I love reading articles on <a href="https://medium.com/">Medium</a>, they provides me with useful information. On a deeper level, they (good writers) also show how a (good) long-copy format is still as consumable as a few seconds video format.Here are <a href="https://medium.com/free-code-camp/how-to-write-medium-stories-people-will-actually-read-92e58a27c8d8">some tips</a> for new writers on Medium who are trying to build an audience base. (Yes, that includes me)

Medium is the message, pun intended.

You can write a great title with a powerful clickbait, but if your content is not as good as your title, you'll have to face angry comments from readers who just lost 5 minutes of their precious times.Like a great advertisement with disappointing product performance. You can write great content; a compelling story with a unique point of view that gives meaningful information to your audience. But if your title is too weak to drive click, then your great content will be sink in the sea of cruel algorithm.Like a great products with low awareness.

The importance of Title and Content; each has their own roles. Just like Product and Marketing.

Learn from <a href="https://deepstash.com/article/144276/quantifying-the-clickbait-and-linkbait-in-buzzfeed-article-titles">how BuzzFeed creates compelling headlines.</a>Inject hyperbole and fear-of-missing-out.Here are some types of headlines that work well on Medium:<ul><li>grand pronouncements like “X is over”, “X is broken”, or “X is bull****”</li><li>Headlines that use negative words like “stop”, “never”, and “don’t ever ____ again”</li><li>The “I _____ and it was _____” pattern (for example: “I ate pizza for breakfast and it was glorious”)</li></ul>

Killer Headline

HubSpot <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/seo-social-media-study#sm.00000z83pnwr7kdwxvrrsinzxyr7l">analyzed</a> 6,000 blog posts and found that stories with 8 to 14-word headlines get more social media shares.

Your headline should have the right length

The more emotional (positive or negative) a headline is, the more likely people will click it.The <a href="https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer">headline analyzer</a> provides a tool to help you balance the length and sentiment of your headlines.

Evoke the right emotion with your headline

Your opening image on Medium will serve as your story’s ambassador everywhere: social media news feeds, Reddit, Google News — even RSS readers.The opening image in <a href="https://medium.com/free-code-camp/how-to-write-medium-stories-people-will-actually-read-92e58a27c8d8">this article</a> the writer chose an image of Emma Stone portraying an aspiring journalist at her typewriter in the 1960s. It’s from the popular 2011 period movie “The Help.”A stock photo of someone sitting at their laptop would have looked too generic. Our news feeds are already filled with these pictures.The images are there to visually reinforce each story’s message, while lending them flavor.

Arresting opening images

Once your reader clicks through to your story, the trial begins. Keep in mind that your readers are looking for any excuse to jump back to their news feed. Reading requires a lot more effort than scrolling through cat photos.Don’t waste time with intros or updates — start making points and telling your story immediately.

Start your content with a strong lead

Figure out a way to establish your credibility within the first few paragraphs. If you are a top expert in your field, say so. Don’t assume that people are going to take the time to google you.Are you writing about health as a non-physician? Are you writing about personal finance as a non-millionaire? You’ll need to overcome any skepticism readers may have about your credibility.Reinforce your credibility throughout your story. Support your arguments with data. Use inline links to (non-paywalled) research.This isn’t the New England Journal of Medicine. This is Medium. So don’t use footnotes.

Establish Credibility

Good writing is hard. Like any skill, it takes practice. There are no shortcuts to becoming a strong writer.Do yourself a favor: write what you know.Have you ever heard the term “writers block?” Writer’s block happens when you don’t know enough about a topic to write about it. The antidote is research. Learning. Going out into the field.Good Medium stories don’t come naturally. For every minute of story length, expect to spend at least an hour writing, re-writing, and editing your story.

Write smart. Write what you know.

Medium’s data scientists found that 7 minutes is the optimal length for a Medium story.In practice, a story should be as long as it needs to be, and no longer.If you can’t come up with at least 5 minutes worth of thoughts, rethink the premise of your story.

Medium readers prefer longer stories.

Paste your story into the <a href="https://hemingwayapp.com/">Hemingway Editor.</a> This will highlight dense sentences, adverbs, passive voice, and other style issues. It will also assign a grade level to your overall writing.Despite what you may have learned in English composition class, people prefer short paragraphs to “walls of text.”There’s nothing wrong with single-sentence paragraphs.

