SRE LIVE with Sergey Ross

Episode Notes Nazar Risafi takes us backstage and behind the scenes of “How Crime Works” by Insider. This is a show revealing the inner workings of organised crime. It uncovers the business of crime, the structure supporting it, and the policies needed to stop the cycle. Nazar reveals how the show is built, secrets to having high profile guests answer interview questions effectively, how he edits videos, his team behind the scenes and lots more. About Nazar Nazar Risafi is a video producer working with Insider's development team in the UK. Nazar has an extensive history in technical and editorial television and digital production in Arabic and English. He worked within planning, pre & post-production phases and understands the appropriate workflows, engagement targets, and ability to lead a production team through projects. Nazar has a demonstrated record of working in politics, current affairs, and media production. He is skilled in writing, strategy, leadership, identity development, voiceover, and social media. Nazar is experienced in management and has a clear sense of editorial judgment. SHOW NOTES: 00:14 | Episode intro and a quick bio of the guest Nazar Risafi 00:54 | How he ended up at Business Insider to produce ‘How Crime Works Show.” 01:52 | The number of episodes he has produced so far and the time it takes to produce one 03:07 | Structuring the chapters of the show 04:38 | The secret to having his clients answer the interview questions effectively 07:40 | Does Nazar prepare the interview questions, and how does he structure them? 09:49 | Topic, then guest or vice versa? 11:25 | The criteria for picking his guests 13:05 | The most unexpected way he has contacted his guests 15:57 | How he gets the video footage and his way of editing 19:03 | His team behind the journalism bits 21:01 | His decision to have a more organic episode rather than having many voice-overs 25:58 | Nazar’s fact-checking in the responses of the guests 28:38 | If Nazar was to start again after “How Crime Works,” where would he start? 31:13 | Episode wrap up 31:25 | Guest’s takeaway and end of the show Connect With Nazar: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nazarrisafi/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/alrisafi/

Portland Helmich, a real pro-storyteller, is sharing her career story in traditional media. We get into how she worked on immensely complex narrative style podcasts and documentaries, what it means to be authentic, self-awareness and more. Key talking points: Portland’s thinking behind her career moves: how did she pick her projects Difference in writing for documentaries VS books VS articles Experience of hosting and writing an award-winning, fully narrated podcast “Stranglers” What it was like to host and fully produce a TV show “What's the Alternative?” About Portland Helmich Portland Helmich is a professional storyteller. Whether working as a TV host or actor, podcast host or voiceover talent, or behind the scenes as a television, film, or podcast producer and writer, she’s dedicated to telling stories that inform, enlighten, inspire, and entertain. TV Hosting Clips She covers a myriad of beats, but has a special interest in spreading awareness about natural and alternative forms of healing the body, mind, and spirit – how they not only address illness but also enhance overall well-being. Producing Samples Portland was also the host and one of the co-producers of Earwolf’s acclaimed podcast, Stranglers, which explored the highly complex Boston Strangler murder case that consumed the Boston Police Department and terrified the city of Boston from 1962-1964. In 2016, The Atlantic listed Stranglers seventh on its list of the top 50 podcasts of the year; GQ Magazine listed it first. Find out more at https://sergey-ross-podcast.pinecast.co

A TV Pro with 9000 hours and 16 years of on-camera work, Darren Simons is as enthusiastic about presenting today as day one. He shares his secrets to ultimate authenticity as a TV presenter. We get tactical as well: working with teleprompters, doing live TV, finding the right energy balance and lots more. Highlights worth highlighting: How Darren is coaching Youtubers to take their presentation to the next level Practical tidbits to be more authentic on screen Developing your own presentation style: what you need to know Disciple of live video About David Darren is a professional TV Presenter and Broadcast Media Trainer, working with many organisations. Darren successfully launched Aspire TV Presenter Training over 14 years ago, offering high quality media presentation training courses around the UK and worldwide and is also based at 3 Mills Studios in London, running TV Presenter Masterclasses every month - Aspire have also provided training for BBC and ITV. After accumulating around 9000 hours of live TV, Darren is still extremely passionate about presenting on screen and has done so for over 16 years. LINKS Aspire TV Presenter Training https://www.aspirepresenting.com/ Find out more at https://sergey-ross-podcast.pinecast.co

