On my drive to work earlier this week, I heard the familiar voice of a writer colleague on the radio. I soon became uncomfortable listening to my colleague, for reasons that I’ll share shortly. The experience reminded me about the absolutely different skills required of a speaker and a writer.

I’m not going to name the writer because my post isn’t an attack on him; it’s an appeal to every person who may be interviewed or stand before an audience at a conference or other speaking engagement. Practice speaking, and consider getting training and experience in public speaking through associations or organizations such as Toastmasters, International.

A few months ago, after seeing some weaknesses in my speaking style, I joined a Toastmasters club that had just formed at work. Although I’ve only completed a few talks, I already see and hear the improvement in my structured and off-the-cuff talks. Club members actually gloat now when they catch me saying “um” or “err.” It doesn’t happen often!

My work within the Toastmasters program is what made me more aware of the conversation that my colleague had earlier this week with the host of a major Chicago-based radio station. The colleague was being interviewed regarding an article he had written that appears in the most recent issue of a consumer magazine.

As the colleague answered question after question from the radio host, my emotions changed from excitement, to bemusement, to unbelief, and finally to sadness. This colleague is a solid communicator—of the written word. He has strong journalistic senses and churns out a massive amount of well-written online and print articles and opinion pieces.

But he seemed ill-prepared and very unsure of himself during the radio interview. He stumbled over himself and strung out disjointed answers to the host’s relatively straightforward questions about the background for the article and some general questions about the people who are featured prominently in the article.

It sounded like the radio host had awakened my colleague from a deep sleep in the middle of night. But the reality must have been that the interview was prearranged, giving my colleague time to prepare.

I’m more convinced than ever of the very different skills involved in writing and speaking. Of course, both require organization and an understanding of how to communicate with an audience. But a writer cannot just “wing it” in front of an audience (or a radio host) without a different kind of preparation. When he tries, the lack of preparation comes through loudly and clearly.

My headline is long, and the explanation for the question it raises could be much longer. I’ll try to keep it short, and explain how I plan to change the focus of this blog…sort of.

When I first started blogging, I was focused on communications issues, primarily filtering my comments through the more than 25 years of experience I have gained as a journalist, trade magazine senior editor, public relations specialist, and corporate communications coordinator–among other positions.

In some of my posts, I was able to take the position of a knowledgeable outsider–someone who understood the communications situation or issue, and whose perspective wasn’t colored by any emotion or agenda that might exist if I were an active participant in the situation or issue.

But over time, I’ve grown frustrated over my lack of freedom to share any thoughts or opinions about communications situations and issues that involve me directly. I’ve said it before: The main reason that you don’t see more blogging by internal communications professionals outside of their internal networks is that it is career hindering.

“Loose cannons” don’t get promoted in most organizations, and it is difficult to effect real change when you are not placed highly in an organization. I don’t want to be perceived as a loose cannon to my employer, and I want to build bridges between the subsidiary for which I work and the parent company.

The many conversations and situations gathered over my career that I don’t feel free to share here would be poignant in a novel. And that has been my novel idea for a while!

In the meantime, I’ll write here about matters that are important to me, but the topics will be as broad as my interests–which cover a much larger space than internal communications. Whatever I write, I’ll pick topics that I can speak about unencumbered by any real or imagined restraints–other than good taste.

During a much-needed and unplanned sabbatical from podcasting and blogging, I thought about my plans for this site. CommaKazi Speek began as an extension of my desire to delve into the world of social media. First, I blogged. Then I created podcasts.

Both ventures provided me with practical experience and a better perspective of this portion of the social media space. They helped me to connect with other bloggers and podcasters. They let me stretch my professional skill set while having fun.

Like a lot of people, I have plans for my life–both professionally and personally. Those plans change at times, due to circumstances or opportunities. I wondered whether my blog and podcast could help me launch into a different phase of my career. They didn’t. They remain a hobby without reward, other than personal satisfaction.

That only goes so far, when I have to balance other commitments and responsibilities. So I’m planning to shut down my CommaKazi Speek podcast site as soon as I ready this blog to handle podcasts. Why pay Libsyn to store my old shows, when I can’t be sure when I will have new content ready to post? I’ll be downloading PodPress and then using it to distribute any podcasts that I choose to create in the future.

At the same time, I’ll be changing the focus of this blog…sort of. In June 2005 I launched the predecessor of this blog on Blogger.com. My purpose for launching the site was to prepare me to blog as a volunteer at the 2005 IABC International Conference. I believed that blogging at the IABC conference would:

• help me to focus during the conference
• broaden my networking efforts
• force me to dive into this blogging thing

My final reason given at the time was that Warren Bickford, 2005 IABC Chair, had asked for volunteers, and “it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Those initial posts on the IABC Cafe opened the door for me to continue posting there for a couple of years, while I moved this blog to its current home.

Because I started blogging at an international conference for communicators on its blog, the focus of my blog posts up to now primarily has been on communications issues. About what else was I going to write?

As time passed, although I was careful to keep a self-imposed wall between my work as a corporate communicator and my opinions expressed on the two blogs (mine and the IABC Cafe), that wall negatively impacted my ability to write meaningful posts regarding communication trends and experiences. The bottom-line point for this post is that I plan to move away from communication issues…sort of.

I’ll write more about this tomorrow.

Hi, it’s been a while–more than two months–since I stopped posting here. Although I didn’t pre-plan the start of my “sabbatical,” or know at the beginning that I was taking one at all, it was a necessary and helpful thing for me to do.

During the past two months, my time and energy have been spent on family, other matters of no global import, and both physical and spiritual renewal. Many times, I had thoughts to express on this blog, but never did.

