...... Creating Passionate Users! Written and illustrated by the sharply intelligent and imaginative Kathy Sierra, her posts are filled with information and passionate opinions about how to connect to your "audience".

Think of your audience as your patients, your staff, your future business's clients, those to whom you are giving a presentation. Kathy wants to help you turn them into ardent fans.

Two recent blog posts stand out:

Better Beginnings: how to start a presentation, book, article... from yesterday, details how to give speaking presentations or to write in ways that grab the attention of your otherwise overstimulated and communication-challenged audience or readers. Her topic headlines include:

• Do NOT start at the beginning!
• Show, Don't Tell
• For the love of god, DO NOT start with history!
• DO NOT start with prereqs
• MYTH: you must establish credibility up front

She proceeds with a slew of thoughtful ideas about how to begin your speech or article.

And concludes with (in her words):

"Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph, send your thumbs into his windpipe in the second, and hold him against the wall until the tagline." -- Paul O'Neil

That's the goal, but only the truly talented can actually do that. Me? I'll settle for getting the reader to give me just one more moment. Then another. Then another. And I value deeply (and feel lucky for) each moment y'all are willing to give me.

Reducing fear is the killer app is another great post that rings so true for us in the medical profession. The story Kathy tells to illustrate her point reflects upon the huge role the healthcare profession can play in reducing fear - in this case, she writes about a healthcare person who performs well.

As an aside, Kathy has an impressive following of readers, and by highlighting her positive experience at a particular hospital to such a large subscriber base, her post serves as great PR for the hospital.

Imagine if she, or someone like her, were blogging about your bedside manner, or office efficiency, or organization's customer service. What would she, or your blogging patients or customers, be saying about you? Such is the power of "social marketing and networking"!