326-SYB-Cheryl_Tan.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

326-SYB-Cheryl_Tan.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Carol Cox:
If you’ve been wanting to get PR and media for yourself and your business, you’re going to learn so much from this conversation with Cheryl Tan on this episode of The Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses, running for office and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a political analyst, entrepreneur and speaker, I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is speaking your brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience. Hi there and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I’m your host, Carol Cox. We’re wrapping up the series we’ve been doing on how marketing is changing and new approaches you can take to more effectively connect with your audiences and with prospective clients. Obviously we talk quite a bit on this podcast about thought leadership and public speaking and visibility, and PR and media is also another really critical element of that. It can get your name and your message out there in a really big way. This is why I’m excited that Sheryl Tan is on the podcast today. Sheryl is a former TV news anchor and host, so she is taking everything she learned in the newsroom to help businesses become media authorities. Diane Diaz, our lead speaking coach here is speaking. Your brand is the interviewer for this episode with Sheryl.

Carol Cox:
I know you’re going to learn so much from their conversation, including Sheryl’s fantastic ideas about how we can get some PR, some some media coverage from our recent client retreat speaking intensive that we did here in Orlando. Enrollment is open for our Thought Leader Academy. If you would like to work together on your thought leadership message, your storytelling, and to create your signature talk from beginning to end so you have the clarity and confidence you need to put yourself out there so that you can do presentations for lead generation to grow your business also so that you can get paid for your speaking engagements and workshops. The Thought Leader Academy is the place for you. We spent eight weeks together in weekly group Zoom calls, plus you get a three hour virtual VIP day where we work together to create your signature talk using our signature talk canvas framework. It truly is a game changer. You can get all of the details as speaking your brand.com/academy. Again, that’s speaking your brand.com/academy. You can sign up directly or you can schedule a call with us if you have questions and want to make sure that the Academy is the best fit for you. We are happy to have a conversation with you again. Go to speaking your brand.com/academy to get all of the details. Now let’s get on with the show.

Diane Diaz:
Welcome to the podcast, Sheryl. Diane I’m so excited to be on the show. Thank you for asking me. Absolutely. My pleasure. And thank you for agreeing to come on because I think the topic that we’re going to talk about today is very important for our audience as speakers and thought leaders. So thank you. I agree. If you would, Sheryl, just take a few minutes and tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do in your business. Sure. Sure.

Cheryl Tan:
So my background is in television news. My first jobs out of college were in front of the camera telling stories, reporting, anchoring, hosting. And in 2014, I decided to leave the newsroom and start my own company. And I had no idea what that meant. Like absolutely no idea. What I did know is I was taking experience that I’d gained in so many years in the newsroom and working to help people tell their stories better. So in the very beginning, when I first started my company, I was helping them with PR, helping them get attention from the media, helping them connect with someone who used to be me. Like I would get all the pitches from people and then I realized that I could help more if I could help them figure out the stories before they pitched them. Knowing what makes a good story, knowing what the journalists are looking for. Now, I’m on the side of the the expert, the entrepreneur, the executive and helping them shape their stories. So a journalist could potentially be interested in that story. And it’s been so much fun.

Diane Diaz:
Well, that’s really interesting. I like how you talked about how you went from kind of being in the news realm and then translating those skills into what you do now, because it is really important for, you know, our audience is made up primarily of women, women, thought leaders, women speakers. And so it’s really important for them to understand how to tell those stories. So I’m glad that you’re out there doing that work. We talk a lot about storytelling in the speaking of your brand Thought Leader Academy, so I’m glad you brought that up because it is really important. Tell us a little bit about how has media and PR changed throughout the years with technology or what you see has changed over the years and maybe with AI and all of that stuff that’s coming along very rapidly? What has changed? How has it impacted people in telling their stories? How has it impacted? Did getting your story out there in front of the media or in front of your audience.

