Peter Botting.
Crafting YOUR Message, Coaching YouThis blog has been mothballed.
May 13, 2010 at 6:05 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Due to my new role within the Houses of Parliament, this blog will no longer be updated.
Discretion, discretion, discretion…
February 9, 2010 at 1:18 pm · Filed under MessageCraft, Politics, Professionalism in coaching
There is a huge difference between protagonists or player, coaches and commentators. And there is a difference in what is expected of them and what language they use.
A player or protagonist, for example, should never say that they are “the best”, “the market leader”, “the one to beat” or anything similar. That is the domain of commentators. Commentators perform an important, quasi-independent, third party role – and they should be left to do their job.
The player should focus on doing the job! End of.
The coach should be the most robust critic of the player – in private. His or her advice is up close and personal and should remain private. The coach who becomes a commentator betrays the client – the player. Similarly the coach who becomes the story, betrays the client. A financial advisor, accountant or lawyer would never dream of being indiscreet about their clients. Neither should a coach. All in all a good reason to avoid coaches who do after dinner speeches – where do they get their content?
Of course, the other cardinal sin a coach can make is to upstage the client , pull the client down by association or become the story.
My policy here is clear and always has been. I am a backroom resource. My clients are the story. Not me.
Words count…
February 4, 2010 at 2:07 pm · Filed under MessageCraft
Words count. They have power and meaning and meanings and hidden meanings. And titles are words.
I used to be a tennis coach. Then I became a language coach. But trainer was thought to be a better word. So I became a trainer. Then people said I should be called a consultant. (“The money’s better if you are a consultant” they said). So I became a Communications Consultant. And Trainer.
Then I started speechwriting so I was a Speechwriter too. And then there was strategy to consider. Which I also do. So I was a strategy-mapping, speechwriting communications consultant and trainer.
Until a few weeks back.
I went to watch my nephews work out. They do gymnastics.
The gym is the entire top floor of a big industrial shed. It must have cost a fortune to design and furnish. Everything looks new and professional.
There is (the father moaned) a strict and expensive dress code for the kids. The guy in charge says uncompromisingly that if they want to compete they have to wear the kit.
Parents sit around and chat, surf the web or watch their kids being put through their paces through the full length viewing window or from the viewing platform (a bit like a squash court viewing area). Full transparency here!
The guy in charge is young, very calm and obviously knows exactly what he is doing. He has a group of 7 or 8 kids working very hard. He pushes them physically when they need to stretch more and bends joints and arms and legs and backs. Gently but very firmly. The kids grimace occasionally but he knows it is what has to be done. He corrects them with a few words and a guiding hand. He sips water calmly while they obediently and enthusiastically run from one exercise to the next. The kids laugh a lot.
In the viewing area there are glass cabinets with pictures of kids with medals and cups. And some large champion looking cups The man is good at what he does and he obviously gets results. I am sure he does strategy. He definitely understands the skills required. And the discipline and the work. He communicates well.
He also wears a tracksuit – like I used to wear when I was a tennis coach. And on the back it says in very large letters COACH.
I was humbled to watch him work. I know I can be better. He inspired me to be better and to try harder. He motivated and moved me without talking to me or even knowing I was there. He is a coach.
I am proud to be part of that industry. Coaching people to reach, stretch and push their personal best. I love being a coach. I want to be a better one.
Moderate language and behaviour
January 15, 2010 at 12:46 pm · Filed under MessageCraft, Politics
Whether it is negative personal attacks and general negative campaigning, the public are turned off by blind, unthinking, tribal political loyalty and the resultant school yard behaviour.
Because they are not blindly politically loyal. They are too busy trying to get from day to day and from week to week. And they are primarily worried about how they are able to do that.
Politics and politicians only really register on their radar if they are perceived as being able to help (seldom) or as actually getting in their way (mainly). “What’s in it for me?” is a valid thought process from the public.
Politicians can be a welcome breath of fresh air by simply focusing on what’s good for their constituents and saving the squabbles and the petty.
What would Hemingway say?
January 11, 2010 at 3:12 pm · Filed under MessageCraft, Stories, Uncategorized
I love words, what they can do, how they sound and where they come from. As former Reagan speechwriter, John Shosky says: Words are dangerous. And I earn my living from words. And I got an A for A Level English long enough ago that it meant something.
But when I came across a competitor’s website recently I began to doubt myself. I found myself having to reread whole sentences several times to work out what they were on about.
And then I applied what I call the Hemingway test.
The story goes that one of his competitors was mocking him saying that his novels had never sent anyone scurrying for a dictionary.
His brilliant response? You dont need big words for big ideas.
And if you look back at all the great speeches, they all use words that people understand. Not that hard surely?
Health and Safety for Christmas
December 11, 2009 at 2:21 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O’er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
A risk assessment must be submitted before an open sleigh is considered safe for members of the public to travel on. The risk assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly if passengers are of larger proportions. Please note, permission must be gained from landowners before entering their fields. To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance.
Stories outgun concepts
December 10, 2009 at 6:50 pm · Filed under MessageCraft, Stories
OK – lets deal with the necessary disclaimers first.
1. I did not write this but hereby acknowledge the anonymous author.
2. I agree with his politics and the point he is making.
However, it is still a great example of how stories are more effective than abstract concepts. Especially stories that are based in the real world and include normal people.
An economics professor at a local college made the statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
New website finally live
December 8, 2009 at 4:49 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
After over 5 years with my old website – I have now upgraded the content and the website generally. It is still a work-in-progress and several articles still have to be uploaded but it is getting there. It will also have new free resources and some “how to” guides to add to the ones already there.
Please do have a look – the same URL as before www.peterbotting.com. Email also remains the same.
Thank you Michael @ Politics Web for all your help. Now that the dust is settling I will be blogging regularly from next week.
An Example of How to Own the Stage!
August 23, 2009 at 10:08 pm · Filed under MessageCraft and tagged: belief, fear, MessageCraft, training
This is a phenomenal lesson in how to own the stage.
Fear and nervousness are felt by an audience. Confidence, belief and competence equally so!
If you believe, in all honesty, that your product or service is good for your client – you are on the way to owning the stage. A corporate client (a boutique consultancy – 10 staff) retained me to coach a new team member who had come from a FTSE 100 company.
The consultancy thought she was very poor at presenting. Very soon it became apparent to me that she was actually very good at presenting – but she didn’t BELIEVE in the company and its products and services. The company didn’t need me – they needed to spend some time showing her and other new staff real case studies of how their work had significantly helped other clients and was great value for money to boot!
The consultancy acted on my advice and just two weeks later she had become an integral and persuasive member of a pitch team.
If you don’t believe what you are saying, why should anyone else?
Can you say what you do in 3 words? Or even 10?
August 19, 2009 at 9:20 pm · Filed under MessageCraft and tagged: brand, corporate vision, mission statement, vision
Twitter has made people reconsider lengthy, rambling, navel-gazing essays. Sometimes brevity works, sometimes it merely confuses. Can you do brevity? Can you describe what you do?
I am not talking about your mission statement or strapline (Apple doesn’t seem to need one), rather a core description of what you, your product or service, your organisation is all about.
This exercise is obviously useful for marketing, presenting and introducing yourself effectively at those dreaded/dreadful networking events with a breakfast thrown in. But it is also very good at focusing your entire team on the essence of your business and not all the non-essential, cost-heavy activities that drag on profits and distract from what you or your organisation is really all about.
Politicians often find this exercise very challenging. Eliminate all the “What we are not” definitions and concentrate on identifying a positive “What we are, what we do” message/summary.
Of course the 3 words should also be in the language of your clients rather than your jargon!!