Tighten up your prose. Keep it simple.

It gives tangible tips on how to write Medium stories that people will actually read.

More than 30 million people use Medium each month. They come here in search of something worth reading. Something substantial. And you can give it to them. Medium’s algorithms put you on a level…

writing

Reading & Writing

communication

Communication

How to write Medium stories people will actually read

"Creating a listicle" does not guarantee clickbait. If we want to create a headline that drives shares, we need to understand which are the powerful elements from a listicle we can utilize further.Thankfully Max Woolf has taken the time to do a deep dive analytical <a href="https://medium.com/free-code-camp/how-to-write-medium-stories-people-will-actually-read-92e58a27c8d8">research</a> on how BuzzFeed's approach in using listicle has been successful in driving the article share-ability.

"Listicle" is not the core idea of a story, it's a vehicle to tell a story.

The headline usually begins with [X] as a numeral element. Including [X] reasons, [X] books, [X] movies, etc, where [X] is any 1 or 2-digit numeral. The size of [X] can be varies. The distribution of listicle in BuzzFeed is centered at the median of 19 entries. Surprisingly, the bigger the size of [X] is, the more shares it drives. A 30-size listicles receive more shares than a 10-size listicles.

Powerful element of a listicle #1: Numeral or [X]

BuzzFeed go-to listicle phrases has changed over the year.In 2012, BuzzFeed most used listicle began with the [X], while in 2014, they began with [X] things. The "the" is technically redundant. The intention might be to make the listicle schema cleaner and less formal, thus it's possible that the listicle began with [X] things performs better than the [X].

Powerful element of a listicle #2: The phrase that goes with [X]

Listicle using [X] things does indeed  perform slightly better than the [X] on average. Emotional words which you would never find in a more serious journalistic publication such as 'insanely', 'awesome', and 'probably' are some of the key driver of shares.

Powerful element of a listicle #3: The types of listicles

BuzzFeed tends to write more frequently towards then-current events. For example, there were many articles about 2012 election during 2012, while April 2013 consisted of many articles about the Boston Marathon bombings.There is more uncertainty in the accuracy of the average on keywords, especially with #1 word, career.There is a strong focus on nostalgia, with toys, childhood, and 80s. Certain brands like disney and potter fits the nostalgia too.Words such as which and character are likely caused by <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/quizzes">BuzzFeed quizzes</a>, which have been incredibly popular.

Powerful element of a listicle #4: Key keywords

3-Word phrases (trigrams) provided more helpful information than phrases of other lengths. 'Character are you', a frequent phrase in quizzes, is what leads to the most virality. These performs 3-4 times better than the best listicles on average.'Things you probably don't know', 'things you never did', 'things you don't' - these phrases seems redundant but they refer to a bigger theme.There is a frequent appeal on 'you', the reader, with 'you'/'your'/'you’re' appearing in about half of the top phrases.

Powerful element of a listicle headline #5: 3-Word Phrases

A deeper understanding of what makes listicle a powerful to help articles share-ability. 

You probably do not know that the 3 most interesting things I found will blow your mind.

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

problemsolving

Problem Solving

Quantifying the Clickbait and Linkbait in BuzzFeed Article Titles

Each of us has a superpower – it is your unique talent, an ability no one else in your company routinely exhibits, that one thing that always makes your brain dance. What I find interesting is the number of people who have not identified or downplay their superpower. Here are five ways to identify your Superpower:

Finding Your Superpower

Question what you’ve always done well. We all come with batteries included. Believe it or not, you have had this superpower since you were a little kid. You may have exhibited it in different ways throughout your life, but it has always been there.

Examine how you interact in new environments. You automatically bring your superpower to every situation, every activity. There is a theme to how you participate in the opportunities and activities you seek out – your superpower is evident in each of them.

Ask yourself — what comes naturally to me? You may not think of your superpower as all that distinctive because it just happens – there is no conscious thought behind it. Your superpower may feel dull to you; however, when you recognize it, you will understand what drives you.

Consider what people count on you to do. Everyone else recognizes your superpower and they seek you out because of it. They are naturally drawn to you. Think about what people regularly ask you to do.