Cheryl Tan:
So much has changed. Wow. Right. So much. But then there’s stuff that has stayed the same. So I’m going to talk about what has changed. I remember just I remember a day when we didn’t go to Facebook to learn what was happening. In the day. I just remember that day when we would all in the newsroom be like, why would we put news on Facebook? Like, why would we do that? That doesn’t even make any sense. But now we know if we are talking with family and friends, they’ll go to in some cases, they’ll go to Facebook first to go to the news websites, Facebook pages to find out what is happening. And so that’s very, very different. And as you have so many more outlets for these news organizations, they have they have social media, they have more shows with news hours they need to fill. Sometimes they have different channels like satellite channels that they’re also doing programming for. And then you have podcasts and you have radio shows and you have other programming on YouTube. You have other video channels like Roku, and there are so many outlets out there that truly, if you have a story and I’m sure we’re going to talk about this, Diane, but if you have a story, you can make it relevant to that audience.

Cheryl Tan:
Most likely there’ll be a place for you to share that story. What has not changed is the story. It really has not changed. Maybe as you watch the news or maybe if you’re scrolling through your feed, you’re like, Why am I getting this? Like, why is this kind of story continuing to pop up in my feed? And you might be wondering, that has to do with algorithms. It is what people are interested in. And so that’s a little bit separate. But what hasn’t changed is if you have a compelling story and you have a reporter who has an audience and you figure out a way, we can talk about that later. If you can figure out a way to reach that reporter, that reporter is still interested. So that that hasn’t changed. I mean, they’re busier than ever. They are way busy. So getting their attention might be a bit of a struggle. But if you have a good story and you have the right person that you’re trying to reach, then the chances are way higher that you get the recognition and the airtime, if you will, that you feel like your story deserves.

Diane Diaz:
That is so important to understand. I’m glad you mentioned that. Yes, things have changed, but some things have remained the same and that is having a compelling story. We talk in in the Thought Leader Academy about the ideal story ingredients. Ideal is an acronym. So imagery, dialogue, emotion, um, action and lesson. Right? So there has to be those components to make a story engaging, help it connect with the audience. So when you’re talking about having a good story, what do you see as the components that make for a story that is meaningful, not just from the person who’s telling the story in their eyes to the audience, but from maybe a reporter’s standpoint, right? A media person, you know, what is it that they are looking for because they’re trying to appeal to the audience as well. So what are they looking for in stories?

Cheryl Tan:
So when you’re talking about your ideal framework, which is great for a speaker getting in front of an audience and sharing a meaningful story to an audience of two 300, that’s wonderful. And I love your framework and I think it is so impactful for that Speaker. But if you’re trying to pitch to a reporter or pitch to a media outlet, we have to put on another hat. That story may or may not be relevant to that. Reporter So let’s just imagine that you have a reporter who is the business reporter at a local newspaper. That person is looking for a different type of story pitch than someone who is maybe a morning reporter on a local affiliate, but they’re still looking at stories as how it benefits their audience. So I think it’s really hard when you’re saying, okay, well, you know, I’ve got this really great story. I’ve done this and I’ve done that and my business has done this or I’ve managed this. And you’re you know, you’re able to create a great narrative for a speech. But what we need to figure out is how what your experience has been, how that relates to that morning reporter Or that business reporter working for a daily publication or weekly publication. And so that’s where I find when I talk with people, there’s a little bit of a disconnect and we can talk through examples and different ways to help them think about it. But that’s where I’m really physically want you to put on a different hat, like put on the hat of that reporter thinking, Well, why would my audience of business owners care about this story? Or why would my audience of working moms. Trying to get their kids to the bus stop. Why would they care about this story? Like, why is that important to them? And if we put on that different hat, I think we can think a little bit differently about how our story meaning and it could be our personal story or the story of our business can relate to what that reporter wants to share.

Diane Diaz:
That’s a great point, Cheryl. I like that you mentioned putting on a different hat because and I think when we’re thinking about story, whether it be for a speaking engagement or for a reporter, you should always think about the audience. What is the what do you want the audience to get out of it? Right. So but let’s do that. Let’s put on a different hat and let’s just use let’s use me as an example, because I’d love for you to go through an example of how might someone pitch their story in a way that would get the attention of the reporter, but with the frame of reference of why does it matter to the audience? Because that’s the ultimate goal, right? So if I’m let’s say I’m out there and I want to talk about, well, let’s say Women’s History Month, it’s Women’s History Month, maybe I want to talk about women using their voice and why that matters, what it does. So what are the angles I can look for? Why how would I pitch that message to, let’s say, a reporter or someone in the media to get their attention and get a story like that around that topic onto some segment on some station?

