Another confirmation that what people really want is information + emotion. Writing in in the Body and Soul section of The Times (London), Vivienne Parry University of Northumbria study of web use. She says, "The researchers found that we consistently favour websites that display the human touch above those with authoritative information."
She adds, "What we're looking for is real life stories: websites with faces, people expressing feelings and experiences...there's something about personal experiences that seems more trustworthy; it appears there's no agenda that can corrupt the information."
Of course, a danger goes along with relying on anecdotal information. One person's experience may not be typical, and while they don't necessarily intend to mislead, people do have hidden agendas. So this strategy may not in fact be the best one to follow with looking for information, but it's certainly another confirmation for those of us who communicate for a living that nothing beats using a personal story.
I would add that images that suggest a story or a relationship (like the one at the left) are more powerful than conventional headshots. At the moment, I'm putting together a press pack to help announce the publication of "Your Writing Coach," and have been brainstorming how I can make the author picture that goes with the press releases more interesting. When they're ready, I'll give you a peek here so you can see what you think.