And did the world suffer? Hah! What clearer message could I have received than almost no contact from readers asking what was up. I’ve been able to reset my perspective and priorities since receiving confirmation that neither I nor this blog are crucial to the survival of the blogosphere (lol).

So what happens next here, if anything? I’ll continue to write, with a different focus. I have a plan for this blog and my soon-to-disappear podcast site.

Shel Holtz has launched a campaign to resist the blocking of employee access to online content such as blogs and social networking sites like Facebook. As an internal communications professional who recently had to deal with IT’s blocking of the MyRagan social networking site (but, interestingly, not Melcrum’s The Communicators’ Network site), I sympathize with the stop blocking campaign.

I work in the financial services subsidiary of a global automotive manufacturer, where the issue of access to external sites isn’t as clear-cut as Shel and some others might suggest. Federal auditors come regularly to inspect the company’s procedures, processes and information security. My company is serious about maintaining the privacy of its customers, and it leans toward measures that improve data security rather than increasing unfettered employee access to information.

Many times, I’ve gotten upset or shaken my head when I learned about the latest decision regarding what access to block within the company. For the most part, I have access to anything that I need to do my job well. It sometimes required me to jump through a hoop or two, to get IT to restore access to something. For example, next month, most people within my company will not be able to use the USB ports on their computers to transfer data.

That decision was based on an audit finding. When the new policy was announced via broadcast email, I started to “see red”–until I read a portion of the email that provided information on how to retain access to the USB drives.

It took a couple of conversations with our information security team, but I was able to easily and calmly explain why I need to be able to transfer digital camera images, graphic files and audio/video files. It helps that I don’t have access to sensitive customer data, so my PC and network connections are not the same security risk as a customer service representative or someone in our Credit and Funding Department.

Anyone in my company who wants to retain access to the USB ports on their PCs must follow an agreement that spells out what is proper and improper use of the USB ports. I’ve summarized the main points below to show that they are common-sense, and not draconian.

Removable Media Agreement
• Use only company approved and supplied devices for writing to removable media.
• Take all reasonable steps to assure the security of removable media and all data on removable media.
• Under no circumstances transfer ANY customer or employee private information to removable media.
• Do not put confidential information on any form of removable media without manager’s approval.
• Do not use removable media to introduce or remove any software from any company system.
• You will be responsible for the introduction or removal of data from any company system via removable media.
• Do not use any company data for personal or commercial use or gain.

Violating this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

What do you think about limiting access to the USB ports of employee PCs? Is that done in your company?

Technorati tags:
holtz security blocking usb

Whenever long periods of time go by between posts on blogs which I regularly read, I wonder what’s behind the silence. Is the blogger overworked, overtired, waylaid, apathetic or ill? In my case, I needed to step back from this blog when the number of people and tasks facing me combined with a cold/sinus infection that decreased my stamina.

The result: cobwebs on the blog.

This probably has some well-known, prolific bloggers laughing. You know, the guys who Twitter that they’re blogging about a new social media report while recording a podcast about their new wiki that is changing the face of public relations as we know it. But many of those types (at least the ones I’m picturing) are consultants who:

• Use social media to advance their practice, by enhancing their reputation and reach, and by becoming known as “gurus” in their field,
• Are constantly traveling, where the long flights, delays and stays in hotels provide time for blog posts and tweets, and/or
• Are young and unattached, giving them fuller control over their schedules and priorities.

I started blogging and podcasting to get experience with these tools and techniques so that I could make informed recommendations when discussing social media with management at my employer. Don’t get me wrong: If, along the way, I had the opportunity to launch my own consultancy that provided endless professional opportunities, along with bags of cash, I’m sure that, today, I would be one of those consultants described above. I’m not knocking consultants. The fact is, many communications consultants have, directly or indirectly, taught me a lot about social media–and I remain grateful to them all.

My point is that when you look “behind the scenes” in many organizations, the reasons why so many employees are NOT blogging, podcasting or tweeting include the fact that we ARE NOT CONSULTANTS.

If my company hired a consultant to provide guidance on the possible introduction of social media within the company, management and staff would expect the consultant to tactfully, but accurately, present the facts regarding the value of social media tools and techniques–and the opportunities that would exist within the company for employing those tools and techniques.

But I’d love to hear from any internal communicators who have experienced something like this next scenario: You spend a lot of time developing a strategy for introducing social media tools and techniques within your organization–only to get pooh-poohed or outright denied the chance to make your case.

A second difference between consultants and in-house employees: free speech. Some of the most interesting blog posts that I’ve read have been written by consultants who start with the phrase, “At a company where I worked (or consulted)…” In the case of an internal communicator, every post that mentions the company has the potential to bring heat upon the author–up to and including termination. In my case, why would I jeopardize my job to write a post about a struggle that I might be having with management over social media tools or policies? The people in the trenches have a great position to gather “real-world” tales of trials and errors. But many of those tales never make it onto a blog.

So some of my silence has been caused by my decision to keep some things in my life “behind the scenes.” But that won’t stop me from writing about the rest!

It might sound like a back-handed compliment to say that the free Ragan Communications Social Media unConference on social media held today in Chicago was worth it, but I’m not being facetious.

Even a free event costs participants time and travel expenses, and if the event had not lived up to expectations, I might have reason to grumble. Thankfully (for me AND you), I would have to be picky to find something to criticize. In fact, I’m doing the exact opposite and thanking the organizing company, Ragan Communications, and the individuals who did the heavy-lifting of planning the event.

Yesterday, I signed up to lead one of the sessions (that’s the flexibility of an Unconference), and had a great time sharing some of my recent successes in moving forward with the introduction of social media within VW Credit, Inc.

I even got the kick in the pants to start blogging again, which was sorely needed and deeply appreciated.

ragan unconference social+media