One of the things we hear a lot from prospective clients is that they know they need to be using social media and blogging but they just aren’t good writers and/or don’t have anything to say. This is a fairly common concern amongst busy business owners who have very little time to focus on communication strategies. Yet the truth is that if you can speak it, you can write it. Usually the crux of the problem lies in your inability to articulate your work because you haven’t experienced your brand “promise” yet. What I mean by experience is that you have yet to go through painful and altering creative processes that birth your brand.
In Michael Polanyi’s book, “Personal Knowledge”, he explains the concept of tacit knowledge. ‘We know more than we can tell’ was Polanyi’s dictum. We know how to ride a bicycle, but we can’t write down how to do it, at least not in a way that allows non-cyclists to read our instructions, get on their bikes and ride off. We can reliably pick out a familiar face in a crowd, but we can’t say just what it is about the face that we recognize. The tacit aspects of knowledge are those that cannot be codified, but can only be transmitted via training or gained through personal experience. This discovery process is what leads to a personal and deep understanding of your brand which you can then begin to communicate.
This week the Smartsite Team took some great strides in determining our own brand “promise”, and as a result we found ourselves articulating and communicating our brand in a much more fluid and uniform manner. Through these creative processes we have come to truly understand our brand, and therefore can begin to effectively communicate it.
Seth Godin’s article below gives some insight into communication and why meaning what you’re saying actually matters.
Your voice will give you away
by Seth Godin, Seth Godin’s Blog
It’s extremely difficult to read a speech and sound as if you mean it.
For most of us, when reading, posture changes, the throat tightens and people can tell. Reading is different from speaking, and a different sort of attention is paid.
Before you give a speech, then, you must do one of two things if your goal is to persuade:
Learn to read the same way you speak (unlikely)
or, learn to speak without reading. Learn your message well enough that you can communicate it without reading it. We want your humanity.
If you can’t do that, don’t bother giving a speech. Just send everyone a memo and save time and stress for all concerned.
