What makes a good blog?

I encourage students in my communications classes to write blogs as a way of honing their writing skills.  Consequently some of my rules  — such as length — are not standard in the world of get-it-down-and-out-as-fast-as-you-can blogging.  Nonetheless, here are my  standard rules in judging whether or not a blog is good:

Make your blog personal . Everyone can be his or her own publisher with a blog. You might wax eloquent on the latest political news, reminisce about a favorite childhood activity, complain about the restrictive lifestyle at The Citadel or daydream about some R&R in the Bahamas.

A blog should reveal something about your personal opinions or experiences because the whole purpose of blogging in business is to build relationships. As is the case with other social media, the personal nature of blogs is what creates connections.

Check your writing, grammar and spelling. The fundamental rules of grammar apply. I realize that with texting and email, some conventions of spelling and grammar have left the building. But blogs that are written for business or academic purposes need to follow the same rules that apply to more formal communications:

• Spell words correctly and pay attention to punctuation.
• Develop an idea and bring it to life through personal stories or examples. Perhaps your love of travel had its roots in that childhood trip to Disney World; maybe the irritation you feel at a team’s failure to pull together reminds you of a bad experience with a coach in a past life; or possibly the fact that you would rather sit and read than go to a party means that you are becoming your mother.
• Think about your conclusion. You want your takeaway to be memorable.

Say enough to make it worth while for someone else to read your blog.  A few sentences or one paragraph won’t cut it. Your blogs for my assignments should have at least four to five paragraphs in order for you to develop your ideas.

Keep the paragraphs short. Blogs are written in business format which means that you develop one idea per paragraph. A paragraph may be six words or six lines long.

Remember,  white space is important and you are writing for skim value. Leave the long, eloquently developed paragraphs that run on for two-thirds of a page to your English and history papers. Those professors will appreciate the artistry of a finely-honed idea. In business, you need to get to the point and give the supporting information.

Add some pictures, music or other elements. Even though your writing will be direct and to-the-point, readers will still appreciate any extras that engage their attention.

Have some fun. Who knows? Someone may listen to you now that you have the world as your potential audience. I suspect that most of these blogs will just float off into oblivion but one never knows. Your words could be the ones that truly make a difference in some aspect of modern life.

Two rules a commencement speaker must remember

‘Tis the season  for pundits to pass their wisdom onto waiting graduates. During May and June, the annual ritual known as the commencement address is inflicted upon thousands of high school and college graduates as they count down the minutes until they grasp their coveted diplomas.

Occasionally these speakers will have an impact: public officials may use the occasion to float a trial balloon of a new policy or a well-known speaker might share revelations that will mean something to the class. Those speeches are worth listening to.

Out of the dozens of commencement speeches I’ve heard, a few are memorable. The most notable was one Pat Conroy delivered to The Citadel Class of 2001. A Citadel graduate, Conroy’s relationship with the college had been stormy. In the late 1960s, he became active in anti-war protests at a time most of his classmates were headed to Vietnam as newly minted second lieutenants.  He later penned The Lords of Discipline, a work that made him a persona non grata to many alumni.  In the 1990s Conroy actively promoted the admission of the first woman into the Corps of Cadets in a highly publicized court battle that produced less than fine moments on both sides.

Clearly, he was not your average commencement speaker. When The Citadel invited Conroy to give the commencement address, he used his flair for drama to cement a reconciliation with his alma mater. During his address, he reflected on his anti-war activism and , in an emotional show-and-tell moment, introduced Al Kroboth, his basketball teammate who fought in Vietnam and became a prisoner of war. Conroy praised Kroboth for his courage and bravery drawing a thunderous applause that lasted for three minutes. Conroy’s rapprochement was complete and his speech remains a topic of conversation on the Charleston campus.

Conroy knew the first rule a commencement speaker should follow:  know your audience.

He touched topics that his audience cared deeply about. By contrast, most commencement speakers give addresses that could take place before graduates of any high school or college in the country with no thought to what makes that campus or that class unique. You know the platitudes:

• The future is yours for the taking.
• Work hard and you’ll realize your dreams.
• Aim for the impossible to make the most out of your life.
• Make sacrifices and help others just as your parents and predecessors have helped you.

You can no doubt add dozens of themes to this list.