Think about what you love. You love to use your superpower no matter where you are. It shows up in your personal life, your professional life, and all your relationships.

Once you recognize your superpower, you can strengthen it by using it to become the best version of you. Your superpower is you – celebrate it and wear that cape proudly!

Best Version of You

"Where there is great power there is great responsibility."-Winston Churchill “With great power comes great responsibility.”-Spider-Man

Superpower Quotes

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

5 Steps to Find Your Superpower

First understand the counterpart and then you'll get what inside their head. From where they're coming from.<ol><li>How does the person like to be communicate with?</li><li>What action can I take to make a yes easier for them?</li><li>What's the person's dominant communication style?</li></ol>

Do Your Research

As if you are adequately prepared, it's time to have the conversation. Don't just attack bluntly. Spend time on being personable. Show your human side. Ask diagnostic questions, like "what are your thoughts about...?"Open-ended questions helps you to dig deeper to find out more relevant information and perspectives of other person.<ol><li>Can you explain how you arrived at that solution?</li><li>Can you walk me through your decision making process?</li><li>How can we make this beneficial for both of us?</li></ol>

Ask Deeper Questions

"No" is an opportunity, not an ending.Use the FEEL, FELT and FOUND formula:FEEL: I understand why you might feel that way. Many others have felt the same way.FELT: I understand where you are coming from. During points in my career I have felt the same way.FOUND: What i have found is....

Get Ready For Objections

We usually dealt with some people with whom we hardly get negotiate easily.

Here are three steps to blast through resistance and nail your next negotiation.

career

Career

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

3 Steps to Negotiate Anything

The speed of light in a vacuum is 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second), and in theory, nothing can travel faster than light. In miles per hour, light speed is, well, a lot: about 670,616,629 mph. If you could travel at the speed of light, you could go around the Earth 7.5 times in one second.

How fast is light in miles per second?

space

Space

How Fast Does Light Travel?

Abraham Harold Maslow (1908 – 1970) was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization. Maslow was a psychology professor at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research, and Columbia University. He stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a "bag of symptoms". (Wikipedia)

Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of the best-known theories of motivation. Maslow's theory states that our actions are motivated by certain physiological and psychological needs that progress from basic to complex.This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more advanced needs.There are five different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid of needs are made up of the most basic needs while the most complex needs are at the top.

Hierarchy of Needs

The physiological needs include those that are vital to survival. Some examples of physiological needs include:·       Food·       Water·       Breathing·       HomeostasisIn addition to the basic requirements of nutrition, air, and temperature regulation, physiological needs also include shelter and clothing.

Physiological Needs (Level 1)

At the second level of Maslow’s hierarchy, the needs start to become a bit more complex. At this level, the needs for security and safety become primary.People want control and order in their lives. Some of the basic security and safety needs include:·       Financial security·       Health and wellness·       Safety against accidents and injury

Security and Safety Needs (Level 2)

The social needs in Maslow’s hierarchy include love, acceptance, and belonging. At this level, the need for emotional relationships drives human behavior. Some of the things that satisfy this need include:·       Friendships·       Romantic attachments·       Family relationships·       Social groups·       Community groupsIn order to avoid loneliness, depression, and anxiety, it is important for people to feel loved and accepted by others.

Social Needs (Level 3)

At the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy is the need for appreciation and respect. Once the needs at the bottom three levels have been satisfied, the esteem needs begin to play a more prominent role in motivating behavior.At this level, it becomes increasingly important to gain the respect and appreciation of others. People have a need to accomplish things, then have their efforts recognized. In addition to the need for feelings of accomplishment and prestige, esteem needs include such things as self-esteem and personal worth.

Esteem Needs (Level 4)

At the very peak of Maslow’s hierarchy are the self-actualization needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested in fulfilling their potential.

Self-Actualization Needs (Level 5)

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs represented part of an important shift in psychology. Rather than focusing on abnormal behavior and development, Maslow's humanistic psychology was focused on the development of healthy individuals.

