Some of Us Can Speak Better Than We Can Write
I've known some business trainers over the years who can, at the drop of a hat, teach on just about anything once they have an outline. And some don't need that!
There are two kinds of audio options available to you--audio only or video and audio. Here's the difference--with caveats.
1. Audio Only Options
There you are with your pic and ministry passion--maybe on the field in New Guinea or at your local Crisis Pregnancy Center--and you are describing your latest Go Team trip with your church and the exciting things you have found.
A. Audio with Background
As with the above, you are basically telling your readers about the pictures they are viewing. Some can get away with a nice pic of themselves and audio only. I would avoid this as you have to take into consideration the attention span of your average reader.
Power Point with audio background is a great way to go. It allows you to get out of the way and your ministry focus take center stage.
Teaching Whiteboard--This is almost akin to one of the online meeting sites where you have your whiteboard and a Camtasia program. I really think this format should be saved for actual teaching. Sure, it can be used in your regular blog or on UTube to gain more readers; no question about it. But believe it or not people read your blog because of you (within reason of course!).
There used to be a program called Audio Postcard. I don't know if the program is still available, but I am sure there are plenty of other options. This is out of the 'blog sphere' realm, but the deal was that your readers would receive an email telling them of your greeting. They would click it open and hear your audio message. Kinda cute.
B. Video
Video blogging or vblogging is big right now. Again, your passion must show through in your video as today's videos reveal all the warts you have. Oftentimes passion overcomes a face that, like mine, may not be so easy to look at!
One huge caveat about video blogging is that there are SO MANY vendors out there. You must think in terms of your video loading EASILY on their machines. You will need to trial and error this part if you think you want to use a video option. Think through the slowest machine you think in your audience. Don't go overboard trying to accommodate the dial-up or slow computers because that can have an effect on your other recipients. Some of my most frustrating times has been when I've been told of this wonderful video, given tons of benefits, and then tried to open the huge file and had to wait...wait...wait for it to load.
Again, we will be getting into these and other options as we go which can range from free to a moderate price or, because they serve folks who love to video blog, may only have their services available on a monthly basis (a la Meeting On Demand, etc).
A final thing here is my personal bias. People read blogs because they are readers. Most of them feel that if they want to be entertained, they will go to the movies. So really give some think-time to what audience you are looking to reach in your passion ministry. Will they be more visually oriented, young impatient types or just love to read about what you (and your church) are doing with your ministry focus? Remember, it is not about us, but it is the Lord Jesus Christ we are to make look good in our lives and ministry.
Note on you who are wondering "What do I write about?" Are you starting to see how we are treating blogging here? There is all this and much more you can write about--daily, or at least weekly--for your ministry focus.
No comments:
Post a Comment