Those are not bad messages for a commencement but they are as generic as white bread.  Many speakers do not research what is special about the audience; any audience of graduates will do. Conroy, who had first-hand knowledge of The Citadel, knew that affirming military service was a value his audience cherished.

The second rule a commencement speaker should remember — it’s not about you; it’s about them.

I heard a recent commencement address by an accomplished speaker who ignored this rule so thoroughly that he could have been the inspiration for Toby Keith’s classic song below.

The speaker had an extensive introduction documenting why he was well qualified to talk to the class. As a student of speeches, I hoped to hear a fresh take on traditional themes or at least some interesting anecdotes. But no…. I just heard more about the speaker. He amplified the points mentioned in his introduction and used anecdotes from his own life to make the requisite three points to graduates. What were those points?

To be enormously successful you should

1. work harder than anyone else around you — a traditional graduation theme
2. have talent — which he said was a God-given gift that you couldn’t do much about
3. have luck — when he maintained usually comes from hard work.

History provides countless examples of people succeeding despite hardships but our speaker chose examples from his own life. He talked about times he tried and failed in activities for which he had little talent. And then he closed with a paraphrase of a quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson and others:  “I find the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

The speech might have worked better for high school graduations where class members are starting life in college or in the world of work. This particular audience involved adult students who had earned their degrees while working full-time and going to class at night. Their pursuit of a college degree in the midst of considerable work and family obligations indicates they know the value of hard work. If they paid attention to the speech, they must have found the speaker to be patronizing.

But one point about graduation speeches is that the graduates, like this particular speaker, were probably thinking about themselves and the moment they would walk across the stage. So in the final analysis, it didn’t really matter what the speaker said.

The speaker did no harm; but he didn’t do much good either.

The critical element in a great speech

I’ve been writing speeches and coaching speakers for years. During that time, I have always believed that the essential element of a good speech is a core message the speaker develops through stories, examples and unified logic bookended by a great attention-getter and a resounding conclusion.

I was wrong.

A recent experience listening to a great speaker reminded me that all of  the profound ideas, powerful stories, carefully crafted metaphors and the well-timed pauses are for naught if people cannot hear what the person is saying.

What brought me to this obvious conclusion was a speech I watched in an arena filled with probably 1800 students and dignitaries. The speaker — a highly respected man with obvious talent for delivering a lively speech — must have told the set-up crew that he did not need a lapel mike but would speak from the podium.  His voice was booming when he started off, engaging the audience with funny stories, self-deprecating humor and one-liners that drew muffled laughter. It was a shame that such a promising start fell short.

As is the case with many veteran speakers, our keynote found the podium confining. He apparently wanted to remove that barrier between him and his audience. He wanted to be active and move around to target different areas of the audience.

He grabbed a podium microphone and walked out. When the mike didn’t work,  he laid it on the floor.  Someone brought him a second microphone which he tried for only about two seconds. Even though the green light was on (signaling that the battery was good), it didn’t seem to work during that brief test and so he ceremoniously laid it on the floor beside the first one. That drew laughter and a few claps from the crowd.  Unfortunately, that was the last positive reaction he received.

How any speaker could think he could speak in a basketball-arena-turned-auditorium without a sound system defies logic. However, this speaker was so focused on his message and his movement that he apparently missed that point.  He paraded back and forth, pausing occasionally at one side, in the center and then at the other side.  Those who could hear the entire speech were directly in front of him.  The hundreds sitting to one side or the other heard only the parts aimed in our direction.

The sound crew was apparently reluctant to interrupt the speaker and re-mike him. Perhaps they didn’t want to embarrass him.  They did send two people with hand-held mikes to sit on steps close to the middle of the area to help pick up his voice and that helped a little. But from my seat on the side bleachers, I watched as people in the audience began to either doze off or fidget restlessly.

The next day, I talked with a student fortunate enough to be seated in the middle section close to the speaker. He commented that it was the best speech he had ever heard at the college. That cmment made me sad.  Surely the speaker would have preferred being interrupted rather than having his message be missed.

As a result of this speech, I’m re-evaluating my advice about speaking.  Yes…a great speech needs a great message that is delivered well. But none of that matters if the message cannot be heard.

Words Words Words

Fans of My Fair Lady will recognize Eliza DoLittle’s famous tune in my title. She is telling her suitor to stop using words and instead, show her he loves her.

