Improve Communication by Writing Notes to Yourself

This morning I woke up, made coffee, and read the newspaper to keep up-to-date on the activities affecting my local community.

Walked into my office, opened my computer, and watched 90 emails flood my screen. Somewhere along the line, one of them triggered a great idea for the subject of my blog, “Improving Communications with Kathy Condon.” I went to write the idea down but thought, “I don’t have to—this is such a good idea I’ll remember it.”

Hours later, I’d showered and was ready for a busy day of meetings, writing, and developing ways to drive traffic to my new website: http://www.kathycondon.info/ As I walked back into my office I thought, “Now what was I going to write about today?” Blank…….nothing……nada.

Both frustrated and laughing to myself, I thought, “Now why in the world did I not write down my good idea?” This forgetfulness episode reminded me of why I always carry a notepad in my purse. Ideas flow easily while you’re out and about, but if you don’t catch them, you lose them.

It is only 9:00 a.m.—and I’ve already relearned a lesson. Write down good ideas. Remember, it is the “little things” that help improve communication with yourself and others.

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WHERE DO I FIND BLOG IDEAS?

There is no place in the world that is not an “idea resource” for my blogs.
Recently, I made a decision to add articles to my blog twice a week. One of them will be personal stories, which lets people see how I live my life--experiences that often are the source of great renewal for me. The second one will be oriented toward my profession of writing, speaking, and training.

Today it is about my profession:

While reading through some of the questions on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedIn.com I learned a way to focus on ideas for our blogs. Ultimately, we want to drive traffic to our website. Personally, I have answered many questions on LinkedIn and I was reminded I can expand my answer for a blog.

Another way to share information on your blog is to break down your own subject expertise into 250-300 word blogs. When you are speaking and training, you have your presentation broken down into segments. Don’t hesitate to share an article about the segment.

Worried about sharing too much information? Think about it, do you really think a 250-word blog is equivalent to the segment you train for two hours? My belief is that you will get the reader interested in your work and he will want to learn more about you and then will go to your website.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TIP:

Carry a notepad with you so you can write down the email address and/or the phone number of a person you have connected with that did not have contact cards (business cards).