Make your comments and replies count! Tips to write a good comment...

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Sho!

What a response I had on my post, The 5 main reasons why posts goes wrong

In closure to this post:

That brings me to the second part of what was written by the “Steemit team” (This time I got it right :-) and which caught my attention.

It is to be found in the Community Curators for September post.

The third significant change that is being introduced for September is voting on comments.
High quality relevant comments add a whole new richness to the Steem blogging ecosystem.
Good comments can be as interesting and as valuable as good posts.
We want good comments to be encouraged and rewarded.
Therefore for September we are looking for the curation teams to allocate a significant proportion of their voting capacity to comments.

I could not have been happier with this!

The first time a curating team introduced this was when I was part of The7Up.

Team Lucky Dip then enhanced this initiative and took it one step further and now the Steemit Team is taking it even further.

Today I am going to help you to be prepared for 01 September when the new curating teams kick in.

1. The difference between a comment and a reply

Comment –This is when you give your thought or thoughts on a specific post

Reply – This when you reply on a comment of the author who made the original comment. In other words, you are continuing the “discussion”.

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2. The importance of a response

I am sure most of you are familiar with Uncle Sam’s chicken, KFC.

Some years ago I attended a business seminar held at one of Johannesburg largest conference venues. The presenter was very clever as he marketed the event as FREE seminar, he advertised it to be held only on ONE evening and he never advertised that it was only going to be an “introduction” seminar.
Of course I booked, not only for me but for all twenty of my staff. They had to go and learn what makes a business successful.

The venue was packed! During the presentation the presenter told us about the bad experience he had when he ordered food from a local KFC. Bad as in BAD!

Now, let’s picture this. Let’s say there were 2,000 people attending who all heard his comment. They then each told 5 of their friends, family members or colleagues about what they have heard. These 5 tells another 5 and they tell 5 people and they each tell 5 and they each tell 5 and… and… and…

That my Steemian friends are the power of a comment not only in real life but also on a reply on a blog or a post.
There is no doubt that a response on a post can attract the attention of influencers.

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3. The how’s

Read

You have to read the full post from the heading to the last word to enable you to give a good comment or reply. I have seen comments in the last few weeks where you can see that the author only read the header or the “conclusion” at the bottom of the post which resulted in them “missing the plot”.

With curators now looking for good comments and replies you are not going to get away with it.

What also helps is to read the comments and replies from other authors before you write yours. It often happens that you will find two replies from two different authors which is similar.

Analyse

You have to analyse the post to be able to comment or reply on it.

• What is the post about
• What is the author trying to tell
• What is your understanding of the post
• What are you “seeing” in the post
• Is the author asking a question
• The what, the where, the how

Of all the posts I have seen the “The diary Game” posts are often the once with the lease responses on and the “crafty” once the posts with the most.

How can I respond on a day that someone is sharing? Easy!

By analysing the post you can.
• Look for key facts
• Look for specifics
• Look what is captured in an image
• Look for those stats and questions

This morning when I was doing some moderating work I didn’t know what to reply on one of the posts to make it catchy and then I saw it, an empty coffee cup! I know that Indonesians just love their coffee and I had my comment.
“An empty cup of coffee? No my friend, you are letting me down :-)”

Respond

You now have to respond by putting your thoughts down as a comment or a reply. If you are still unsure about the difference about a comment and a reply go back to the top of the post and read it again.

Most of us responds on a post when we are in a hurry and therefore we don’t give our responses must thought. Yah, I can see all those guilty faces.

Three quick tips for writing those responses even when you are in a hurry.

1. Write something nice about the post
2. Mention something which shows that you know what the post is all about
3. Add something which is helpful or from which others can learn or answer the question if asked

Of importance is to remember that a little bit of motivation can go a llloongg way!

There has been numerous responses on my posts in the last week.

My favourite so far.

In the end it is all we want,
• Interaction with our posts
• Responses that we value

Lastly let me share with you what you need to avoid when you write your responses.

• Don’t respond with less than 40 words (First response)
• Take other authors points of view in consideration
• Don’t write garbage
• Use facts and not fiction
• Don’t copy text from the post and then add a couple of your own words. If you copy text write a meaningful reply on it
• Do not get into arguments
• Avoid sarcasm
• Don’t share big images
• Don’t post without checking spelling, grammar and punctuation

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Don't let your responses take you to jail but straight to the start where you can collect!

“Our responses are the fingerprint of our heart and the DNA of our conscience.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough