It has been with great interest that I have followed Mike Mueller's blog the last few weeks, which to my amazement, has included an informative video on each post. Envious (as always) of his technical savvy, with no hope of EVER catching him (in points OR tech savvy...darnit), I finally came to a conclusion that surprised even me: I'm not that into video.
What the heck? Didn't Brad Andersohn tell us all to get with it? Flipcams, all around, we're talking about the wave of the future!!!!!
So when Mike posted statistics showing his readership had actually gone down since including the videos, that got me thinking. Why do I prefer to read what someone has written vs listen to someone speak it?
If you had to miss your nephew's wedding in London, would you rather have a 3 minute video of your brother talking about what happened? Or would you rather he write you a 2 page letter describing the wedding, including 3 stunning photos taken that day?
No contest.
Seeing and listening to your brother might appear at first to be a more complete experience. But that letter? It would be an absolute treasure. Maybe, just maybe, we experience more without the distraction of vision and sound. Maybe simple written words say more. Far more.
Why is it easier to tell how a person is feeling by reading their words as opposed to seeing them speak? There is a reason we have the expression "reading between the lines". The tone that a writer sets is quite distinctive and the mood is easily understood in most cases. When we speak, we have learned to be guarded.
Would you want to watch the video of your brother talking about the wedding again? Probably not. Would you re-read the letter and look at the pictures over and over? Of course you would. Speaking is disposable. Writing is forever.
Would reading the letter allow you to visualize the wedding in your mind more easily than if your brother TOLD you about it? Well, yes. Not only is he likely to use descriptions we rarely use when speaking, but we are trained to visualize when we read, but not when we listen.
When we speak, we are always in a hurry. When we listen to someone else speak, we are quickly bored. Why do you think videos need to be under 3 minutes?
Written words are a communication luxury.
Writing a letter (or a blog) takes time, as one thinks, finds the perfect words, rearranges the words to work in harmony, connects random thoughts into opinions and ideas, and takes advantage of the delicious freedom afforded when there is no one growing impatient on the other end, wishing you would just stop talking.
As much as we'd like to pretend our writing or blogging is the same as how we would communicate by speaking, who are we kidding?
If you logged on and watched me talk to you every day for 3 months in a video, you would know how my voice sounded. You would see my facial expressions, and know how I look. And I would be just like the neighbor you wave to every day, but have absolutely no idea who they really are.
Read what I write, and we would be laughing and talking easily within minutes of our very first face to face meeting. It is at the very core of what blogging is about.
Here's my final confession (and maybe there are customers who think like this as well): I don't need to see your face or hear your voice to enjoy and appreciate who you are. Sometimes, it might even burst my bubble. When I am ready, I would far rather meet you face to face. By then, I will know you well.
If you do use video, could you make it the icing and not the cake?
Just keep on writing, sharing tiny pieces of your soul day after day... and if you never once post a video?
I'm okay with that.
Written by Janet Guilbault, Mortgage Lending Expert Based Out of the San Francisco Bay Area
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