Nigel Paine is an ex-Head of Training and Development at BBC. He joins me to talk about secrets of exceptional TV presenting, interviewing quirks, journalism in his career, and teleprompter techniques. Highlights: How Nigel got into journalism Training BBC staff via newer courses and better tech in 2005, 2006 You need natural ability to be truly great in your medium Reading from a teleprompter like a soulless robot: how to do better Interviewing people is nothing like a real world conversation Good presenter vs great presenter: what’s the difference (not just your personality) Nigel’s books, what they are about, key punchlines About Nigel Nigel Paine is a change-focused leader with a worldwide reputation and a unique grasp of media, learning and development in the public, private and academic sectors. He has extensive experience in leadership and consultancy with public service broadcasters, SMEs, global industry players, government and education institutions. Nigel focuses on the use of learning technologies, organisational development, leadership and creativity with a spotlight on maximising human potential, innovation and performance in the workplace. Nigel is a strategic thinker, able to motivate, lead and drive organisations forward to deliver business and training objectives. Nigel has been involved in corporate learning for over twenty years. In the past, he has produced learning software, CD Roms and multimedia materials, and more recently, offered development and support to companies large and small in over 30 countries around the world. He was appointed in April 2002 to head up the BBC’s Learning and Development operation. Under his leadership, the team developed a brand-new on-boarding experience, a comprehensive leadership development programme for over 6,000 staff, an award-winning intranet, and state of the art informal learning and knowledge sharing networks. He left the BBC in September 2006 to start his own company that is focused on building great workplaces by promoting creativity, innovation, values based-leadership and learning and the link between them. He speaks regularly at conferences around the world, and teaches on a doctoral programme at the University of Pennsylvania and for Chicago Booth Business School. His first book for Kogan Page is called, The Learning Challenge: Dealing with Technology, Innovation and Change in Learning and Development. It was published in September 2014. His new book, for the same publisher, on Building Leadership Development Programmes That Work was published in November 2016. He is currently working on a new book re-examining learning organisations and learning culture. He recently co-authored an eBook introduction to Neuroscience for Learning. He has a Professorship from Napier University in Edinburgh, and is a Fellow of the CIPD, LPI, the RSA and a Masie Learning Fellow in the USA. He presents a monthly TV programme (Learning Now TV), shares a weekly podcast (with Martin Couzins) called From Scratch, and regularly writes articles for magazines and journals about development, technology and leadership. Nigel has written articles and white papers published on subjects as diverse as ‘Creativity in the Workplace’, ‘Building Corporate Heroes’ and ‘The Future of E-Learning’. Find out more at https://sergey-ross-podcast.pinecast.co

Old-school journalist and founder of Future Net Zero Sumit Bose talks about what he learned from the big guns in the 90s, journalism vs hosting, fame, and why media world is shit. Highlights: “Longer you are in media, the more you realize it’s shit” Wanting to be famous is the wrong motivation to get on TV Journalism is a trade you learn by doing, not by getting a qualification (aka degree) Your job is to get the most out of a person you’re interviewing, not to be a star You don’t need a course to be a better presenter About Sumit Sumit Bose is editor and co-founder of Energy Live News and is founder of cross-industry platform, future Net Zero. He spent twelve years at the BBC as journalist and presenter including hosting RTS award-winning BBC One prime-time current affairs programme Inside Out and as part of the reporting team. His credits include BBC News 24, Radio 5 Live, World Service Radio, BBC World TV and Channel 5. He has narrated and presented several documentaries for both TV and radio. Sumit began his career in journalism with local newspapers in Kent and Essex, having gained an NCTJ in Journalism from Cambridge University. Upon qualifying he worked for local papers in north London and Middlesex before beginning a varied freelance print career with a variety of national newspapers and magazines. From Republican terrorism to political scandals, crime, and science he excelled in original journalism across all disciplines with a track record for breaking exclusives. Among the publications he has written for are: The Independent, Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard, Daily Mail, New Scientist, GP and NME. He joined the BBC in 1993 and soon became a well-known TV and radio presenter. His career has been spent mainly in news and current affairs. From local news reporting and presenting he joined News 24 when it launched. Sumit was the head of the BBC’s first journalist DV Camera unit in BBC Science. He spent two years breaking scientific stories including an exclusive 30 minute documentary. He became one of the faces of BBC Breakfast news as a reporter between 1999 and 2001. Again Sumit broke several exclusive stories including an investigation into a hospital testing fiasco and an analysis of the Human Genome Project. He became launch presenter of a ground-breaking news service on BBC Three during which time he covered the 9/11 disaster.In 2002 Sumit was chosen to be the face of the new BBC One current affairs strand Inside Out. In 2004 he joined BBC Holiday as a regular travel reporter. His easy charm and persona have made him a popular choice for hosting corporate events, especially for energy, financial, and medical professional audiences. Find out more at https://sergey-ross-podcast.pinecast.co

