136Words: The Medium

"You've only got one chance to make an impression. One chance to be understood."

The Web is a communication environment where its practitioners have ignored the basic building blocks of effective communication. The sound of the human voice reinforced by an on-screen Web-video host or voice-over announcer communicates more than information. It communicates character, personality, and your ability to connect on a human level.

Nothing makes us sit-up and take notice more than the sound of a real person speaking directly to us. And nothing engages our attention like an attractive performance from a professional who knows how to use both body and voice to convey meaning and impact. It is an evolutionary imperative driven by the earliest recollections of our mother's voice and the reassurance of the protective psychological cocoon it created.

The sound of our name, or that of someone familiar, stops us dead in our tracks. No static image, no text, no layout pattern has the Pavlovian effect of the sound of a real person. It is the most powerful, the most memorable, and the most effective means of communication we have. And when you add an optional visual performance to the mix, it demands our attention. And as Web-marketers we ignore it at our corporate peril.

There has developed over time a Web-orthodoxy, a set of acceptable ways of doing things, a litany of dos and don'ts that if scrutinized in the light-of-day prove to be next to useless - useless in doing what needs to be done - creating a memorable user experience that results in turning traffic into customers. If your audience can't hear what you're saying, if they can't relate to your company on a human level, then how do you expect them to respond to your call to action?

Contact MRPwebmedia at 905.764.1246 or email info@mrpwebmedia.com to find out how you can implement 136Words© on your website.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• MRPwebmedia
• 136words
• Audio
• Video
• Web Marketing