Cheryl Tan:
I’m so glad that you brought this particular example up and I hope it’s okay. But before we started our broadcast here, you had mentioned that you were at a live women’s event. Yes. Given that it is Women’s History Month and there is a raised awareness for that, It is something that had you had the opportunity to do that before it happened, you could actually still do it now. And I’ll tell you how. But given that people are more live now than they were two years ago, they are more aware of the accomplishments of women and wanting to highlight them. There’s a very real story that you could or could have pitched. So let’s say let’s go back to the business reporter. That’s something where you could say, look, we are gathering women from all over the country in our city. Now you have to do this in your city that you live in. So we’re gathering women from all around the country, in our city, women that we’ve been working with for months to help develop their voice. And they’re going to get up on stage for the first time to share their stories in front of a live audience. It’s it’s there’s potential. I never know if it’s going to land. You never know until you know. But it’s one of those things where you know that there is a connection with the month. There’s Women’s History Month. It’s a live event where you’re bringing people into your city and you’re giving them a voice. And so as you highlight that, you can share that story with that business reporter, it could also be something that you could share with a feature reporter.

Cheryl Tan:
It could be something for the morning news even. It’s a little bit on the what I would call a lighter side story. So it’s not a hard news story, which is probably a good thing depending on what you wanted to share. But if you did that, you could then make sure that you connect with those audiences. So if you’re connecting with a 5:00 PM anchor, for example, you know that these are perhaps people who are stay at home moms and maybe they’re looking to get inspiration from other women who are speaking on stage for the very first time. The other thing I would say is, as you are pitching these stories, to be really clear, that let’s say you’re doing it now, Diane, as opposed to before, you could say, you know, we got a ton of video, we got a ton of pictures, and even though you couldn’t be there live, maybe you shouldn’t say that, but you’re not going to say that, hey, you know, I didn’t do this before, but we just wanted to let you know that we were able to capture some of the best and the most memorable moments. If you’re interested in this, I’m happy to share this raw content with you. And you never know. Sometimes they it just depending on how you frame it, how you pitch it, it could be something that they could share on their website and maybe not on the air. Remember, they’ve got a lot of outlets that they’re trying to fill screen time for, and if you pitch it in the right way, it’s something they could potentially use.

Diane Diaz:
Hmm. Those are great tips. I might have to do some of that. So thank you for sharing that. But I think more importantly, I think having that example helps our listeners understand how they could take something that they’re either planning to do or have done and then pitch it in a way that is meaningful. And maybe, like you said, you don’t know how it’s going to play until you put it out there, but you’re definitely not going to get it picked up if you don’t put it out there. Right. So it’s worth a try.

Cheryl Tan:
I’m just thinking about for your event that just passed, I mean, a picture of. All of your women speakers on stage. That’s a powerful image and it’s something that you could attach and just say, look, we have this picture to kind of highlight what we’ve been able to accomplish in a few short months with the women that we’re working with. And as we mentioned earlier, reporters are busier than ever. They have more shows to do, fewer hours, fewer people in the newsroom in many cases to help them. And if your story is compelling and relevant, then they’re more likely to pay attention. Doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. There’s no promises. But if you can make it and I’ve created an acronym, you can make it relevant, informative, captivating and human. So rich, if you have a story idea that is rich, then you have a greater chance, at least at least in your head, you can make an argument for it.

Diane Diaz:
Well, Cheryl, first of all, you have to know, speaking your brand, we love acronyms. So did know that. I’m so glad. So glad you shared that. And that’s an easy way to remember, too, what the elements need to be that go into the story that you’re pitching. You did mention if it’s timely and relevant. So so with regard to the idea that it’s Women’s History Month, tell us a little bit about sort of that strategy of picking up on things that are happening culturally and then connecting to those and pitching to media.

Cheryl Tan:
I think it might be easier to connect it with things that are what we’re dealing with on a regular basis. So culturally, it’s totally fine. That’s and you can always do that. But as for example, I’m a business owner. Tax season is right around the corner. That happens every year and you have the opportunity to really connect with a wide audience. And it’s not really just for people who do the numbers right. We are business owners. We are dealing with deductions, loans and figuring out the paperwork and employees and all of the things. And so, you know, those things happen once a year, and that is a little more concrete, if you will. So I think what you were saying earlier is about cultural things. Those are great, but those are also things that can sometimes be pushed aside in breaking news situations. Those are sometimes things that can be cut if time falls very thin, which it always does. So if you have something like taxes, if you have something like rules and regulations, if you can sort of hook what you do to something that affects your time and money, then it could still get cut for time. But you you have a greater chance of of reaching their ears.

