I once heard Eben Pagan share a joke by his Dad,

“Most college lecturers are not teachers. They are tellers. They tell information, they don’t teach it.”

No wonder I always fall asleep during lectures. It’s because they are just telling, i.e. brain-dumping.

So I don’t understand what they are saying, my mind switches off and I go “zzz…”

I’ve found it to be true for blogging too.

Many bloggers are brain-dumping. They write and write and wonder why nobody subscribes to their blog. They do have great information, but they fail to communicate and connect through their writing, so their visitors go “zzz…” and go to another blog.

Now, most seasoned bloggers would agree that #1 factor of successful blogs is the value that their readers get. But we must understand that the reader only receives value when he or she actually learns something from the blog.

Learning takes place when the reader understands what you are saying, and then derive meaning from what you are saying. If they don’t get any meaning out of the information, they don’t get any value out of it.

Let me explain this with what Robert Kiyosaki taught me.

Robert Kiyosaki’s Communication model

Information + Education => Meaning

Robert says real communication only takes place when the person at the other end gets meaning from the information. That’s where education comes, where you are not just telling your information, but you are teaching it to people, or presenting it to people in such a way that educates or teaches them.

It requires careful thought in the way you present it, so that they can understand what you are saying and learn your information, i.e. get meaning out of it.

Compare this with…

Charles’s Brain-Dumping model

Information => Data (zzz…)

A blogger who brain-dumps is just dumping data. To the reader, it’s as if the blogger is speaking in cryptic codes that only he understands himself.

The reader can’t decipher what the heck the blogger is saying, so his mind switches off and “Zzz…”.

Real communication and learning happens when the reader (not you the writer) is able to

• connect your information that he doesn’t know with what he already knew,
• incorporate it into his own experiences,
• so that he can get meaning out of it and learn something from it.

We have people saying “write relevant content”. But for many of us, the issue is not the content itself; it’s how you present it so that people can relate to what you are saying. It’s about making your information relevant to them so that they get meaning from it.

I have observed that whenever I write a post, the comments I get varies a lot in terms of the things they learned. That’s because every individual reader is taking my information and interpreting through his or her own knowledge and experiences, to get their own learning out of the article.

Needless to say, the value they get varies as well, from “interesting” to “wow! I’m going to change the way I do things”, even for the same article!

Your goal should be to get as many “wow! I’m going to change the way I do things” responses as possible, because that means you are adding lots of value to lots of readers. This comes by really knowing and understanding your audience.

Steve Pavlina is a master at this. He has the phenomenal ability to communicate his ideas, and many of his readers are are so influenced that they change their thinking or behavior. Each of his articles was calculated to have brought in an average of $2,400 to his blog through donations. It is a reflection of the strong solid value he is adding to his readers.

So then, how do I write better and add more value to my readers? Here are 4 simple things I’m constantly striving to do, and I suggest you do the same for your readers:

1. I put myself in your shoes

I write with you, the reader, in mind.

I ask myself, “If I were my reader, how would I understand this? How would I relate to it?”

I remind myself, “Just because I understand it does not mean my reader understands it. Just because it makes sense to me doesn’t mean it makes sense to him.”

The danger is when I assume others to understand what I’m saying, or when I say “If they don’t understand, it’s their problem”, then I become a brain-dumper.

Putting myself in your shoes then allows me to do the next thing…

2. I give information that you already know

I start from what you know, or insert stuff that you already know. That way, you can relate to them.

Then from there, I can give you new information that you can connect to what you already know, so that you can assimilate it, and you get meaning out if it. This is where learning takes place.

3. I don’t feed you too much information

I realized that digesting information is like digesting food. If I go on brain-dumping mode and dump tons of new information on you, you can’t take all of it at once.

So I break up my information into smaller chunks and post them in bite-sized portions.

Not too little that you don’t get any value, but also not too much that your mind cannot take it, switches off and you go “zzz…”

4. I get your feedback

I read your every comment, because your feedback will tell me the meaning that you gained from my information.

Then I’ll know whether my message was communicated across as intended, and also how much value you have received from my article.

From there, I will adjust my writing accordingly in future posts, so that I can connect better with you.

So then, what is your feedback? What meaning did you get? Please share them, so that I can communicate better with you.