“Content is king” is a myth
Something else is of equal importance.
Together they rule all media.
Discover the power of what and how.
You’re in the communication business
No matter what you do to earn money, you are a communicator. Your job is to communicate.
Do you want to make people think, break bad habits, or understand the truth.
Do you want people to learn something, laugh at something, or buy something?
Do you want them to get excited about a movie, book, tv show, or concert?
Or do you want listeners to simply listen and interact with you?
No matter the reason, you are in the communication business.
And the question that must be answered and understood is this:
What is more important: What you say or how you say it?
Before you answer, consider this.
“Content is king” is not true
What you say is content. It’s a set of information.
What you say is important, but it does not rule over all media.
Most of you are not in the business of information transfer. You want listeners to do something or become something after listening to you.
You want to persuade, motivate, inspire, or move people in some way.
For example, political organizations, advertising, and podcasts may say they just want to inform you about what candidates believe. But it’s not information transfer they’re after. They want to stir your emotions so you’ll go sign a petition, go protest, go donate, or go vote their way.
The content (information, the message) you want to deliver is important, but it’s the way you deliver that content that makes the difference.
Delivery of content is equally important
So does that mean how you say it is more important than what you say?
No.
But it’s interesting to think about it.
It’s possible for a dynamic communicator to stir emotions and move listeners to act a certain way—even with weak, inconsistent, or inaccurate content.
On the other hand, poor presentation can ruin even the best content. Exciting information spoken in mumbling monotone is boring to most listeners. It’s a kind of “noise” that disrupts communication.
So delivery is not king, either. And content is not king.
Both are equally important.
Content + Delivery = King
What you say (content) is important.
How you say it (delivery) is important.
The ruler of all media is the combination of what you say and how you say it.
Content + Delivery = Communication
Communication is king
If your message is important enough to talk about, then work hard on both your content and your delivery.
Get better at both to cut through the noise and become a great communicator.