Cheryl Tan:
And I want to leave this sort of point with kind of with one image. So the reporters every day, they they have a morning meeting, a morning huddle, and the reporters have to come up with story ideas. So if you can reach a reporter before they go into that morning meeting or if they work in the evening, if you can reach them before their afternoon huddle and it is compelling, just know that they they have to they have to be on board with it, like they have to be on board with the story, but then they have to be able to fight for that story in their meetings. So it kind of goes through two levels, two levels of thinking like generals, like two levels of generals who kind of listen to that idea and vet it and see if it should be taken to that next level of getting shot and edited and put on the air. So you’re kind of that first person pitching that story, selling it, if you will. But then the reporter has to do the same thing in front of a group of other people.

Diane Diaz:
Oh, that’s good to know. And so, Cheryl, so to that end, do you have any tips for how to identify who the right reporter is, how to reach out to them, pitching them tips for that first.

Cheryl Tan:
Watch the news. People are always like, don’t watch the news. Well, don’t tell the reporter that. I mean, you can tell them that, I suppose. And people people have told me that, too. But if you think about it, if somebody were to pitch you and then they say, well, I’ve never seen you, but I’m just I picked your name out of a hat, then you’re going to be like, what? Like what in the world? So everything’s online, Google their name, find a story on their TV station or newspaper or radio outlet web website. Google their name there or put it in the search box. Listen to a story, read an article, watch something, and you’ll really get a clearer idea of the stories that they share. It’s not always the same. Sometimes you’ve got breaking news reporters and they do all kinds of stories, but sometimes you have stories that do health news, education. Business and sometimes it’ll say it on their biographies, on their workplace websites. Once you do that, once you see their biographies, their bios on their websites. Sometimes they’ll just say, I’m always looking for story ideas. Send me an email. I don’t know how much clearer you can get than that. So send them an email. But if they don’t make it clear, find them on Twitter, because that’s where they are. They are on Twitter. And you can you can send them a DM, you can try and tag them. I don’t love getting tagged, but you can try a DM and just share a relevant story idea through there, But try the email first after you’ve watched a couple of stories because then you’ll know if your story idea jives with what they normally share to their audience.

Diane Diaz:
Excellent. And I was going to ask you, I’m glad you mentioned Twitter. I was going to ask you how how women speakers and thought leaders could leverage social media to best get their stories out there. So it sounds like Twitter is maybe the top platform to use.

Cheryl Tan:
Twitter is a great platform. I mean, Facebook and Instagram as well. Linkedin is starting to become more used. But what I would say before anybody does that outreach is to take a look at your social media platforms that you are using first. It’s not to say that you have to have a million followers. That’s that’s I’m not really saying that at all. But if you are pitching a story on taxes or a new business that’s being launched or something, if you’re if you’re if you’re sharing some sort of story, I would before I hit send, I would take a look at my profile and see if all of it matches up, if what you’re posting matches up with what you have pitched. If if they look at if the reporter is like, oh, that’s kind of interesting. Let me see if this is a real human being that they see that. And you know, it’s also not a bad idea if you are trying to stand on a message to test that message out on social media. You can do that pretty easily, actually, on Twitter. So your platform, in essence, is on Twitter. And then when the reporter sees a pitch, they’ll go back to your Twitter and be like, Oh, she’s already talking about this subject. And it it is it’s that’s really, really important. So before you make that outreach, just kind of go back to your platforms and see if there’s a correlation that that connects with what it is you want to stand for.

Diane Diaz:
I am so glad that you mentioned that, Sheryl, because that goes along with that idea of building your personal brand on those platforms. And, you know, when we talk a lot in Thought Leader Academy about authenticity and vulnerability and and it can be scary to get your message out there when you you know, you’re always going to get haters, right? But when you stand in your truth and you plant your stake in the ground and say, this is what I stand for, it does lend credibility, Then when you go to pitch yourself and that reporter comes back to your LinkedIn profile, your Twitter profile, and sees, Oh, this is a person who talks about, for example, women using their voices, women speaking out, women, you know, having a message, whatever the topic is. Now, they know, like you said, it’s a real person with credibility who knows what they’re talking about. And so they don’t have to worry that they’re going to run a story or interview somebody who doesn’t have that experience or that knowledge. So it’s so.