Paul Coia has been presenting on BBC for over 37 years. We talk about what makes a real difference in how you present on video, essentials of a great interview and more. Highlights: How Paul coached a telecom exec to deliver a killer speech to employees A few ways to not appear like a a robot deliver a message on camera Paul’s path from getting his first job on the radio to hosting his own show on TV Why Paul wanted to present on TV in the first place What you need to do killer interviews Going from good to phenomenal: finding something different in yourself About Paul After being named Scottish Radio Personality Of The Year, and following his own TV chat show, Paul moved to London and was the first voice on Channel 4. He worked as a presenter for BBC 1 network on The Holiday Show, Pebble Mill At One and The Garden Party. On BBC 2 he hosted the long running Catchword quiz programme and Tricks Of The Trade. For ITV he presented Heaven Knows and The Birthday Show, and he was the voice that opened, not only Channel Four, but also Disney’s ABC1 TV channel. Paul presented Sky TV’s film review show, Preview, as well as their long running quiz, Spellbound. In radio, Paul has worked as a presenter for Radio 2, LBC, Radio Clyde and Radio Scotland. He currently presents weekly shows for BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Berkshire. Find out more at https://sergey-ross-podcast.pinecast.co

Yaag Ganesh, director of marketing @ Avoma talks about building personal content online, power of side gigs in guiding your career, and what made his career pop. Highlights: How Yaag got to chat with Guy Kawasaki on Clubhouse Writing a compelling story online - what really matters; how to get people to care What triggered Yaag to write his first marketing book You won’t find a perfect job, it’s about experimenting with your side-hustles What makes Yaag’s podcast almost like a free university About Yaag Yaagneshwaran Ganesh (often called as "Yaag") is among the top 100 global martech influencers, a TEDX speaker who has spoken in 10 countries across conferences, business forums and academic institutions. He is a best selling author and has 6 books to his name. He is an active member of the startup ecosystem and is part of the Google for Entrepreneurs initiative "Startup Weekend", thus being a sounding board for startups in APAC and Europe. Yaag also writes columns for HuffingtonPost, Martech Series, Martech Advisor, dtNEXT, Techstory, ManagementNext and has been a regular blogger and a thought leader on marketing practices across major publications. Yaag has a certificate in Strategy Management from IIM Kozhikode,  an MBA in marketing from Jansons School of Business, Coimbatore and a Post Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship from Bharathiyar University. Find out more at https://sergey-ross-podcast.pinecast.co

Brands need to find out what resonates with their audience, and not be afraid of putting out somewhat polarizing messages.  I’m interviewing Allie LeFevere, co-founder of the Obedient Agency, on how humor can delight your customers and build your brand. Main talking points: how to push the boundaries of your brand and keep a consistent narrative benefits of having a smaller audience you know really well why revenue is not the only criteria to pick new clients as a freelancer Mentions: Obedient Agency links: Instagram Twitter  Facebook  Website  Listen to Allie’s new podcast “Brandsplaining”. Before you take off...Say HI to me on Linkedin.

Having great ideas is a skill, and having controversial ideas is necessary to stand out in any industry. Founder of Offended Marketing, Dan Kelsall shares why we should look at TikTok and Instagram for inspiration instead of old school professionals in suits.  Main talking points: importance of focusing on one social media channel why Linkedin is the best platform to go viral organically how you can find ideas that really hook people Mentions: Connect with Dan on Linkedin or Twitter. Before you take off...Say HI to me on Linkedin.

Episode Notes In this episode I'm chatting with Val Geisler, an email marketing black-belt and a founder of Fix My Churn. She shares her experience of building a freelance career around email. Key talking points: why storytelling is a great strategic move in email campaigns importance of specializing and saying no as a freelancer how to build a team where everyone works less and enjoys it Mentions: Connect with Val through Linkedin and Twitter. Check out Fix My Churn’s website Before you take off...Say HI to me on Linkedin.

B2B companies can learn a TON from B2C and create vibrant brands audiences relate to.  Bill Macaitis shares a few excellent marketing examples from his bag of tricks that helped him build brands like Zendesk, Slack and Salesforce. Key takeaways: why qualitative measurement of campaigns will lead to a better long term brand strategy how a strong content marketing strategy aligns content with the product how to find and create simple moments of delight in B2B software  Mentions:  Manager Tools podcast Connect with Bill on Linkedin Say HI to me on Linkedin

Journalists make excellent content marketers because they already have the crucial skill of creating a large amount of quality content under pressure.  But, John Collins, director of content at Intercom believes that quality, engagement and strategic thinking beat quantity any day.  Tune in to learn: how to optimize your content format for different consumer preferences why 1 piece of thoughtful, engaging content is better than churning out 5 pieces a day what kind of podcasts you can successfully launch right now Mentions: Inside Intercom podcast Connect with John on Linkedin or Twitter