Impact of Maslow's Hierarchy

“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.”-Abraham Maslow

Maslow Quote

Maslow's hierarchy of needs describes five levels of needs that motivate human nature. Learn more about the pyramid of needs and why it matters.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

How Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Explains Human Motivation

How many words per minute (WPM ) can you type? 20WPM? 30 WPM? 50 WPM? Well, if you want to increase your typing speed, plenty of free resources are available to help you learn to type faster and more accurately. To find out your WPM you can take a typing test <a href="https://10fastfingers.com/typing-test/english">here</a>. Here are 8 ways to improve your typing speed, — no paid software required! With just a few hours of weekly practice, you’ll be ready to take on the world in no time!

Type Faster On The Physical Keyboard

You should warm-up before typing just like you would before a workout. Finger exercises can help expand your hands and promote blood flow, making typing much simpler later on. When typing, use a gentle grasp on the keys rather than a death grip. With a death grip, you increase your chances of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, which will make typing much more difficult. Warm-up exercises don’t have to be complicated; try twisting your wrists and gently stretching out your fingers.

Make a Habit of Finger Exercises

Most keyboards have at least a few shortcuts that can help you quickly navigate the computer and save you some time. If you’re not sure which shortcuts are best for you, try going to your computer’s help center. You’ll usually be able to find a list of all the shortcuts and how to use them. Keyboard shortcuts can not only help you save time when typing, but they can also help you avoid getting carpal tunnel syndrome. If you’re constantly moving your hands from the keyboard to the mouse and back again, you’re more likely to injure your wrists.

Use Keyboard Shortcuts

Touch-typing is a typing technique that lets you look away from the keyboard while typing. With this technique, you’ll use the feel of keys and their position on the keyboard to type. At first, it can be frustrating to try to remember which keys are where, but most people can type pretty fast with this method after a few weeks. Try learning at these websites: <a href="https://www.keybr.com/">Keybr.com</a> and <a href="https://10fastfingers.com/typing-test/english">10fastfingers.com</a>, in addition to <a href="https://www.typing.academy/">TypyingAcademy</a>, are three FREE websites to visit.

Touch Typing: Type While You Look At The Screen

Make sure your chair is comfy while you’re typing. You want to be able to sit up straight, but you don’t want the chair pushing you forward so much that your back curves. Your chair should provide support for your lower back while also keeping your upper body upright. You should also ensure that your workstation is properly set up. Your keyboard should be set at a comfortable height for you. Set your computer monitor to eye level so you don’t have to strain your neck to look at it.

Get a Comfortable Chair and Desk

If you’re looking to maximize your efficiency when typing, it’s important to get your workstation organized. Put all the things you need for your current task in the same place. If you’re working on a paper, for example, you should have your computer, notes, and a thesaurus nearby. If you keep everything where it needs to be, you’ll save time by not having to hunt down things. You’ll also be less likely to make mistakes if you don’t have to peep around for a pen when you need it.

Organize Your Workspace

Most word processing products have a spell check and autocorrect option that can assist you in catching errors. If you need some more assistance, consider utilizing a grammar tool like Grammarly, which will provide suggestions and help you identify errors. If you’re continually making silly mistakes, like opening a sentence with “Me” or typing “their” when you mean “there,” these tools can help. It also allows you to type more confidently because you don’t have to worry about making silly mistakes.

Turn on Spell-Check and Autocorrect

If you find yourself constantly looking down at the keyboard when typing, try not to look at it. Instead, focus on your screen. Looking at your screen will help you type faster since you don’t have to keep moving your eyes from the keyboard to the screen and back every few seconds. Plus, if you’re looking at the keyboard while typing, there’s a good chance your eyes will fall on the wrong keys. If you’re not looking at the keyboard, you’ll have a better chance of typing without any silly mistakes.

Don’t Look at The Keyboard when Typing

Not taking a break can lead to an unnecessary and frustrating slowdown in your workflow. A typing break is exactly what it sounds like. You’re giving yourself a break from typing. This break can help you clear your mind and get your thoughts organized. If you take a break, you’ll come back to your work with a fresh mind and energy. You’ll find it easier to get back into a regular workflow and get things finished. You don’t have to do anything special during your break. Just take a short walk around the block, grab a coffee, or sit outside for a few minutes.