Cheryl Tan:
Important, especially if you’re standing on some sort of expertise, that you have to be able to showcase that a little bit. And it doesn’t mean every day you’re posting something, although it’s a really great way to grow an audience that actually will help to get you media attention because mean they’re on social feeds too. So they get story ideas from their feeds just like anybody else, as as we do for any other things that we’re out there for. It’s a great way. But I do understand that time is of the essence. And, you know, sometimes you don’t have the the bandwidth to create that branding every single day, but would have a foundation at least.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, absolutely. 100% agree with that. And does it help at all I’m curious, does it help if on social media, just as a course of action on a regular basis to follow certain reporters and then like their content, comment on it and then later when you go to pitch, they see that maybe you follow them and you understand what they do. Does that help in any way?

Cheryl Tan:
I always say this that reporters are people, too. They are. They are people, too. They like it. If you genuinely like their stuff, it’s not an easy job. They’re under deadlines all the time. And if if you liked a story, if you genuinely liked a story that they did, let them know. And you start to remember people who connect with you, you don’t mean depending on. Where you live. Of course, what markets you are in. You know, you’re not going to remember all of the people, but certainly the people who say nice things. You’re always going to remember that. You also remember the people who say the not so nice things, by the way. You remember that as well. But you you do remember the ones who take the time to say nice things. And so if if you’re doing this with an ulterior motive, I would say it can work. But I would rather me personally, just having been on the other side of that, just do it because you want to. And then if a story idea happens to be on the horizon, then they already know you and the relationship has already been built.

Diane Diaz:
That’s a good tip. So make it more organic and just. Yeah, I.

Cheryl Tan:
Would prefer that.

Diane Diaz:
Okay, great. And so then if we’re thinking about women and our case for our audience speakers, thought leaders getting out there, getting, you know, pitching themselves for media, PR stories, any of those things. Are there some common mistakes that they might make in that process? And when working with the media, and how could they avoid those mistakes? What can they look for?

Cheryl Tan:
So lots of mistakes. Number one, and you you mentioned it earlier, Diane is just not pitching at all. Like just not thinking that your story or the story that you can share is is worthy. But then the flip side of that is sort of not thinking through how that audience of that reporter will resonate with your story. So I would suggest since you have such a great community is if you have a story idea. Say it out loud. Say it to someone, tell someone and say, hey, you know, I’m thinking. Do you think this is a story? And even people who are not journalists like they they can hear a story and be like, I don’t I would not care about that or that’s a great story. I think you should send that over to the news. Mistake number two, I would say then is let’s say you’ve vetted this, right. You have gone to your your buddies and you’ve said, what do you think about this story? And they’re on board. They think this is a great story. You have all the pieces, the parts. It is rich, so it is relevant, informative, captivating and human. You have all the pieces. The second part of that is not researching the person you might send this pitch to. So you’re not watching your shows, you’re not finding a video, you’re not seeing whether this person would really resonate with this kind of story or not. Maybe they’re a business reporter and you you know, your story is about sports.

Cheryl Tan:
Totally different. But once you get that dialed in, then you’re good to go. You go to their websites, their station websites, their business websites, and you find their their contact information or you find them on Twitter. The last part of it is not being clear in the pitch so often. I can’t even tell you. And I and I’ve had I have I don’t have one on my computer right now, but I’ve had I’ve taken screenshots of emails that are just like a block, like two pages. No, no, no entering, no spaces of just here’s my life story and here’s why you should care. And it’s it’s too much. So you have a good story. You have a person to pitch to. And the pitch itself has to be really clear and just go through the who, what, when, where, why, why now? So who are you? What is it? What? What are you pitching? Is it an event? Is it something that is timely? Who, what when is it an event that’s there’s like when is it happening? Why? Why is it important? Why now? Why does it matter right this minute? We live in Virginia Beach and hurricane season is every year, but a certain part of the year. And we’re going to be more interested about things related to the outside care of our home in hurricane season more than maybe other parts of the year. Just as a not a great example, but as an example nonetheless. No, that’s a.

