Comments on post what blogging and speaking have in common
I posted the following question on several social network sites. LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook and to my e-mail list after I had blogged about it.
Q: Know what blogging and speaking have in common? Find out http://tinyurl.com/53tqll
I noticed it caught a lot of interest and varying points of view.
Here are some of the responses or comments that I received.
See if you can figure out how my outreach created a win win for everyone and also the author of the post Mark Hayward. Comments are appreciated.
Jon W. Hansen
From my perspective, the blog is the ideal venue to introduce the concepts presented in my seminars to a wider audience. It is also a means of providing additional information (including reference material) to those professionals who do attend the conferences.
What is interesting is that collectively the blog-speaking tandem creates the critical mass that maintans momentum and drives sustainable activity.
For example, my speaking engagements more than tripled last year, while my blog (Procurement Insights) which was launched in May 2007 now reaches 300,000 syndicated subscribers each month worldwide and is available in English, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Finnish.
The writing style and subject matter are of course a key elements of the blog, as is the speaking style and subject matter relative to the seminars.
The highest standards have to be maintained at all times. With a blog, this means that you must have at minimum 3 to 5 new posts every week.
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Trisha Torrey
I wholeheartedly agree, although until you suggested it, I hadn’t given it any thought.
I speak several times each month. I find my preparation for my talks often provide me with topics and fuel for my blogs. And I find my blogs, and the comments and email I receive in response, often provide anecdotal support for my speaking opps.
Great point. Thanks for raising it, Susan.
Every Patient’s Advocate
Blogs: http://patients.about.com and EveryPatientsAdvocate.com/blog
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Terry L. Sumerlin
Motivational Humorist (leadership, team building, customer service, networking) at Sumerlin Enterprises
Susan, You are absolutely correct. Thanks for pointing it out the connection between speaking and blogging. I speak what I write and vice versa. It is such a natural combination. The writing helps me clarify my thoughts for speaking and keeps me in touch with those I speak to. Thanks!
Terry L. Sumerlin - The Barber-osopher
Author/Leadership Humorist
http://barber-osophy.blogspot.com/
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Frank Feather
► CEO + Business Futurist + ex-Banker ► Keynote Speaker + Strategy Consultant ► “A Future You Can Bank On!”
Very interesting observation, Susan, that I have not really thought about, except that when I write (e.g., on a blog, in an article, in a book, or answering a question on LinkedIn), I do very much tend to write as I would speak.
The blog you cite makes the following point:
Dynamic public speakers and bloggers typically:
* Know their topic and are well prepared
* Display confidence when speaking or writing
* Take command of the audience
* Speak with an authoritative voice
* Engage the audience
* Add a touch of humor
* Maintain a high level of energy
Additionally … top bloggers (and public speakers) are able to communicate their message in a succinct and easy to digest manner. That sums me up pretty well. 
I also think that writing about a subject helps you to crystallize your thoughts and actually to learn your subject matter more thoroughly. It also forces you to make your point succinctly, and to learn to leave out extraneous materials.
All that said, there is still a big difference between writing a Blog in private, editing and reworking it until you are satisfied, and getting up in front of a live audience of thousands and delivering a flawless presentation.
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Jon W. Hansen
Hansen Consulting & Seminars Inc.
From my perspective, the blog is the ideal venue to introduce the concepts presented in my seminars to a wider audience. It is also a means of providing additional information (including reference material) to those professionals who do attend the conferences.
What is interesting is that collectively the blog-speaking tandem creates the critical mass that maintans momentum and drives sustainable activity.
For example, my speaking engagements more than tripled last year, while my blog (Procurement Insights) which was launched in May 2007 now reaches 300,000 syndicated subscribers each month worldwide and is available in English, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Finnish.
The writing style and subject matter are of course a key elements of the blog, as is the speaking style and subject matter relative to the seminars.
The highest standards have to be maintained at all times. With a blog, this means that you must have at minimum 3 to 5 new posts every week.
_________
Mary Collette Rogers
Great thought. I would never have thought of it. I do know, however, that the more I write about a topic, the easier it is to speak about it, as writing seems to discipline me to refine my thoughts on a subject. Thanks for the insights
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Richard Kokholm-Erichsen
I do not personally have the experience that blogging and public speaking is the same thing. I am myself an experienced public speaker. I have been speaking to big assemblies and to smaller groups. I have never really been afraid of the speaking.
I feel however some fear when it comes to blogging, which I am still doing my best to improve.
To me the really big difference is the contact to your audience. When I am speaking I communicate directly with my audience and I can sense their reception immediately.
When I blog I am not in direct contact with my audience which means that I cannot perceive their immediate response.
The readers of the blog reads the information at their own time and within their own context. When I speak publicly we are all in the same context at the same time.
I agree with you that many of the basic requirements for the speaker or the blogger are the same. I believe however that the difference in time around the sending and the reading of the blog is a very important distinction.
So what did you learn from this experience? Add your comments we can all learn from each other.
My comment: It is all about connecting with the audience.