Trust is the most important factor in a startup, both when looking for a co-founder and when pitching to VC's. Jason Smith, serial entrepreneur and the CEO of a company called Klue shares the human side of a startup experience, from the importance of trust and entrepreneur's personality to his hiring philosophy. Cool talking points you don't want to miss out on: shared qualities of entrepreneurs and Navy S.E.A.L’s how 100 coffees with the right people can save you from investing years into the wrong idea pros and cons (yes, it's not all rosy) of having experience in a startup world why a weird CV is often a better indicator of character than a college you attended Mentions: Klue’s website Reach out to Jason via e-mail or Linkedin

This is a heavy video tech interview, so if you are not into it, skip this one. When shooting a video, a good story comes first, the right crew comes second, the equipment only comes after. Ben Consoli, founder of BC Media Productions, says that not every message is best conveyed through a video, but he also knows everything about what it takes to make production a success. Here are some of the highlights from the interview: how you can help your team members by considering their craft alongside your own how to make the person on camera shine, regardless of whether they are trained actors or not how filmmaking trends make their way from consumers to Hollywood Mentions: BC Media Productions website Go Creative Show podcast Find Ben on Linkedin Say HI to me on Linkedin

Making videos has become so easy it is now a must for companies to produce content in this format. Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing at Vidyard tells us: how he reached 23,000 views on a video he paid 300 dollars for how companies can create a customizable, on-demand video experience that will make customers binge on their content why video production will become a sought-after in-house skill how changing expectations enable everyone to experiment and improve in video production Mentions: George B Thomas on Linkedin Marcus Sheridan on Linkedin Film School for Marketers website Vidyard website Fast Forward webinar Connect with Tyler on Linkedin Say HI to me on Linkedin

Great content is a combination of a relevant topic and the appropriate format. Linkedin is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of your industry and to find trending topics everyone is talking about. There is no one way to produce content, but current trends suggest a podcast or miniseries is often a better choice than a webinar. Josef Newton, founder of Brand Is Demand podcast, shares his thoughts on: how to own a topic within your industry the difference between product demand and content demand why customers are neither a magic source of insight nor the only audience you should consider how the Linkedin algorithm helps you stay relevant *Mentions:* Brand is Demand Podcast on Spotify Harry Dry’s Marketing Examples The Goat Agency on YouTube Jake Tran on Youtube and Linkedin Chris Walker on Linkedin Surfer SEO agency website Connect with Josef on Linkedin Say HI to me on Linkedin

89% of all ads are immediately forgotten. Creative ads are born when the client is crystal clear on their goal, and trusts talented marketers to do their job. Marketing disruptor and loudmouth Paul Mellor was on Media Camp to share his experience and unfiltered opinions. This episode is not for the faint of heart. You’ll hear about: why “creative process” is bullshit - and what Paul prefers instead where to find the best ideas that will speak to customers how many people should ideally be on your team Mentions: Connect with Paul on Linkedin or via his ad agency site Got feedback? Say Hi to me on Linkedin

Positioning a brand means building a story around it. Good stories are the ones the audience feels part of. The ways to do this constantly evolve on all platforms, but the fundamentals are the same. My guest this week is Mark Evans, fractional CMO, consultant, and advisor. You’ll hear about: how to create a good story around your brand how to make your content customer-centric why podcasting is an excellent way to differentiate your brand (vs blogging) how to benefit from Linkedin Mentions: Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller The Inside Advantage by Robert Bloom Marketing Spark by Mark Get in touch with Mark through his website or Linkedin Say HI to me on Linkedin

All the best marketing is hyper personalized. That also means most of it doesn’t scale. But that is the only way to build real fans and your company brand if you are playing a long game. This time I’m interviewing the CMO of Toronto based real estate startup Alison Simpson. You’ll hear about the uscalable tactics Alison runs at Key Living; how she increased the sales of luxury products being SVP of Marketing at Holt Renfrew by 20% without increasing the budget; and also how Key Living will convert every aspiring home owner into an actual owner of their home in downtown Toronto. Get in touch with Alison over email (alison@keyliving.com) or LinkedIn Say HI to me on Linkedin

In today’s interview I’m talking to James Mulvany, the founder of podcast platform podcast.co. We cover a lot of specific aspects of running a podcast. Here’s are the key ones: How to generate business from your podcast How to interview people better than others to get a unique point of view How to have encourage conversations with your podcast audience A course James has mentioned if you are thinking about starting a podcast Connect with James on: Website Linkedin Got comments, thoughts about the show? Message me on Linkedin