Diane Diaz:
Really good example because I think there’s an awareness of the you sort of have to read the room, so to speak, Right. And what is happening and then make it relevant to that. So but I like that idea of thinking, thinking more like a reporter, right? The who, what, when, where, why and why now can be super helpful when you’re thinking through that idea so that you might avoid those missteps and does. I’m curious, too, if you let’s say I’m pitching but I’m pitching to the wrong person or I’m pitching at the wrong time with the wrong message and then I don’t learn from that, is there a disadvantage to continuing to pitch that way? And they’re they’re going to say, oh, you’re not really paying attention, so I’m going to dismiss these pitches from you.

Cheryl Tan:
Well, you just won’t hear back. You won’t have any idea. So I do have a story of a man and we have become LinkedIn friends. He pitched me a story. He was one of those block of text kind of people, block of text to to two pages. Although on an email you can’t really tell. He pitched a story on behalf of his client, as a matter of fact, and was hosting a business show actually was I was hosting a business show and was looking for business owners to feature. And so he sent me an email one day. So let’s just say it was March 1st and it was several years ago, but March 1st did nothing. It was too much. I didn’t read it. I didn’t delete it, but it didn’t do anything with it. He sent me an email four days later. Same block of text, did nothing, did absolutely nothing with it. But then I was setting up shoots and we were doing batch shooting one one month and I needed six entrepreneurs to feature and I needed them in a certain location. We were doing it at a place like a central location, and I needed all of those people to be there on a certain day and I had cancellations. So what do you know? So he sent me an email. It must have been four days after the second email and I needed a person.

Cheryl Tan:
And then I read the email. So I was like, Wow, this is a really good story. It would have been better if and he would have gotten a response sooner if he had made it more succinct as to who this business owner was. Great story. Really, really great story. And we’ve again continued to stay in touch. He’s doing something else now. The business owner is doing great, but we feature that business owner, his client, and he was very happy. And so to your point is you don’t really know, but you also can’t give up until they tell you. I mean, because a reporter is also very persistent. Until they say cease and desist, you really can’t do anything but continue. If you really believe your story, if you have a reason to believe that this is something that their audience needs to hear, don’t give up. And there is a point where you will give up most likely, or you’ll get an answer of some sort. It just sort of depends. And most of us probably in anything when we’re talking about leads or business, we probably don’t try hard enough to get to that, to get to that answer yes or no or whatever that is. And in this case, he did a great job and he reminded me of it the other day on LinkedIn. Actually.

Diane Diaz:
That is such a great story. Thank you for sharing that, Cheryl. I think I take away a few things from that. One thing is, first of all, your pitch does not have to be perfect to put it out there. So put it out there because by not pitching you’re never going to get coverage. So get the pitch out there and then you can learn from that. But also the follow up, right? They say the there’s some expression.

Cheryl Tan:
The fortune is in the follow up.

Diane Diaz:
There you go. Yes, And it’s true because I think his persistence obviously paid off because he every so many days was messaging you. And then he was there at the right time when you needed someone, you there were cancellations. That happens. He was there. He was available. There you go. So put your pitch out there. Even if it’s not perfectly wordsmith. Even if it’s not, maybe it’s a little off, you know, topic or something, but get it out there and then follow up to make sure that you’re and no, don’t pester the person. But follow up. I always like to follow up like he did maybe four days later, maybe four days after that. And maybe the biggest message is no response is not a no. Very true.

Cheryl Tan:
Very, very true. Right. And, you know, there are seasons, too, unless it is a timely kind of thing, unless it’s like an event that passes and then that’s done. I follow up months and years later. In many cases, I do that with my clients. I definitely do that with reporters because their job is to sort of remember all of that, to remember relationships, because that’s where they’re going to get their next story.

Diane Diaz:
That is good to know. So let’s say I pitch a story and the reporter is like, Oh, this is great. And then they want me they want to interview me on camera. Now, how important would you say is media training for our audience, for speakers, thought leaders, women who want to get their message out there and then they’re pitching themselves? Yes, they’ve got this great story, but now they have to be on camera and be interviewed, which is different than speaking to an audience. How important is media training and do you have any tips that you can share for that?

