Five Magic Keys for Engaging Your Readers

Posted January 25th, 2010 / By Nicholas Cardot in Misc

You may not have realized this startling but simple truth, but normal, everyday people are quickly changing the way that they consume information. It used to be enough for people to sit in front of the radio or television and hear a monotonous news anchor drably drone on about the evening’s major headlines but people aren’t really satisfied with that boring delivery anymore.

People in our modern, mind-numbing culture are now trained to interact with the information that they’re confronted with. They don’t just want to read a how-to guide for fixing a leaky sink. They want to learn how to fix their sink while laughing, while crying, while leaving comments and while interacting with the author and other readers. Information delivery has drastically changed.

So sit back like that old, stubborn man that you so desperately hated when you were a young and spirited kid. Endlessly complain about the bane of our modern culture. Cry that people’s attention spans are shorter because they’re addicted to the television and entertainment. Moan because normal people can’t consume boring, raw information like they once could. Shout as loud as you can that they need to be more disciplined, that they need to learn how to learn.

You could partake in that worthless drivel or you can understand that we can’t change who people are. Society will run its course and if we reject society then society will reject us. Go ahead and embrace the fact that people want to engage with your information differently than they used to. Get used to the idea that I want to be entertained when I’m reading a how-to guide.

Once you embrace that oh-so-difficult-to-embrace concept then jump in and start providing material that appeals to the new generation. You now have to engage your audience like you’ve never done before. You have to bedazzle them with every ounce of bedazzle that’s in your soul.

So how do you accomplish this? How do we engage and connect with real people?

1. Speak directly to your audience. Be conversation. Don’t write in that boring, college-essay style of writing but rather work to connect with your readers as if you were speaking directly with them.
2. Tell jokes, stories and personal experiences. Let people see the real you. Don’t hide your mistakes and don’t exaggerate your successes. Simply be real with people. Try to make them smile or cry as they read your articles.
3. Be different from everyone else. If you’re writing the same content as everyone else in the world then what incentive does anyone have to visit your site rather than some other site?
4. Shoot from the hip. Infuse your personality into your work. Don’t take on an alter ego when you’re online. Again, be real with people. Be honest. Share yourself.
5. Get excited. Share your passion. It’s alright to use a tone that makes it sound like your jumping around your house out sheer excitement and passion for your subject.

Do you want to engage with people? Do you want to impact the world? Here’s what I’m going to leave you with. John Wesley used to preach to huge crowds. People would travel from all over to hear him speak. When asked what he did to draw in such enormous groups he responded simply, “I set myself on fire and the people come to watch me burn.”

I call that passion.

Nick uses his blog Site Sketch 101 to express his passion for helping people learn how to blog with awesome content, brilliant designs and commanding influence.