It's all about CMMNCTN!

I'm glad to see that personal branding has hit its peak and content marketing is beginning to rise. After all, even with personal branding, it's all about communication.

We are born communicators. What we develop is our own style and preference for language. Language goes beyond our first speaking language. We were already communicating much information before we uttered our first words. To this day, we are continuing to engage in non-verbal languages in addition to the verbal. Mathematics, too, is a language. The most important question for a communicator to ask is, who is the listener?

We are not only story-tellers, we are also story-hearers.

Everything we communicate tells a story, from our personal brand to our content marketing. Our narrative is communicating our identity. It’s the how, of communicating that narrative that depends on style or language, not the what.

“Know your audience.”

Once you identify the listener, you will know what you want to communicate. When you are able to find out who the listener is, it will influence the how; is the person more of a thinker, calculator, “bottom line”, type, or is the person more of an explorer, “tell me my options”, type.

When you’re talking to a group, you want to know about that group’s community or culture, what their environment is like.

What personal branding means is that you know the how of communicating the you, you want others to hear about.

In this article about content marketing, all the suggestions describe a way, a how, of telling your story:

1. Infographics - ¨Pictures + text = 25% better comprehension¨
2. Interactive content is a ¨better way to educate, entertain and engage your audience.¨ Interactive content involves the audiences participation. The viewer completes an action such as:
● Assessment
● Calculation
● Contest
● Quiz
● Interactive infographic
3. Videos & LiveVideo - by posting videos and LiveVideo’s you have the opportunity to showcase variety. You can communicate messages in a memorable and effective way.
4. Concept Visualizations - Visual images are attractive and fun. They gain the attention of viewers instantly and are an effective way to boost your content.
5. List Posts - Viewers enjoy lists, countdowns, top 5, etc. To gain user interest lists are a must.
6. Positive Content - Positive, inspiring and motivational content is very sought after and can boost your value. Take the time to create positive content.
7. User-generated Content - Engaging with your audience is important. Not only does your audience want to engage with you but they love engagement. It can boost the profiles of both parties and makes for great content. A wonderful example of user-engaged content is Starbucks request for customers to doodle on their cups and submit the pictures as entries. This made for great free publicity and proved that it was fun for both sides. ¨64% of millennials and 53% of baby boomers want more options to share their opinions about brands¨.

The number of options reflect the diverse styles. Don’t try to do it all. Choose what reflects who you are and let that style “speak for itself”.

One language that may be helpful to get your point across is the language of metaphor.

Michael Michalko states that "creativity requires looking at the world in a different way. When we think metaphorically we utilize our ability to imagine. Our imagination is given expression through the nonverbal and verbal language of metaphors. The metaphor is "out there" to make it possible for us to sense and experience things in an unexpected way."

Metaphors permeate human thought and action. As such, becoming conscious of their use, and applying this language in a stimulating and meaningful way, will provide communicators with the means to creatively express their thoughts, ideas, stories and narratives.

And so, I end my narrative with the metaphor of the minstrel:

Minstrels performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Minstrels created their own tales, or would tell of the tales that they had heard from others. Frequently they were retained by royalty and high society. As the courts became more sophisticated, minstrels were eventually replaced at court by the troubadours, and many ventured out, becoming wandering minstrels. 

We are the modern-day minstrels, what we “wear”, our “tone of voice”, the “song we sing”, are all meant to tell a story for all to hear.

Image credit: AdHugger