Cheryl Tan:
Definitely. First of all, don’t say no. Like, I know you’re scared. I know it. I know it. And I remember I can count maybe 2 or 3 times. And it always even before I was a business owner. So I’ve been a reporter for years and years and years and I’ve interviewed thousands of people. And it doesn’t happen often, but it’s happened 2 or 3 times where and they’re usually women. They’ll say, I’m not that they had anything else to do. So I mean, if they’re busy, like literally somewhere else, they they just can’t make it happen. I’ve had a couple of people say I have to get my hair done. I can’t do it. Please don’t say no because you just don’t know if they’re going to come back, Especially with different things that happen in the news. They may not come back. And I never went back because we had another morning meeting the next day and they were like, we’ve moved on. We have another story. We have another priority. So don’t say no. In terms of media training, I would say that what you’re doing in your community is helping to prepare. It’s really helping to prepare them. It really is. It’s helping them to think clearly, helping them to get rid of filler words, helping to organize thoughts, to tell stories. But know that and this is really the most important thing. I really I want I want everyone to hear this is and we’re not talking about breaking news, by the way.

Cheryl Tan:
We’re not talking about breaking news. We’re not talking about hard news stories. We’re talking about where you are the expert. You’ve pitched a story or they found you because of your expertise, because those are different types of stories that they really want to hear. What you have to say. They’re really interested in getting your perspective and how you can prepare for that on camera. Time is what you’ve done here in this community is your perspective is done right. So you’ve worked on your perspective. You know what your expertise is in, you know what you want to say. The media training part, I would suggest, is to really focus on the kind of how I look at it lights, camera and energy. So they used to do they used to do a lot of Zoom interviews, but I’m going to assume they’re coming to your house or they’re coming to your office or you’re meeting somewhere and they’ll they’re going to take care of the lights like they’re going to take care of lights. They’re going to take care of the camera. They’re going to take care of the external stuff. So you don’t have to worry about that. But what you do need to worry about is where you’re looking. So when we’re talking about camera, I want to make sure that you know exactly where to look. And if the reporter is interviewing you, chances are you are going to look at her or him and answer your questions.

Cheryl Tan:
But make sure that you are really seeing them. And you know, I say this because sometimes we are so nervous. And I’ve been on so I’ve been nervous. I’ve definitely been nervous and I’m nervous on the air. It’s been it’s it’s it’s a it’s a thing. It’s definitely a thing. But when you’re talking to the reporter, really hear their questions and answer them as you would a regular person, as if you’re having a conversation with that person and you will come off in a better a more positive way. A more effective way, that’s for sure. If you are having that conversation with that one person and the energy part of that. So lights that they’re really going to take care of camera, make sure you’re looking in the right place. It’s probably at the reporter. Sometimes they have you looking into the camera, but just make sure. But most likely it’s the reporter. And then energy is to. Exude more energy than you feel comfortable with because the camera has a tendency to flatten you out. So we want you to appear, which you already are. So it’s not like we’re faking anything. We want you to appear with more passion and energy. And if you are just focused on delivering and pushing just a little bit more energy into the camera, it will feel just right. When you watch it back.

Diane Diaz:
Those are such great tips, Cheryl. And I want to just say to our audience, this is why in speaking your brand and the Thought Leader Academy, we are always encouraging you, pushing you to do LinkedIn lives, to do things on camera, because you will see that that idea of the energy has to be a little bit higher than what it might feel. A little weird at first, but once you get used to it, when you and you start to see it back, you realize that, yes, the camera does, as you said, flatten, flatten it out and you need to be a little bit more enthusiastic so that it comes across and it plays when they play it on their end to their audience. So I’m glad that you mentioned that. So for everybody listening, start doing LinkedIn live, start doing things where you’re on camera so you can see that back and you can see, you know, how your energy is coming across. It’s really good practice.

Cheryl Tan:
It really is. And some people don’t want to start off with a LinkedIn live, although it’s easy to do. They can just start with their phone. Yes, they can start with 30 seconds of video that they shoot a day of themselves and watching them back.

