Articles that Sizzle

Speakers enhance their credibility by establishing themselves as an authority on their chosen topic. One of the easiest and most cost effective ways to accomplish this feat is through writing value laden articles.

Delivering an effective, well organized speech requires preparation. An experienced speaker never stands in front of an audience and just starts talking. Lack of planning, preparation and practice mark an amateur, not a professional.

Writing an effective article requires the same level of planning and preparation or even more. Why more? As the keynote speaker, you have a captive audience. As an article author, you must attract that audience to you.

Step one requires a decision on the specific target audience you choose to attract. To attract a target audience of corporate executives, you would select a topic which would not only prove interesting to them but also enhance their performance. Select a title which catches their attention. Remember they receive hundreds of emails every day. Most corporate executives develop an extremely fast “delete” response for unimportant emails. Personally, I have perfected the “no thank you,” “delete,” response. If the subject line does not strike a curiosity response or the sender’s name is unfamiliar, I have the fastest delete click in the west. You thought Doc Holiday had a quick draw? It pales in comparison to the speed of my delete click.

Step one – select your target audience
Step two – select a topic which interests and enhances performance
Step three – craft a subject line which sizzles interest and immediate attention
Step four – compose a value laden message with just enough levity to keep them reading. No one continues reading dry textbook prose if they have a choice of something informative and fun.

One of the major keys to article writing rests in the keywords sprinkled throughout the article. Remember with a keynote speech, you have a captive audience. Article writing requires that you attract your target audience. In order to attract your ideal audience, think like they think. If you were a corporate executive searching for information on the internet, what words would you type into the search query?

Scratching your head for ideas? Go to www.google.com and type in a test word such as “effective.” The list of effective communication, effective leadership, effective meetings, effective teaching, effective time management, effective communication skills and effective listening appears. These are the most common searches beginning with the word effective. Select one of those areas and enter it in www.adwords.google.com/select/keywordtool. Perhaps you selected “effective leadership.” This will not only list related terms, but also indicate the local and global monthly search volume for each term. In addition, it will inform you of the advertiser competition for each term. Obviously the goal of high search volume and low competition is ideal.

Most articles range from 450 to 750 words. Positive, impactful and entertaining content keeps the reader coming back and searching for you.

Establish yourself as an authority by not only writing engaging articles but speaking about a subject which you have thoroughly researched or know from personal experience. Just as one of the cardinal rule of speaking is to speak about something you know this same principle applies in writing.

Once you have written a true “page turner” article, the next step is publishing it where others will have the opportunity to enjoy the content. We will talk about that in our next session. Come visit me at Elaine4Success.com. Leave your contact information.

I salute you at the beginning of your effective writing career.