Like most publishers and internet marketers, I have toyed with using broadcast formats like audio or video on my website. 2007 will probably go down in history as the year of video on the Internet with all of excitement that YouTube has brought us.
But just because you have the equipment and can afford to use audio or video, should you use it? I'll tell you a story to help you understand what I mean.
Like many people on the Internet, I'm constantly learning. And recently, I got a great lesson in how not to use audio or video.
First, I listened to an audio interview of John Reese, presented by Trafficology.com. Who is John Reese? According to one of his websites, "John Reese has collectively generated several million dollars and over one billion website visitors in his online businesses."
Reese is a polished speaker who talked at length about generating web traffic without the "uhs," "ahs" and uncomfortable pauses of an untrained speaker. Every minute was pure gold and I learned so much in that one-hour interview that even though I prefer to read my lessons, I decided that I had to pay more attention to audio and video formats.
I maintained that view until I bought a bad video, purchased to support a newer internet marketer. His first mistake was the use of bad graphics. His Powerpoint slides were boring, laid out poorly and pedestrian. Worst for me, most of the material was too elementary. You know what it's like when you are hearing something for the 100th time.
He compounded his mistakes with poor delivery. Even though I was listening alone in a room, I felt all of the embarrassment for him that one feels when a poor speaker struggles from a podium. He spoke slowly, his comments punctuated with nervous words. My thought was that he needs to join a toastmaster's group.
His bad video clearly demonstrates the value of print. Print formats are very forgiving in that you can write a bad first draft just to get your thoughts out on paper, and come back later to polish your piece until it shines. You don't have to let it go until you have erased all of those false starts, and ideas that don't really make sense.
But with audio or video, no amount of editing will cover a bad performance. Polished speakers like John Reese have a gift that makes their interviews and other speaking engagements standout. With no visuals at all, Reese was able to grab and hold my attention on getting web traffic, which is interesting, yet not the most exciting topic.
With the other speaker, however, I stopped the tape and wondered if I should ask for my money back. He set a bad tone in the first five minutes that convinced me that I would get very little value from listening to the rest of the tape. One good thing came out of my purchase: I learned to take my time when considering audio and video formats.
The real point to consider is what the experience is for the reader, the listener or the viewer. If you are reading boring, but useful material, you can skim and jump over the parts you don't want. You can put a book down, and come back to the spot you left off, when you have time to continue reading.
That's not true for audio or video. Once you commit to listening or viewing a tape, you can only keep going or stop. You could try fast-forwarding if you knew what to look for, but in most cases that's not an option. This means that whatever you present had better be compelling and delivered well, if you want your listener or viewer to follow you to the end.
So before you whip out a tape recorder or video camera to create a new audio or video information product, sign up for Toastmaster's or take a class in public speaking at your local college or university.
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