What if Your Audience Was the Hero?

Often, when we need to present an idea on change, we put enormous pressure on finding the perfect way to do so. We place ourselves in focus; we spend hours on what we will say and how we will say it, we mull over potential counterarguments and practice conversations that, most likely, are based on incorrect assumptions about our audience. How do we stop this? Make your audience the hero. When your audience is the hero of your story, and you become the mentor – everything changes. 

When presenting on change, a key tool is to remember that your presentation takes your audience on a journey. Imagine a tall mountain: as a presenter, it is your job to lead your audience from the base to the peak - around all the rough surfaces and various twists. It’s your job to map out where you want your audience to go and help them with resources and encouragement along the way.  

When guiding your audience in their journey, you must remember to work with their sequence. Research by Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross shows that there are four stages of acceptance of change: Introduction, Disruption, Exploration and Acceptance, and Embrace. Throughout the sequence, your audience may begin to feel uncomfortable or disillusioned, but you must help them through this, so they reach the final stage of Embrace. But how? 

It’s important you know your audience. You need to grab their attention by appealing to and fulfilling their needs so you can help them gain the confidence needed to reach their destination. To get to know your audience, you must utilize empathy to truly understand them and be a successful mentor. Consider the following: What are they like as a person? Why may they resist? Can your message address who they are? What areas may they not understand and why? What are their fears? These are all examples of some questions you can ask yourself about your audience when helping them move from the present to the future.  

The next crucial step in making your audience the hero is acknowledging their inevitable resistance. Once the reality of change begins to sink in, people may start feeling fear or anger, which can lead to resistance against the message you’re trying to express or the journey you’re trying to lead them on. When this happens, it’s important to remember to honor your audience and that the resistance usually stems from what they believe they need to sacrifice.  

Here are some sacrifices and risks you can consider:  

How much time will it cost them?  

What beliefs do they need to put down?  

Is the risk perceived or real?  

How will this push them?  

Is their reputation on the line?  

By addressing this resistance, you establish yourself as a trustworthy mentor who is there to help and has thought everything through before they have a chance to worry about it. Then, you can move along the journey by making the benefits of the destination clear.  

Making your audience the hero requires both you and your audience to take an inward and outward journey. Putting your audience first will allow them to better understand your vision and create a sense of trust in you and the journey you are taking on. Most importantly, your audience will feel heard and understood simply because you made them the hero.