Diane Diaz:
I’m so glad you said that. I’ve recommended to clients. I get it. You’re not comfortable on camera. Set the phone up while you’re putting on your makeup and you just pretend. Just talk yourself through the makeup, do your everyday whatever on camera so you can just see yourself back. Yeah, that’s a really great tip. Okay, great. Well, Cheryl, first of all, I just want to say thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing these tips. I think it’s really important. Of course it is. You know, getting this message out, women getting their messages out and sharing what’s important to them, but in a way that’s going to be relevant to the audience. So I think it’s good to understand how they can do that and how they can get their message out on a bigger scale, which is where the media comes in, right? So I think it’s important for everybody, and I think you shared some really great tips that they can they can apply these tips immediately. So I hope that when you all hear this and you apply these tips, that you’ll come back and tell us how they worked out for you.

Cheryl Tan:
I would love to hear. Yes.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, absolutely. So, Cheryl, we’re going to end with three questions that we like to ask all of our podcast guests. So the first one is, what is a favorite book by a woman?

Cheryl Tan:
I Love Grit by Angela Duckworth. And I’ll tell you why I love it so much, because her focus is on passion mixed with perseverance. And like I talked about with the guy who kept emailing me and finally got his client on the air. Sometimes we don’t see the pushing that and the perseverance from other people. Sometimes we think it’s magic and it’s definitely not magic. Like, I mean, there’s a little bit of magic in many cases, but when we’re talking about some people who do what they do and get the results that they get, it’s it’s it’s not. I mean, there he was thinking about me and he was like pushing send and it worked.

Diane Diaz:
Oh, that’s such a that is a great message. Okay, Cheryl, and what is a favorite Ted Talk or something similar from a woman?

Cheryl Tan:
I always go back to Amy Cuddy’s power poses. Ted talk. It’s good, right? It’s it’s just so good when I’m speaking to teams about how to be more effective when they’re speaking in front of their teams. I just sort of think about her stance. And I will say that in the very beginning, I didn’t really like that idea of like, that being enough. Like I always thought, well, you, you know, you have to get the 10,000 hours in and all of that. But at the end of the day, it’s how you think about how you’re going to show up. And I think her power poses really make that clear for me.

Diane Diaz:
Now, that’s one of our favorite TED talks at speaking your brand. So I’m glad you mentioned that. Okay. And finally, do you have a favorite quote from a woman?

Cheryl Tan:
I do. It’s from Maya Angelou. And I’m sure you’ve heard this. I know you have, is that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. And I mean, that’s the power of your story. It’s the power of all the things that you say and how you say it.

Diane Diaz:
That’s really good. We love Maya Angelou, too. And yes, that’s I think that that quote can apply to pretty much everything we do in business and in our lives. Right. Because it’s about how we make people feel. So thank you for sharing that. All right, Cheryl, Well, tell our audience, if you would, tell them how they can get in touch with you.

Cheryl Tan:
Sure. I’m on LinkedIn. I’m on YouTube. So if you have any media training tips that you’d like to get, I have videos there on YouTube that you can access. Probably those two are the best places to reach me. I’d love to connect with you on LinkedIn if you’re on there.

Diane Diaz:
Fantastic. And your website is Cheryl Tan.

Cheryl Tan:
Media.com.

Diane Diaz:
Fantastic. Well, Cheryl, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the Speaking Your Brand podcast for sharing your knowledge and your experience and giving our audience really amazing tips that I think will take their message to the next level and help them have a bigger impact. So thank you, Diane.

Cheryl Tan:
Thank you so much for having me on the show. It was great.

Carol Cox:
That wraps our marketing series. Thank you so much for Diane and Cheryl for that fantastic conversation. You can go back and listen to any of those episodes that you missed in this series. Next week, we’re starting a new series all around using your voice, so we have fantastic episodes, solo episodes, as well as episodes with guests, including some of our thought Leader Academy clients to talk about using your voice at different dimensions of that. And don’t forget that enrollment is open for our thought Leader Academy. Get all of the details about speaking your brand.com/academy. Until next time. Thanks for listening.

Sonix is the world’s most advanced automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform. Fast, accurate, and affordable.

Automatically convert your mp3 files to text (txt file), Microsoft Word (docx file), and SubRip Subtitle (srt file) in minutes.

Sonix has many features that you’d love including advanced search, automated subtitles, powerful integrations and APIs, share transcripts, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.