Association Leadership - July/August 2008 - (Page 11)

TSAE update 60-Second Solutions Quick Information You Can Use NOW Refresh your Magazine Five Tips for Engaging Readers 1. Focus on your association’s goals, vision and mission, then ensure the magazine is reﬂective of those things. For instance, if education is one of your primary objectives, create a department devoted to education and place that department in the ﬁrst quarter of the magazine. Create a “column sig” – an identifying mark or header that brands the space, so readers look for it in every issue. 2. Know your audience and speak on their level. Are they college educated? Super busy? Do they use your magazine as a resource, entertainment or both? If you’re publishing a scholarly journal, fancy words inspire your audience. Otherwise, keep it simple for easy reading. That’s the beauty of great journalism – simple words can tell a wonderful story. 3. Cater to the busy professional. Keep things short and sweet. If the subject matter necessitates a lengthy article, start with a double-page spread, then jump the remainder of the story to the back of the magazine. Otherwise, keep stories to a twopage maximum (1,200 words allows for a nice spread with a larger graphic and a design element or two). Break heavy subject matter into a series. 4. Make pages “pop” with extras. Who wants to read two pages jammed with text? Use a mixture of design elements to keep readers interested, such as: • Enticing graphics • Subheads throughout copy • Strong verbs in headlines – try to always show action • Sidebars containing related material • Bulleted lists • Information boxes containing helpful Web sites, “Did You Know?” items, etc. These are quick, helpful bits of information that visually break up the page. • Drop caps (the large letter you often see that starts a story) • Pull quotes • Teases to upcoming stories • Requests for member participation in upcoming stories 5. Good writing is essential. Educate your writers on what’s acceptable. Clichés are an easy way out and should not be used. Strong quotes speak volumes, weak quotes are useless. If the opening paragraph (lead) isn’t powerful, readers likely won’t read further. Set the scene and tell a story with features, get to the facts with hard news. Economy with words is better than being verbose and not really saying anything. Source: Naylor, LLC July/August 2008 | Association LEADERSHIP 11 Education Conference Call Protocol 1. Use a landline rather than speaker phone or cell phone. 2. If you are on the call early, don’t discuss personal issues with colleagues on the call or in the room with you. 3. Use the “mute” button if you must eat, drink or chew gum. 4. Do not put the call on “hold” if you have to step away – especially if you have music or a message on your hold function. 5. Each time you speak, state your name. 6. If you are the call leader, poll each person if you have not heard their input or poll each person individually if a vote is needed. 7. Call leader should summarize with action steps and follow up. 8. Notes from the call should be sent to each participant. Source: Beth Brooks, TSAE Secrets of Great Webinars Key lessons on how advance planning can yield success. Know your audience: Have the knowledge and research about what your members want. Gather from surveys, asking committee members and informal discussions. Test the technology: Test drive the technology beforehand. Work with your vendor to test the seminar and speaker set-up. Don’t be cheap: In choosing vendors, make sure you have one that offers key support services. Know what you need and choose a vendor based on its services, not necessarily the price. Understand the platform and what it can do. Prepare the speaker: Not everyone can present in a virtual setting. The speaker is speaking into a void, with little or no feedback. The speaker must be energetic, must have well-planned webinar content and must understand the technology. Have a moderator handle questions so the speaker can concentrate on teaching. Plan and evaluate: Find out what time works best for your audience then promote and deliver. Then evaluate whether the content was what they needed, how the speaker did and whether the technology worked. Source: Associations Now

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Leadership - July/August 2008

Association Leadership - July/August 2008 Contents Chairman’s Column Homepage 60-Second Solutions Cover Feature: Association Lessons Learned Perspectives Association Case Study TSAE Annual Conference CEO Strategies New Members Community Spotlight Government Relations: Resources Technology: Web Site Redesign Global Summit Photo Page Great Ideas Beaumont New Mexico Index to Advertisers Advertiser.com The Lighter Side of Associations

Association Leadership - July/August 2008

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