Take a Typing Break

Learning to type is a skill that will serve you well for the rest of your life. Whether you’re a working professional or a student, you’ll be using a keyboard until you’re 90. Learning to type faster can be frustrating, especially if you’re a beginner. But with a bit of practice, you’ll be zipping through assignments and emails in no time. Once you’ve learned the basics of typing, try out some of the tips listed above to further increase your typing speed.

Start Practising!

Typing fast on the keyboard is a must-have skill.

How many words per minute (WPM ) can you type? 20WPM? 30 WPM? 50 WPM? Well, if you want to increase your typing speed, plenty of free resources are available to help you learn to type faster and more…

Learn to Type Fast for Free — 8 Tips to Help You Type Faster

Linguistic research tracks patterns in how thanks is articulated.“You’re welcome” doesn't always come across as polite anymore.You’re welcome’s positive politeness orientation can make it seem snarky or braggy.The alternative phrase "No problem" reflects the fact that offsetting a sense of imposition or obligation is now a cultural norm.

The Reply To A 'Thanks'

When looking at the pattern of how we respond to thanking over the past 50 years, there are two things that are striking. One is the rise of the phrase “no problem” as a popular alternative to “you’re welcome,” and the second is the fact that, despite the feeling that “you’re welcome” is fading fast from our lips, there is not overwhelming evidence that this is true. Studies still show it as the most popular response to “thank you” for Americans .

The Last Fifty Years Of Thank You Replies

this doesn’t mean that it will lose its old meaning as a genuinely polite phrase. “You’re welcome” was the most likely response when responding to more elaborate thanks (e.g., thank you so very much vs. thanks). But to a more casual “thanks,” “you’re welcome” might come across as snarky while “no problem” doesn’t have, well, the same problem.So, yes, there might be some sarcasm behind the “you’re welcome,” but don’t lose hope - there is often still a lot of gratitude too.

The Bottom Line

Expressing gratitude can risk sounding snarky. What phrases are preferred?

The Sarcastic “You’re Welcome”

Having kids showed me how to convert a continuous quantity, time, into discrete quantities. You only get 52 weekends with your 2 year old. If Christmas-as-magic lasts from say ages 3 to 10, you only get to watch your child experience it 8 times. And while it's impossible to say what is a lot or a little of a continuous quantity like time, 8 is not a lot of something.

Continuous vs. discrete perception

If you find yourself thinking that life is too short for something, you should try to eliminate it if you can.

When I ask myself what I've found life is too short for, the word that pops into my head is "bullshit."If you ask yourself what you spend your time on that is bullshit, you probably already know the answer.Unnecessary meetings, pointless disputes, bureaucracy, posturing, dealing with other people's mistakes, traffic jams, addictive but unrewarding pastimes.

We spend a lot of time on "bullshit"

One heuristic for distinguishing stuff that matters is to ask yourself whether you'll care about it in the future. Fake stuff that matters usually has a sharp peak of seeming to matter. That's how it tricks you. The area under the curve is small, but its shape jabs into your consciousness like a pin.

How to distinguish stuff that matters

If life is short, we should expect its shortness to take us by surprise. And that is just what tends to happen. You take things for granted, and then they're gone.You think you can always write that book, or climb that mountain, or whatever, and then you realize the window has closed. The saddest windows close when other people die. Their lives are short too.

Life takes us by surprise

Cultivate a habit of impatience about the things you most want to do. Don't wait before climbing that mountain or writing that book or visiting your mother. You don't need to be constantly reminding yourself why you shouldn't wait. Just don't wait.

Cultivate impatience

Relentlessly prune bullshit, don't wait to do things that matter, and savor the time you have. That's what you do when life is short.

Prune bullshit.

I think that we tend to take many things for granted and one of them is time. Our life is way shorter than we might think, thus we should try to get the most out of it.

habits

Habits

Life is Short

A nod of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_head">head</a> is a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture">gesture</a> in which the head is tilted in alternating up and down arcs along the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittal_plane">sagittal plane</a>. In many <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture">cultures</a>, it is most commonly, but not universally, used to indicate <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus">agreement</a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance">acceptance</a>, or acknowledgement.There are few exceptions with some countries swapping the meanings between nodding and shaking head: in Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania a single nod of the head up (not down) indicates a "no".

What country nods to say no?

Nod (gesture) - Wikipedia

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