Whitlam rhetorical style in our performances as we traveled around for contests against other New South Wales schools. We did this partly because Gough Whitlam’s impact at the time was so all-pervasive, and partly because his distinctive voice - with an eccentric but impressive over-emphasis on key words - made him relatively easy to imitate. Alas no recordings of our debating performances – nor our Whitlam impersonations - survive to this day. But much of Gough Whitlam’s speechifying has been captured for posterity. Whitlam is most remembered for his brilliant off-the-cuff-speech on the steps of Australia’s Parliament following his dismissal. But it was his official campaign launch speech before his first election victory which I think best stands as an example of his masterly presentation style. Admittedly it owes much to the genius of his speechwriter Graham Freudenberg who developed the knack of crafting lines which worked in perfect harmony with the Whitlam cadences. But only Gough Whitlam could have delivered the speeches in the profound, dramatic and memorable way that he did. ___________________________________________________ THE WINNING CAMPAIGN LAUNCH In my role as someone who seeks to help business people in particular to become inspirational communicators, it has been worth examining the construction of the start to that speech at the campaign launch in 1972 in Sydney’s western suburbs. Look for the neat mix of longer sentences and short ones. Look for the powerful repetition of the party slogan “it’s time” – which was designed to hit a resonant chord with voters after 23 years of rule by Australia’s two leading conservative parties. Look for the deft use of what rhetorical experts call “antithesis” - juxtaposing opposites for heightened effect – such as “the past” and “the future”… “Men and Women of Australia! “The decision we will make for our country on the second of December is a choice between the past and the future, between the habits and fears of the past, and the demands and opportunities of the future. “There are moments in history when the whole fate and future of nations can be decided by a single decision. “For Australia, this is such a time. “It’s time for a new team, a new program, a new drive for equality of opportunities: it’s time to create new opportunities for Australians, time for a new vision of what we can achieve in this generation for our nation and the region in which we live. “It’s time for a new government – a Labor Government.” And if you want to hear a sound bite from the speech in action – and see some early seventies Aussie hair styles and then-trendy music – click on: Note at the very end of the item a tiny excerpt from the man Gough Whitlam defeated – Prime Minister, Sir William McMahon – who was anything but a speechmaker of distinction. The contrast underlines how great presentation skills can make a critical difference – and are worth making the effort to acquire and perfect – in politics, in business and elsewhere. ___________________________________________________ DISCOVERING THE MAGIC SPEAKING FORMULAE There’s something which is coming increasingly clear to me about great presenting the more I get into studying it and teaching it. Most people, when they hear it, instantly recognise a fantastic presentation – and a poor one. But what they often can’t do is specifically identify the underlying fundamentals that make the difference between the two. These hard-to-see critical fundamentals that divide superb presentations from appalling ones are usually to do with content and structure. Brilliant and atrocious delivery styles are easier for people to spot. Audiences can typically identify the difference between good and bad body language, eye contact and expression in the voice. But they typically find it much more difficult to work out what’s wrong with the content and structure of a bad presentation. Fortunately there are formulae and methods for getting the content and structure right. This is what can get your speech remembered, reported and – in this age of social media – re-tweeted. But the formulae and methods aren’t intuitive. I didn’t know them until I learnt them from others. These guidelines need to be disseminated far more widely. In keynote speeches to conferences on “Becoming An Inspirational Business Communicator”. (Click here to see) In master classes and one-to-one sessions on “Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz”. (Click here to see) There are also formulae and methods for answering nightmare professional questions which arise during and after presentations. Knowing what these formulae and methods are – and being able to deploy them - can make you feel so much better about the challenges you and your team get from prospects, clients, journalists and others. There’s more on “Giving Great Answers To Tough Questions” in this video recorded in the delightful and historic southern English city of Winchester. ___________________________________________________ GOUGH WHITLAM AND YOURS TRULY Speaking of great answers to tough questions, this is an area where Gough Whitlam was pretty impressive…though I should stress he was never trained by me! On the tenth anniversary of his dismissal as prime minister he gave a series of clever, witty and at times bombastic answers at the launch of his book to mark the occasion. Thanks to Youtube can see his speech on line – along with his answers to questions from reporters in the National Press Club in Canberra, pictured below. And if you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, you might like to have a quick glimpse at the bit that’s 29 minutes and 16 seconds from the start. At this point in a young bearded reporter with a dodgy haircut from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “PM” programme tries to ask the great man a question. The question was about a new allegation that there had been a “mole” inside the Whitlam Government who was feeding information to the Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser and his deputy Philip Lynch during the 1975 constitutional crisis. Early on the day of the tenth anniversary of the crisis, Whitlam had given a pre-recorded interview to my colleague Paul Murphy who was the compere of PM. Whitlam tries to use this earlier interview he granted as an excuse not to answer the challenging question. He also tries to head it off saying that story about the alleged mole had been broken exclusively by the Sydney Morning Herald journalist Peter Bowers. But it didn't stop this younger generation reporter from the ABC trying to get an answer out of the one-time national leader! Mercifully Gough Whitlam was more forthcoming on other questions. And I got a much more sympathetic hearing when he later came to Berlin where I was based in the 1990s. On this later occasion he granted me a cracker of an interview about contemporary Australian and international politics - somehow encompassing vast swathes of European history along the way. Unfortunately no one has put this on Youtube yet. ___________________________________________________ THE WHITLAM WIT ON LIFE DEATH AND BEYOND Gough Whitlam had much to say on life, death and beyond. It wasn't always in the best of taste, and it could be totally sacrilegious. But it was always razor sharp. Amongst his most acerbic retorts was when he was being repeatedly questioned by a voter about his view on abortion on the campaign trail. Eventually Whitlam snapped and declared: “Let me make it quite clear that I am for abortion and, in your case Sir, we should make it retrospective.” Gough Whitlam had a massive ego. But unlike some in this category, he was more than capable of sending himself up over his Messiah complex among other things. The late Catholic Cardinal Edward Clancy spoke of a time when the former prime minister inquired as to whether Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral, pictured below, might be available for his funeral. This was a surprise because the cardinal was not expecting a Whitlam conversion to Catholicism. According to the Cardinal, Whitlam then insisted he didn’t actually want a Catholic funeral. “It was because he wanted to be buried in the crypt, claiming he was willing to pay but would only require it for three days.” However on another occasion Gough Whitlam denied having insisted that he was immortal. “I’ve never said I’m immortal,” he declared. “I do believe in correct language. I’m eternal; I’m not immortal.” Wherever you are, Gough, you will forever be remembered– in Australia and beyond. 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

