Speak of the Devil
As most of you don’t know, I am a college student at The University of Central Florida, aka “Under Construction Forever.” Currently, I am taking a Speech class, which I absolutely abhor. Yes, I’m in my third year and just now taking Speech. Moving on.
The last speech assignment was a general informative speech, so I decided to speak about starting your own internet business. Apparently, I enjoy molding my peers into competitors. Or, I’m just a really, really dumb business woman.
Advertising through blogs was my final point. Our speech was supposed to be 5-6 minutes long and because of my emphasis on blogging, I ended up speaking for 7:45. Who does that? I do. Here’s what I learned: Not only is it near impossible to explain the importance of advertising through blogs in 6 minutes, it is impossible to explain it in 1 minute. Consequently, my speech probably lacked conviction. How do you explain the inner workings of a blogging community such as livejournal or blogspot?
No, really. I’m asking you. Because as it ended up, I had a really difficult time explaining it - except for the fact that a ton of people will read your blog and therefore are likely to visit your site. But how would you explain how to successfully build an audience?
When I speak to PR and advertising groups in Central Florida about blogs my minimum time requirement is 20-30 minutes.
I have one standard program that I tweak depending on the time I have. I prefer an hour, but I can squeeze the major points in during shorter sessions.
That sounds a little more realistic. My speech professor was really enthusiastic about me speaking about that topic, so I tried my best to fit it in. But as it ended up, it takes a lot more of a detailed explanation to convey the idea of blogging.
Ah, but don’t we love a challenge? To do the “impossible”? Isn’t this what being a (young) student is all about? To challenge, chide, and change the powers that be and the memes that prevail?
I suggest we all take this challenge: describe the nature, benefits, and applications of blogs in 5 minutes.
My blog posts are often lengthy, being researched articles on topics.
My problem is how to condense some of my own research, experience, and opinions into smaller packages to post on my blog.
I need to vary the length of my posts. This is not easy. Requires deeper thought and discipline based on a sense of urgency and a respect for the reader’s time.
So I will think about how to accurately and intelligently convey the nature, benefits, and applications of blogs in a 5 minute time frame.
Sure, we can’t cover everything in so short a time.
But can’t we figure out a way to touch on the basics? Can’t we improve our ability to summarize? This is a high level of theorizing, to encapsulate an expansive subject in a smaller, more edible, bite-sized chunk, without misrepresenting the truth.
Thank you for expressing your frustration and your genuine concern in this matter, Keiko.
It’s inspiring.
Hey Keiko,
How interesting that you post this topic and your experiences, now.
I’m preparing for two presentations to the IABC and PRSA in Birmingham over the coming months. I get 20 minutes each and my purpose is to “explain blog use in PR campaigns” to groups of PR/Communication professionals. The rest of the time is set aside for questions. And it is the questions that tend to run on for twice that amount of time.
I always look forward to speaking to groups, and these are no different. But, I must admit that creating the presentation based upon the industries & niche professional areas these practitioners will represent.
That is where I start. How to make the topic valuable - have utility - for the audience. Most instances of corporate blogging today are internal, rather than external, in my opinion.
I don’t even think LiveJournal does a good job of explaining their service - and they’ve had years to get the FAQs down pat.
To see if I can do this for this group, I’m actually typing out :60 or 1:30 second bits (25 lines, 65 characters per line) to see if I can get each set of points into the appropriate timeframe.
When I’m through with them, I’ll share them with you.
I agree with you. It isn’t easy. I’m actually using this blog and MarcomBlog as examples. I will, I’m sure, be quoting some of the writings here (your’s, too) in an effort to compel these practitioners to give blogging a try. I’m told that few feel they know about blogs and even fewer have even given it a try.
I’ll get back to you on this.
I have mixed feelings about attempts to persuade other business people to blog. I’m concentrating on developing my own blogs to the perfection point, and, I might as well reveal this here, at no expense.
My experiments in Zero Budget Marketing are inspired by my colleague Bennett Theissen, who, in Chicago, San Fransisco, New York City, and now Los Angeles and Hollywood, has produced, directed, and written No Budget Theatre with great success.
He just finished working on a new film, called “Average Man”, though that had about $100,000 budget, still low for the Hollywood area.
I’m interested in presenting to clients what can be achieved with no cost involved, outside of internet access, and normal business operating expenses.
To say: “You can do this and this and this with a blog,” then, when the client says, “But what will that cost me?” and you say, truthfully, “Nothing,” now that’s a revolutionary concept.
You can then follow up with, “Let’s get you started with a free blog that does all that I promised, then, if you like the results, we can discuss how to take it to a whole other, a higher and even more effective, level.”
Few clients would balk at a marketing experiment that costs nothing, as far as the implementation of the program is concerned.
You, of course, will charge for the consulting, and any writing or design, plus the marketing research and strategy, that you provide.
You’ll charge for such items as recommended blogroll lists, blogs their business blogger should read and post comments at, their “About Us” page, “Contact Us” page, “Bios/Credentials” page, even illustrative sample posts (based on thorough understanding of their industry, business plan, and target audience) to get them started in the right direction.
Not a fake post, but a real, on-topic, on-task post that defines a possible style, a practical approach, that functions as an example.
If a free blog doesn’t provide all the functions and features the client requires, you must skip the Zero Budget Marketing concept, and go with a paid blog, with paid whistles and bells. But the ZBM concept can be used to advance the very idea of blogging to business professionals and corporations.
A marketing tool, a global publishing system, a universal PR platform, at little to no cost?
Welcome to the Blog Revolution.
Keiko,
The lowest level of the cognitive domain (knowledge) is the ability to recall facts about a topic versus explaining a topic or synthesising new information regarding a topic. With only 5-6 minutes for an informative speech, I would consider presenting a brief definition of a blog/business blog and maybe 2-3 benefits of using a business blog.
Example:
“Good morning, I’m Timothy and today I’m here to tell you about business blogs and three benefits of using a business blog.
What is a blog? The word blog is a contraction of the words ‘web log.’ A web log, or blog, at its simpliest is an online journal or diary.
What is a business blog? A business blog is an online journal used for commercial purposes, usually for marketing a product or service. Business blogs are used by businesses ranging from professional consultants and lawyers to industrial sheet metal shops.
There are three benefits of using a business blog. They are…
In summary, we know that a blog is an online journal or diary. A business blog is is an online journal used for commercial purposes, usually for marketing a product or service. Three reasons for using business blogs are…
Thank you for your time.”
The 5-minute speech to inform is just a slightly longer version of a 10-second commercial that you would use in an elevator or at a trade show for marketing yourself and your product:
“Hello. I’m Timothy Lee with the Arkansas SBDC. We provide free assistance to small businesses in Arkansas.”