Forgive me if I borrow Eliza DoLittle’s phrase and twist it to suit my own meaning. Words alone may not work for the heartsick suitor but they remain the building blocks for writers and speakers. Strong words build strong messages though they work in different ways for writers and speakers.

Writers choose their words carefully, mulling over the nuances that each word carries. Afterall, one of the advantages writing has over speaking  is that it allows you time to think, reflect and make changes until you convey the precise meaning you intend. Our challenge in communicating precisely is that readers attach their own meanings to words we use based on their experiences. Nevertheless, writing is a deliberative process. Writers must choose the words they put down making it impossible to write without some forethought.

Words serve speakers in a different way. The selection process has fewer filters. We’ve all had the experience of having our words tumble out too quickly, making us seem boring, stupid or rude. Despite those drawbacks, as speakers we have an easier time conveying exactly we mean thanks to the added interpretations we can embed using tone, gestures, body language or timing.

Consider, for example, the sentences below. Changing the emphasis can significantly change what a listener hears.

•  Coming up with THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS was my last hope for avoiding the dreaded debt collector.
• Coming up with $300 was MY last hope for avoiding the dreaded debt collector.
• Coming up with $300 was my last hope for avoiding the DREADED debt collector.

The same words…. different interpretations depending on whether the focus is on the amount of the debt, the debtor or the debt collector.

Repetition of words — which can be thoroughly annoying in writing– allows speakers to drive a point home. (I’m assuming, of course, that the repetition is intentional and not a mindless attempt to fill silence.)

Even though body language, tone and other devices make words more vertatile tools for speakers, you still need to choose these building blocks careful.  Simple, strong, descriptive words will move your audience to action or help them understand your meaning. Vague terms such as things or stuff or those lazy phrases It is and There are give your listeners permission to take a quick nap.  Train your ear to hear those empty words like a fog horn that obscures anything you might say before or after.
I cannot talk about words and phrases without mentioning the popular list of banned words that Michigan’s Lake Superior State University publishes on January 1st of each year. The university officially sanctions words and phrases that have been so over-used that they are meaningless cliches.
The banned words on the 2013 list include

fiscal cliff
kicking the can down the road
job creators
passionate
bucket list.

Words. Words. Words.   Some are perfect; others are useless.  Any nominations for words and phrases you never want to hear again?

Common grammar goofs

This infographic from CopyBlogger covers the most common errors I see.

Like this infographic? Get more copywriting tips from Copyblogger.

A failure to communicate

Consider this scenario. You teach in a public high school. It’s a calling – not a job – and when the beginning of school rolls around, you may dread the hectic schedule and long hours of grading but you look forward to getting back in the classroom with students. Despite going without raises for three years and listening to public rancor about overpaid teachers, you are there because you love getting students excited about learning.

Then the week before faculty meetings start, you get an email from the administration that says  teachers are expected to dress professionally for the first day of the pre-school meetings.

That’s it.

No welcome back or spirit-lifter about how good it will be to have everyone back doing what they do best. No hope-your-summer-was-revitalizing-and-the-school-building-was-empty-without-you message.  Just an admonition to dress the way common sense tells you that you should dress anyway.

This happened to my daughter who teaches in a Virginia public high school. The effect was immediate and visceral.  Her enthusiasm for the beginning of a new school year fell like the stock market after the Standard & Poors downgrade. It’s a fact that a couple of faculty members had dressed a too casually for meetings at the end of school but instead of reminding the likely offenders of the school dress code, the administration chose to send that degrading message to everyone.

Now for the rest of the story.

School administrators knew that TV cameras and some VIPs were going to be at the first-day meeting for a story on the opening of school. But the blanket email failed to mention that fact.  All the administration needed to do was to inform faculty of the likely appearance of cameras rather than talking to them like 6-year-olds.

With every email we send, we have many pieces of  information that we can include. Often what is not said is more important than the words that are actually chosen. That email deflated those teachers who were trying to be upbeat as they approached the new school year despite the overloaded classes, sometimes rude students and occasional abusive parents.

Bottom line: think before you hit the SEND button. What you are not saying can be more important than the text of your message.

What makes a good commencement address?

‘Tis the season for venerated commencement speakers to dispense pearls of wisdom to the future leaders of America. Unfortunately those waiting graduates are much more interested in getting that diploma and getting on with life than in anything a speaker might have to say.