NOTES OR NO NOTES – IT’S A BIG PRESENTATION QUESTION

MICHAEL DODD COMMUNICATIONS Helping you get your message across - through the news media and face-to-face NOTES OR NO NOTES – IT’S A BIG PRESENTATION QUESTION   G’day, The question of whether you should rely on notes during your speeches is an important matter for everyone who gives presentations. It’s a question I often get asked about in my role both as a professional speaker and as a presentation coach. It’s sooooooooooooo important that I’ve recorded a video on it for this ezine for you. Amazingly, the notes issue has burst on the centre stage in British politics. This followed the speech by the Opposition Leader, Ed Miliband, at his Labour Party annual conference in Manchester which he did - as he has before - without notes. But this year Mr Miliband had to admit afterwards that he forgot to mention his pre-prepared comments on two vital issues because he was speaking “off the top of his head”.

Party leaders can normally expect a post-conference “bounce” in the opinion polls after their big speech as a result of the massive media exposure which comes with it. But by forgetting to mention the vital issues of the economic deficit and immigration, Mr Miliband managed to get a “negative bounce” – with his party’s opinion poll rating dropping six percentage points after his address. Like the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, Mr Miliband is generally an impressive speaker without notes and has the ability to remember long passages and deliver them effectively….though this year the reviewers were harsher than before. The biggest mistake Ed Miliband made was to release an official written version of his speech in advance to journalists. This made it easy for them to spot the difference between what he planned to cover and what he actually did cover. Never do this if you’re not going to say what you say you will say! BIG NOTES BAD, SMALL NOTES OK My advice is that big notes on sheaves of paper that you hold in front of you make you look truly awful. They sap your authority. They block your direct engagement with your audience. However small, un-obvious notes with a minimum of words or pictures can be a highly effective way of keeping you on track - if you just glance at them occasionally and at exactly the right moments (when you’ve ensured the audience thinking about something profound you’ve just told them). Tiny notes allow you to talk rather than read your presentation and keep you connected with your audience. This video tells you more…

GETTING YOUR PRESENTATIONS JUST RIGHT As you've probably noticed, there’s much to think about when planning and doing an effective presentation. And what you do for one audience in a particular situation may contrast from what is right for another audience with different requirements. My bespoke master classes and one-to-one sessions on “Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz” focus on the situations you and your team need to be ready for. These can include:   Working in harmony with your slides (rather than committing the sin of reading them)   Designing slides that excite your audience (rather than put them to sleep)   Knowing when and how to move with a purpose (rather than shifting routinely like a caged tiger) Getting the pitch, pacing and pausing right (to boost your engagement and authority)   Choosing visual aids that work (and which can also help you keep on track)   Getting your hands and feet in the right place (so you project a confident image)   Telling the right stories in the right way (to embed your message in the minds of your audience).   Send your presentation challenges and requirements toenquires@michaeldoddcommunications.com - or call 44 7944 952835 - and we can come up with a programme to hit the right spots for you and your team on premises selected by you. And of course we can devise the right method of reminding you what to say at key moments in your presentation – and avoid those “blanking” and “off piste” moments. If you're really up for it, this can involve using autocue…something Barrack Obama does brilliantly (even without my help). There's more about "Presenting with Confidence, Impact and Pizzazz" at: http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/presentation_training.php If Ed Miliband had booked himself a session or two he'd be way back up there in the polls. SWITZERLAND AND KENYA It’s been a bit of a whirl this month, working all over the place including with the United Nations Refugee Agency through Arazon Associates just outside Geneva – that most picturesque of Swiss cities which still has snowcapped peaks around it in September. Then it was Northampton, Watford and then onto the somewhat warmer Nairobi to boost the media interview response skills of African peace-keepers. There are some great personalities in Africa and I met quite a few of them this time. But my all-time favourite is the stand-out African who is head, neck and shoulders above almost everyone else, Jock The Giraffe. I sometimes talk about Jock in my conference keynotes, master classes and after dinner speeches in order to demonstrate how to paint a memorable picture in people’s minds – as Jock is certainly a most memorable character. The African assignment was run by EU Media Business Consulting - headed by none other than Thomas Dodd. Amongst other things, Thomas sets up TV stations around the globe. (Let me know if you need one.) I didn’t meet Thomas through family connections, but I have a feeling we must be related as he looks just like my Uncle Geoff in Adelaide! Here’s Team Dodd posing against the fading Kenyan sunset at an amazing place called the Ole-Sereni Hotel which overlooks the Nairobi National Park. Here you can watch zebras, ostriches and gazelles grazing in the savannah landscape on the other side of the balcony. Yes, you can also see giraffes, but don’t be fooled by this picture below. Africans love building models of their magnificent animals. And I can personally verify the fact that giraffe standing on the magnificent balcony in this picture is a fake…unlike Jock who is as real as they come. Big Jock always makes a big, totally authentic impression without the need for big notes. My colleagues and I can ensure that you can too. 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

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