Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Presenting Successful Web Television

London, UK

Just a couple of days after the LSQ TV "fan-can" team hit their first million on "You Tube", the Leicester Square TV channel on You Tube had nearly 11,000 hits in the first 24 hours and was awarded no less than 21 You Tube honours!! Fantastic. Much of the success was probably due to the appearance of Korean pop star Rain

Newbie presenters Polly and Russell hosted the show and despite the wet, they got some great sound bites.



LSQ TV has done really well in it's first few months. Join in the fun here

Monday, April 28, 2008

Business Presentations

London, UK

Andy Lopata - remember him from his recent interview with me on the radio?

Last night, Andy gave an excellent workshop-style talk on business networking. The event was organised by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK and held at the offices of SEB in Cannon Street.

Andy explained to the audience about the importance of having the courage to "step out of your comfort zone" and go and actually talk to new people at an event rather than chat to those you already know. He then asked those gathered to try it out for themselves. They did with some amazing results.

For me the most important point raised all evening was this one - what networking group should one join? Whichever one you choose, be patient and don't expect business to come your way before you've built-up strong business relationships.



There's more at Andy's Blog here

Friday, April 25, 2008

Celebrity Sound Bites

London, UK

A full LSQ TV presenting team were at the Square last night for the Premiere of Ironman which stars Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow.

BTW, Elizabethtoni(our fan-cam lady) has just clocked her one-millionth hit on You Tube



Thursday, April 24, 2008

Interviewing Celebrities

London, UK

Interviewing celebrities for LSQ TV or the BBC is really no different to interviewing a member of the public. If you're an experienced journalist, tv presenter, a doctor with a great bedside manner or a salesperson, you'll appreciate the importance of asking "open" questions.

They normally commence with "who", "what", "how", "why", "where" and "when". Once you've got the other person talking, you can then dip into "closed" questions (those that provoke a YES or NO answer).

On occasions, I like to ask something like this - "If you had you time again, would you.............." Another favourite of mine is "suppose". Not used so much in everyday parlance but it's a great word to slip in before a question. For example, one could ask this of a celebrity on the red-carpet, "suppose you were on a desert island, who would you most like to be rescued by"? As you'll see in the clip on the post below, I never really had the chance to ask Ashton Kutcher that question. Just as well, wife Demi Moore may have baulked at the answer!



I Keep Six Honest..

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest...

Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Ashton Kutcher on Leicester Square TV

London, UK

On the red carpet earlier this evening was Ashton Kutcher. He was here for the World Premiere of "What Happens in Vegas". My gorgeous co-presenter, Catherine Whale is still recovering! Here's the footage from the Leicester Square Television site



Sunday, April 20, 2008

Coming up this week

London, UK

If you're free late on Tuesday evening, then tune in to Leicester Square Television at http://www.lsq.tv I'll be presenting from the red-carpet as it's the UK Premiere of What Happens in Vegas, starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher:

Friday, April 18, 2008

Presenting Tips

London, UK


Presenting yourself or your company at exhibition stands can be invigorating and successful as long as you get things right.

In broad terms, many of the stands at HRD 2008 show this week, seemed to be manned by knowledgeable and committed staff. Long gone are the days when salespeople or presenters would try to "grab" potential customers, then explode into their sales patter. A little like networking, selling your company's services or products requires the salesperson or presenter to listen and ask sensible "open" questions. "What brings you here then" or similar, doesn't go down well.

One's dress code is equally important. If you look and act the part, you are more likely to get business. At the show this week, there were one or two gentlemen who decided to wear an open neck rather than a tie. In my view, I think a man loses authority if he isn't wearing a tie. You may disagree.

Correct posture is important. Standing in way which shows you as lackadazical, aggressive or slovenly will cost you business as does a lack of a genuine smile. Try to stand tall with your shoulders apart and with your hands in front, something similar to the tv presenter here:

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Joe Craig talks about Jimmy Coates

London, UK

Author Joe Craig chats to me for LSQ TV about his latest Jimmy Coates novel.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Daniel Craig on Leicester Square Television - again!

London, UK

Whilst I was pressing the flesh with Boris Johnson, my presenter colleagues Claire & Thomas were in the Square for the World Premiere of Flashbacks of a Fool, starring Daniel Craig.

Political Speeches

London, UK

Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party candidate in the London Mayoral Election on May 1st, made a surprise visit to St John's Wood yesterday afternoon. After alighting from the Boris Bus he made a bee-line towards the gathering crowds outside a well-known tea room/restauarant. After shaking hands with a few hardy souls, including mine, he started making a speech "on-the-hoof".