Nevertheless commencement addresses are a traditional part of the ceremony and so the speaker must decide how to fulfill his or her role in the most efficient and entertaining manner.

I heard two commencement addresses recently. One was fairly good; the other was torturous. Since I’ve spent the past 20 years in education, I’ve heard more commencement speeches than the average person so I thought I’d share a couple of observations about how commencement speakers can avoid subjecting graduates and their families to one final boring lecture.

Keep your role in perspective.

Let’s be honest. The primary value a commencement speaker lends to a graduation is his or her name on the invitations. The more prestigious the speaker, the more panache the ceremony will have. Parents and graduates can brag about the president, the business icon or the celebrity who will speak at graduation. It’s a feel-good moment that enhances the school’s reputation. Lesser-known speakers with impressive credentials also add status to the event.

Unless speakers happen to be the president or someone else in a position to make a major announcement, however, there’s nothing that can be said that will be truly memorable or life-changing. So once you’ve lent your name to the event, follow through with a short, engaging speech that will help rather than harm your reputation.

Do your research on the graduating class and the institution.

Experienced speakers probably have a graduation stump speech but should tailor remarks to their audience. Find out what is unique about this class or what graduates are doing after graduation. Ask about the names of people significant to the history of the institution or the community and work those into the speech. Let your audience know that this place and this moment is the only time that you can give this speech.

Going back to my recent graduations, what distinguished the good speaker from the horrid one? Let me count the ways: energy, brevity, humor, organization and some connection with the audience.

The good speaker, who happened to be George Will, opened with a joke about how commencement addresses should be brief. “Brevity is not only the soul of wit and the essence of lingerie,” Will said. “It is also mandatory for commencement addresses.” He then threw in a Churchill quote for good measure: “The head cannot absorb more than the seat can endure.”

Will spoke for 19 minutes with frequent dashes of humor as he told the graduates ways to think about problems — some problems are the result of American achievements, others have no solution and still others are not really problems at all. He then concluded his speech with the upbeat advice, “Never be pessimistic about America.”

Will was thoughtful, easy to listen to and brief. The only way he could have improved his speech would have been to make more specific some remarks about The Citadel. He did acknowledge that the college is one of the few institutions uniquely devoted to national service. Other than that, his speech would apply to any graduating class anywhere.

(The full speech is within The Citadel’s commencement video. It begins at about 1:20.)

The other speech I recently heard was about 25 minutes long but seemed to last two hours. The speaker read his remarks s-l-o-w-l-y and deliberately in a monotone voice. After he had droned on for five minutes, I wished that someone had given him a Hersey bar before the processional so we would have had the benefit of a sugar-high.

Perhaps there were extenuating circumstances: he might have been exhausted or preoccupied with some personal event. Nevertheless, he totally failed to connect with the audience. The good points of his speech were lost through his sleep-inducing delivery. Had he looked up from his deliberate reading and noticed the number of people getting up to take bathroom or cigarette breaks, he would have realized that he was violating one of John Wesley’s fundamental rules: do no harm.

Graduations, like graduation speakers, come and go with little that is memorable beyond the impact the diploma has on the graduate and his family. Commencement speakers would do well to remember that they should not only give an engaging speech; they must also help build momentum and the sense of celebration over the reason for the ceremony — the awarding of diplomas.

What was this person thinking?

I had the opportunity to judge a speech contest recently. It was a Toastmasters area contest with only a few contestants, all with fairly good speeches and deliveries.

One contestant was especially memorable but for reasons that she probably would not relish. Her speech was okay but her dress made me wonder what in the world she was thinking.

The woman was a busy mom, a professional in a major company, and had apparently rushed home from work, perhaps to fix a hasty dinner for her family. She brought her young daughter to the contest and the little girl graciously accepted the fact that she was spending the night at an adult meeting watching her mom and others speak rather than relaxing at home.

The mother gave a good speech — engaging and inspirational in the way that most competitive Toastmaster speeches are. She had good gestures, an easy manner of delivery and a strong voice that only occasionally revealed her nervousness.

So what was the problem?

She wore a short knit top and was braless, leaving no details of her anatomy unrevealed. Had she put on a simple jacket or sweater, it would have been much easier to focus on her message rather than feel embarrassment for her personal revelations.

