Put Your Audience in the Front Row

While Storytelling  is critical for building connection, fostering empathy, and promoting innovation for impact, it is important to first identify with your audience.  Most people tend to write stories where they  are at the center versus making the story about a lesson learned or an experienced that unfolded where others are invited in.

How can we put your audience in the front row? (adapted from Center or Story-Based Strategy – LINK)

First,  define who your audience is that you are seeking to reach.Who are you trying to inspire and persuade?  Is your audience beyond the general public? Why are you seeking to connect with this audience?

Second, imagine your audience as specifically as possible. Who are thy and what is important to them?  What are their hopes, dreams, fears, and biases? What motivates them?

Third, see your work through the eyes of your audience. What might they be feeling when they experience your story?  How might they be experiencing the story?

“Empathy is at the heart of design.  Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, desing is a pointless task.”   – Tim Brown, IDEO

If you are working with students on storytelling you might want consider our ChangeMaker Stories of Hope Design Challenge.  It is available as a FREE download on our SHOP. This design challenge is allows students an opportunity to focus on their audience to craft a story with a moral or lesson with the purpose of impact.