By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd July 2010
My being a specialist in terms of being an Internal Auditor means that I am a ‘generalist’ in most of the other fields that I write about. Does that mean that I don’t have a clue about what I am talking about when it comes to those articles – of course not! What it does mean though is that I will usually have to do some research in order to check my facts.
There are occasions where I may want to (or indeed need to) quote from something that someone else has written or base my writing upon an article that I have read. When I do this, I obviously need to give recognition to the person who either wrote the article or the person who I am quoting. Come on people – it really is the right thing to do. I know just how angry I would be if I found something I had written under someone else’s name – that’s just not right!
If you are going to be writing blogs that are technical in nature, it is very important to list where you did the research as well, particularly if like me, you are a bit of a technophobe. That way, not only will you give yourself that added bit of credibility but you also allow the reader to familiarize themselves with your source – and that is always a value add to both.
If what you are writing is merely an opinion and not necessarily a fact, then that also needs to be documented – clearly. There’s nothing worse than taking what someone has written to be absolutely gospel (and then sprouting off at the mouth about it) only to find out later that it is a load of nonsense and that they were merely voicing their opinion.
Next time we will look at some additional points on the content of your blog.
Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za
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