What lesson was she teaching her daughter about appropriate dress?

When I discussed this with my high-school-teacher husband, he said that the reason his school went to uniforms was because of the inappropriate dress that some parents allowed their children to wear to school.

I teach a business communications course in college where I tell my students that a big part of that all-important first impression is the way you are dressed. Your clothes are the easiest element of your presentation to control.

I believe in that old cliché, “You should not judge a book by its cover.” However, it should be obvious to speakers that if you don’t dress carefully for your presentation, your message may get lost by unintended distractions your appearance will create.

When one letter makes a seismic difference

Does this sound familiar?

You’re rushing to meet a deadline, typing away and finally put the period at the end of the last sentence. You quickly review your copy and everything seems okay. Then you hit SEND or PRINT and distribute your latest masterpiece.

Only after others are able to read your work do you discover that it contains a terrible typo.

Don't beat yourself up. Everybody makes these mistakes.

You’re not an idiot; you’re just guilty of no-red-line syndrome. That’s the false confidence you get when you hurriedly proof something and feel reassured by the fact that your spell check agrees that everything is ready to go.

Consider these two sentences:

• Great Manufacturing, Inc. will not be able to give bonuses this year.
• Great Manufacturing, Inc. will now be able to give bonuses this year.

or

• West Ashley is the site of the new hospital.
• West Ashley is the cite of the new hospital.

One letter changed. A world of difference in meaning.

It happens to all of us. Your fingers habitually finish typing words while your brain races ahead to complete a sentence. Since what is left on the page is a legitimate word, the only way you can find it is to set your copy aside and read it later out loud or to get someone else to look at it.

The same thing can happen when you are delivering a speech and your eyes are out of sync with your mouth.  If you are closely following a script, your eye can read though when you need to say thought or you should say rather and what comes out of your mouth is other.

Writers and speakers all suffer from occasions when our brains are working at a different speed than our fingers or mouths.

One letter makes a seismic difference. What are some ways your fast-typing fingers get you in trouble?

The memorable conclusion: ending with oomph

Your speech should end with a bang, not a whimper…unless you plan to whisper for dramatic effect.

Your last few words are your chance to make your point, persuade your audience or have an impact. Don’t leave your conclusion to chance. Write out and rehearse your ending separately so that you won’t waste an opportunity that only comes once. You want your delivery, emphasis and timing to drive home your point and feel completely natural.

Here are some questions to help you develop a conclusion that will be powerful or will give your audience that ah-ha moment of recognition they enjoy when a speaker connects with them.

What is the key message?

You want your conclusion to reflect the point you are trying to get across whether it is the need to support a certain program, the affirmation that a person is truly wise, funny or remarkable, or made a difference to others.

Does your conclusion relate to your introduction?

Well organized speeches often use an expression, anecdote or quote that ties different parts of the message together. As you are developing your speech, look for the story that illustrates your point. It may be a childhood fable, an experience with the person or company, or story that is part of the legacy of your organization. When you find the story or quote that holds your message together, be sure you refer to it in your conclusion.

How do you want listeners to feel?

Should they be upbeat, inspired, laughing or reflective?
Your speech should build up to the feeling you want to leave them with. Even though you may mix humor with serious points, your conclusion sets the emotion they will take away. Think about your personal style and how you can best connect with others and develop a conclusion that capitalizes on your strengths as a speaker.

A few other points about conclusions

• When you have finished, stop talking.
  Nothing is more useless or annoying that the obvious statement,  “This concludes my presentation.”  Rambling on without a clear ending makes your audience wonder if you will ever finish. Practice your final sentence. Say it, put a period on it at the end and then hush.
• Remember the power of the pause. After a few seconds of silence, say “Thank you.”  In business situations, you may want to take questions and answers. Then move on to the next item on the agenda.
• Think about your body language. Stand still for a few seconds after you have finished, then take a few steps.  If there is a master of ceremonies, stand in front of the audience until that person comes and shakes your hand.
• Never leave a podium unattended.  (That’s a core principle in Toastmasters.)

Smile and look at people around the room so that you can see how much they will enjoy the grand finale of your speech. If you’ve practiced enough to master your timing and have connected parts of your speech so that all contribute to your conclusion, you’ll end your speech with oomph.