In broad terms, I think he held the audiences attention, seemed to have good eye contact and re-emphasised a couple of points in his short speech of around five minutes and all without much "Ken bashing" too.








Yes, that's me at the back on the right, checking a text message!

Friday, April 11, 2008

This week on Leicester Square Television

London, UK

Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey stars of Fool's Gold were at it's European Premiere in the Square (Thursday evening). LSQ TV will be in the Square on Sunday for the Premiere of Flashbacks of a Fool starring Daniel Craig
Later in the month, I'll be presenting the Premiere of the new Cameron Diaz film, What Happens in Vegas. In the meantime, here's the "fan-cam" footage from Fool's Gold.............

Radio Presenter

London, UK

My special guest this Sunday evening on JCom Radio will be the lovely Lynne Cantor from House of Colour

If you want to make a greater impact with what you wear, then tune in to "PressPlay" at 10pm (BST), Sunday, April 13th.

Remember, JCom Radio is only available on the Internet at http://www.jcomradio.net

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Comedy Night with Laughing Beats

London, UK

I've been asked by a presenter colleague of mine, the very lovely Lynsey Hooper to plug this:

'LAUGHING BEATS' - Launch Night!!!


Laughing Beats is a brand new night fusing music and comedy to showcase the best new talents around for a hilarious rhythmic evening of laid back entertainment.

Sunday 13th April

Doors 7.30pm First Act on 8.00pm

The Troubadour

263-7 Old Brompton Road
London
SW5 9JA

Nearest tube: Earls Court, West Brompton

tickets@laughingbeats.co.uk

Price £8/£6 conc. On the door,

*Launch night special offer* – first 20 people to email get free entry

Featuring:

Me My Head, www.myspace.com/memyhead

Roddy Fraser, www.myspace.com/rmfraser

Hugo Left Hand, www.myspace.com/hugolefthand

Pippa Evans, www.myspace.com/pippaevans

MikeO’Donovan,http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/m/33358/mike_odonovan

With MC: Sion James

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

TV Presenting

London, UK

Last night my fellow web tv presenter at Leicester Square Television, Claire Bueno, had a great time. She'll be the envy of many as she met not only George Clooney but Renee Zellweger at the UK Premiere of Leatherheads. Newbie Bronwyn seemed to enjoy herself too.

Here's the footage from LSQ TV:



LSQ TV is fast becoming the hottest web tv presenting gig in town. Apart from the red-carpet clips, there's the "fan-cam". Want to see George Clooney again? Of course you do - click here.

Join us at www.lsq.tv for details of up-and-coming movie premieres in London's Leicester Square.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Moderating a Panel Discussion

London, UK

Last week, I was invited to a football-related business ethics forum. About 100 people attended. On the panel were David Dein, the former Arsenal FC director and Nigel Layton, Managing Director of Quest. In the chair was Mihir Bose, Sports Editor of the BBC.

The meeting chairman or moderator has a number of areas to cover, these include:

Preparation (venue logistics, speakers requirements, rehearsing opening speech)

Coping with audience interruptions

Handling the Q&A session

Mihir Bose, as you would expect from an experienced sports reporter and presenter, was superb. He was very even-handed with the speakers, injected the right amount of humour and organised a very slick Q&A session.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Fear of Public-Speaking

London, UK

You may have seen the various posts on my other site in relation to the fear of public-speaking.
This morning at a business breakfast, I gave a talk about how to overcome those nerves! Most of you will have an idea on how to achieve that. There's plenty of blogs out there, Eric Feng, the brilliant Lisa Braithwaite and Nick Thomas to mention just three, who can give you plenty of tips, but you may want to delve deeper. You see, in my view, fear of public speaking doesn't really exist. What does is a fear of being found out, a fear of looking foolish or even a fear of feinting.

Just what is it that makes you nervous in front of others?

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

This week in the media

London, UK

Another hectic week. Tomorrow (Wednesday), I'm visiting a specialist Web TV production company then on Thursday morning, I'll be speaking about public-speaking at a business breakfast meeting. There's filming for a corporate video on Friday before preparing for my radio show on Sunday.

My guest on "PressPlay" will be top UK physiotherapist, Sammy Margo. Sammy will be talking about her new book "The Good Sleep Guide". It's full of useful tips for those of you who find getting a good night's sleep something difficult to achieve. To listen to Sammy, simply tune in at 10pm this Sunday, April 6th.

JCom Radio only available on the Internet at http://www.jcomradio.net







UPDATE

Last night in Leicester Square, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones arrived for the UK Premiere of "Shine a Light" directed by Martin Scorsese. To view the LSQ "fan-cam" footage, click here