How To Write Blog Posts if You Prefer To Talk
Some of my clients say they love getting on a stage, going live on social media, or getting behind the mic to hit record, but when it comes to writing, they don't want to do it.
"Can I just talk it out?”
My answer is usually, "Yes! Grab your mic and talk ... AND take your blog content directly from your audios!”
A little love note on why I don’t recommend video.
I like to encourage my clients to think about all the different ways their readers want to consume information. If you love taking things out — record a podcast.
There's no reason to put in much additional effort to get the words out and onto the page. Some people prefer to watch videos, some prefer to read, and some like to do both. Look at your video as a teaser to get people to learn more and keep reading. You can also look at any articles you write as a teaser to get more readers to watch your videos.
Either way, if you’d much rather record an audio because it feels more natural for you, you don’t have to recreate the wheel and do a whole bunch of extra work to turn that into an engaging or helpful blog post.
1. Use your voice.
Use the talk-to-text feature on your phone or in an online app. I spoke most of this article to you today. I spend a lot of time staring at a screen and typing, and sometimes I need a break. Sometimes, I get brilliant ideas in the car. When I’m on the go and can’t safely take notes, I send myself an email using the talk-to-text feature on my smartphone. When it comes time to review and edit, you’ll have some grammar and copy editing to do, but it will be so much easier than starting from scratch.
2. Summarize the highlights of your videos.
If you just love hopping on social media to talk something out, there are so many good content nuggets in there that you can use in your blog and your email newsletter. To get the goodies out of your social posts, watch the playback and summarize the highlights. There’s no need to write 3,000 words on the topic — you can summarize in 500 words. What are the most important parts of your video that you want people to remember?
3. Try a transcription service.
This will cost you a little money, depending on how you transcribe your audio. You’ll still need to review it for grammar and flow, but some transcription services can be pretty accurate.
4. For every video, write a blog (or more!)
When you speak, you may naturally bounce around on a few different topics. Instead of thinking of each video as a single blog post, you might realize that you have a few different topics in there and have three blog posts and email newsletters out of a 10-minute Facebook live! How’s THAT for efficient content creation?
5. Get someone else to summarize it.
You may be so close to your message that summarizing feels hard. An objective opinion will be able to pull out the juiciest parts and help you with summarizing. This way, you can carry on making great video content and let someone else do the writing.
Pssst… If you love speaking and hate writing, you don’t HAVE to write.
I’m a fan of focusing on your strengths to make them stronger. This is also a service I offer to my clients. Explore private coaching services here.
If you enjoyed this article on starting a blog, you might like these too:
Batch blogging: The smartest way to keep fresh content on your blog
How to make blogging painless when you hate blogging (or have better things to do)
And if you need someone to kick your butt to get you writing, you might be a great fit for the writing community.
