Captivating your audience
In this video, Dr Madelijn Strick gives you three suggestions on how to captivate your audience with your blog: on the title, on storytelling and on the use of metaphors. In the text below you will also find a fourth suggestion, on the use of imagery.
Tips and tricks
In this video, Madelijn Strick gives you three suggestions for captivating your audience with your blog. Here she adds a fourth one!
1. The title should grab the attention
She gives four ideas how to do this:
- Connect the title to something that is currently going on for your group of readers.
- Ask a question that your readers are curious about.
- Use ‘How to..’ or expert advice about something your readers care about.
- A timeless story that is interesting independent of current affairs.
2. Touch emotions
Use storytelling to touch emotions:
By using the perspective of a real person you bring the topic closer to the reader.
Introduce a problem or a challenge and involve the reader in trying to solve the problem.
Provide enough detail for the reader to imagine the situation, referring to all senses.
Make sure the story has a proper ending by solving the problem or reaching a new perspective on it, referring back to your main character.
3. Use metaphors
Use everyday objects and metaphors to bring abstract scientific concepts closer to the reader. Madelijn explains in the video how to come up with a good metaphor.
4. Add a picture
Besides the three suggestions in the video, a fourth (bonus) suggestion is to add a picture. Photos, drawings, or icons can make your blog even more expressive and attention-grabbing. A few tips:
Avoid clichés. Pictures lose expressive value if readers have seen them many times before. For example, the picture of a water drop that makes circles on the surface of the water is a cliché.
Remember that a picture conveys a message on its own, so make sure it sends the right message. For example, if you include a photo of thirty people crammed into a van, you imply: car sharing leads to a loss of privacy and comfort.
Look for royalty free or creative commons pictures.