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IABC Trinidad and Tobago hosted Senator Helen Drayton (a corporate communicator with over 25 years of marketing and HR experience) this morning at Satchmos', the Woodbrook based jazz bar. It was wonderful to hear a genuinely knowledgeable and articulate voice on the the topic of social investment in the current economic climate. Drayton lauded CLICO, Republic Bank and Guardian Life for their social investment programmes. She maintained that now more than ever was the time for CSR programmes to be viewed as more than just appendages.
Caption: Dancers perform as they depict Mc Farlane's Africa
The fact that over 50 dancers, singers and drummers presenting 19 costumes in a forested location would not fail to disappoint.
On Saturday 11th at 5:30 am over 25 journalists assembled at a Chaguaramas car park and were shuttled to a charming old house for an African breakfast, later they endured a short trek to the Edith Waterfall trails for the presentation of Mc Farlane’s “Africa, Her People, Her Glory, her Tears.”
At the end of it all, Brain asked: “Do you think we’ll get a front page on Sunday Judette.”
I smiled when I hit the newspaper stands 24 hours later and saw the pictures and stories from the media launch plastered on pages 1 and 2 of every daily.
Caption: Headtable at UWI's Broadcast Code panel discussion
I attended UWI's (University of the West Indies) panel discussion of the Broadcast Code staged by the Communications Students Association (CSA). I was glad to leave behind the mountain of work on my desk. How good to find another example to demonstrate that knowledge comes not only from absorbing the ideas of opined editors but actually engaging academia for an intellectual framework on what can be pedestrian thinking.
The panel was quite good one. The head of the Communications Students Association, Dr Godfrey Steele was joined by Joanne Briggs, the Media Association’s president, Irving Ward, the news editor of the Express, Dr Christina Abraham, lecturer in the Communications Department and Kerry Anne Roberts, president of the CSA.
Here were some key points from the panel:
You would have to be living under a rock on planet Jupiter not to have heard that the world’s financial markets have been tumbling; that's why today I was happy to see at least one newspaper divorce themselves from its daily diet of blood, gore and mayhem to inform readers of how the downturn could affect the local economy.
Our saving grace in Trinidad? We all know it’s oil and gas. But both commodities are not infinite resources and with our economy tied so closely to the US (the US is our biggest export market), one can’t help but wonder are we heading for leaner, meaner times?
Caption: Philomena
I can’t wait to see Philomena give a speech. Oh, for those of you outside of the Caribbean, Philomena is the local doyenne of comedy; she dresses in drag as a cleaning lady and dishes dirt on everything from politics to the economy to relationships.
But back to my point though. I would love to see Philomena deliver a key note address without the head-tie, the apron and the freakish makeup. Instead I’d put her behind a lectern, corporate suit and all and I’d bet a million dollars, she’d be good. Damn good really because right away she’d know that humour is one of the best techniques that a speechgiver can use to connect with his /her audience.
Caption: Role model speaker, Anna Maria Garcia Brooks
A speech is an opportunity to connect, deliver important messages to a receptive audience and elevate your personal brand. It is not an opportunity for your audience to day dream.
There are many varied techniques a speechwriter can use and one of the best is to tell stories. Audiences remember stories and they remember the messages behind them. Ill give examples in later postings, but the message here is that your goal as a presenter is to always be to strive toward being interesting, striking, useful and relevant. Believe me storytelling helps.
I compiled a list of do's and don'ts after my media training session with the front line staff of an oil and gas company. Remember these folks are basically junior administrators and are not authorised to speak to the media but they do act as gatekeepers and often don't know what to say when the media comes a calling.
Feel free to share this list with your colleagues and of course add a tip or two of your own.
