Writing and Public Speaking
Choosing what to write about can be a monumental decision for a writer. There are five basic questions you should ask yourself before making your choice.
1. Who is your targeted audience?
2. What are they interested in?
3. What do you know about these things?
4. Where can you learn about these things?
5. Where can you submit your article?
Answer these questions to select your topic.
Lets look at each question in more detail.
1. Know your targeted audience. Your targeted audience is your market. Do you write confessions? How-to-Articles? Spiritual Essays?
2. Know what they want. Dont waste your time writing esoteric articles that only a select few will understand. Write something of interest to a wide variety of readers. Make a list of things that will appeal to the largest group of people possible; these are your topics.
Example: You want to write a motivational article that will reach the largest number of interested people. Your list might look like this:
Motivate: Self-Help, How-to, Organize, Time Manage, Stress Relief, Meditate, etc.
3. Look at your qualifications and experience. Do you know enough to put together a thoughtful, informative article? *If Yes - Go ahead and open your word processor and get together a few articles, be sure to spell check. *If No See #4.
4. Know where to learn about topics outside your current experience. Read everything you can about your topic. Become an expert. The Internet is by far the most extensive research tool available to writers. Search engine technology makes it possible to search the millions of available pages available on the web for specific content. Libraries are another source of topic related information. Dont discount verbal sources eitherif you want to write an article about the Great Depression, your best source would be someone who could recount that period.
Now youre ready to put together an informative article. Its time to put your unique twist on the information and write.
5. Know who wants your article. A Google or Yahoo search will net you hundreds of free article submission sites all begging for quality articles. There is no pay from these sites, but they do gain you name recognition. There are also freelance sites that put the writer together with businesses looking for website content. Online and print magazines and newspapers make up the final market.
Make your choice and send off your articles.
