Great education through simple conversation

CC. Photo by Mike.

“Writing is a lot easier once you find your voice,” people say. That’s why a lot of those same people advise would-be writers to “write how you talk.”

I can’t argue with that advice; it makes sense.

But what if you just skipped the whole writing thing altogether and just, well, talked? If writing like you talk helps to establish a more authentic voice, I would think that “talking like you talk” would be even more authentic yet. After all, when you talk, your communication isn’t just confined to the words you use; it includes all the sounds and expression of your voice, as well. With talking, you have more tools at your disposal, and if you use them well, you have the opportunity to make a greater impact on your audience than you could with writing alone.

Lots of good writing … and repackaging

I’ve struggled with how to make Kindred Road unique. I want to keep the site general enough so that it can serve as my personal site going forward, but I also want to have enough of a unique angle to let the site stand out in some way. There’s a lot of writing on the Web these days, and while a lot of that writing isn’t very good, a lot of it is. And with just some basic Internet search skills, you can find a ton of good writing on just about any topic imaginable.

I realize that each person’s view on something is unique to some degree, but I don’t want to be the guy that writes yet another article on a topic that has been beaten into submission (read: most topics). I keep tabs on a lot of blogs, and while many of those sites put out good material on a frequent basis, most of that good material is just a repackaged version of old ideas, even if many of those old ideas are worth hearing again from time to time.

I don’t want to be in the business of repackaging content, but that’s exactly what most blogs do. (Yes, even the successful ones.)

Reflection

After putting together the first Kindred Road Conversation and letting a good number of family and friends finally know about this site, I decided that it would be a good idea to take some time to go back through my notebooks and review my random scribbling from the past few months. I have a few notebooks I write ideas in — ideas for everything, really — but a lot of my ideas from recent months have been focused on Kindred Road — ideas for posts, site development, joint ventures, etc. In going through my old notes, I wanted to see if I could synthesize them and identify any common themes I could apply to the Kindred Road site.

I noticed a few recurring themes, but one in particular stood out above the rest: people. My notes made it very apparent that I want Kindred Road to be about people. More specifically:

I want to engage people in conversations on a variety of topics, and then share those conversations here on Kindred Road, all with the hope of educating (and entertaining!) others in a unique way.

So, how do you avoid being the person whose blog is filled with repackaged material? Have your site showcase one of the oldest, most universal, guaranteed-to-be-unique, tried-and-true forms of communication there is: conversations between people.

Redirection

The “Kindred Road Conversation” won’t just be part of an ongoing series here on Kindred Road; it will be the site’s focal point. As a result, I’ve changed Kindred Road’s slogan from “Do your different” to “Great education through simple conversation.” The idea is that there is much to be learned from simply “having a chat” with another human being. In a time where electronic communication is valued over human interaction in so many instances, we would be wise to remember the inherent power of simple conversation.

Thank you for your continued patience as Kindred Road finds its “sweet spot”; I can assure you that great things are coming here on Kindred Road.

Stay tuned … and I’ll see you on the Road!

P.S. I’ve done my best to adjust all posts, pages, social media presences, etc. to reflect Kindred Road’s slight change of direction, but if you find any inconsistencies with the new message, please let me know. Thanks!