If you haven't noticed, we're in the Information Age. What that really means is there is too much of every kind of information: emails, texts, phone messages, instant messages, links, news, announcements, requests, solicitations, spam, social networking updates, and invites to just about anything. What this also means is that if you are joining into the conversation in any way you'd better make your point quickly or risk being ignored, deleted, or laughed at.
I read the other day that YouTube videos have just seven seconds to attract someone's interest before being turned off, and those first seven seconds only buy ten more seconds of attention, and so on.
So, assuming you haven't already tuned out of this blog posting (which, let's face it, is highly possible, since I'm taking my sweet old time getting to my point), here are some ideas for making your contribution to the noise less noisy, more noticeable, and perhaps more likely to gain traction or action, whichever you're after.
1. Keep it short. More than ever, being concise is critical. Don't ramble on with sentences that go on forever saying not much of anything and just using up a bunch of words and taking the reader a long time to get through without really adding any value to their lives and wasting their precious time which you apparently had too much of in the first place because how in the world could you take so much time and so long to say a simple thing that we can get to the point of way before you are finished making it, anyhow? You're killing us!
2. Be interesting. Enough with the dull corporate voice crap, already. Leave that to MBA professors and those who like to hang out at the section of the library marked "boring." Oh, and another important part of this: if you're going to say something, be sure you have something to say!
3. Be authentic. The most effective tool for getting noticed is your own, authentic personality. Be who you are. Nobody else can, and that's probably your biggest advantage.
4. Be creative. As Maximus said in Gladiator, "I'll win the crowd. I'll give them something they've never seen before!"
5. Be clear. There is nothing worse than a message or communication that doesn't make any sense. (Well, actually there is, such as crotch-sniffing dogs, Pittsburgh Steeler fans waving their Terrible Towels, and big government, but the exageration of that proverbial phrase got your attention, didn't it?)
6. Use a call to action. What do you want to happen as a result of what you are saying? Make it clear and obvious. "Tell us what you want, what you really really want."
7. Have fun. It's refreshing to deal with people who are comfortable enough in their own skins to allow fun to seep into everything they do.
Okay, that's seven, the Bible's perfect number, and good enough for this topic, too.
Now go make some noise!
Sincerely,
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