The first thing you do to make your audience care

“Dad, look at this one!” 

I lift my eyes from my book and my 8-year old is doing a handstand inside the swimming pool. 

Or trying to, at least. 

“Did you see me??”

“I did, Alice. That was a 5 out of 10, I think.”

“Ok, I’ll try again. Keep looking!”

That goes on for a while. 

When she seems to have forgotten about me and I’m getting back into my book, the 5-year old starts shouting: 

“Dad! Dad! Dad!”

“What is it, Olivia, why are you shouting?”

“I’m going to swim from this side to the other side, ok?”

“Go for it!”

“Can you look at me?”

“Yes…” 

We’ve been at this campsite for a few days and it’s been like this since we got here. At the pool, in the playground, during a paint war activity on the beach. 

After a while, when both start shouting for me at the same time, I call them out of the pool.

“People, what’s my job?”

“You teach people stories?”, Alice says. 

“No, my job as your dad?”

They look at me blankly. 

“My job is to keep you safe, to make you feel loved, and make sure you learn how to be a half-decent human being. Do you know what is not my job?”

“I know this one! You’re not our butler!”, Olivia shouts–we had this conversation before.

“Yes. I’m not your butler, your clown, and I’m also not your audience. Have fun, but don’t expect me to watch you every second of it, ok?” 

“Ok…”, they say. 

Not a minute goes by when I hear, 

“Mom!! Can you look at me??”

🤦‍♂️

It’s not just my kids 

I complain about my kids, but if I’m honest with myself… am I really that different? 

I don’t go around asking people to watch me have fun, but I do tell stories about what I get up to. I make it part of my work everyday. I post on social media–and I'm not the only ;-)

We all want to be seen. We all want to be valued. If you want to move people to action, you can’t get away from understanding and dealing with that reality. 

When I help a client put together a keynote or a TEDx talk, we spend a huge amount of time trying to understand who their audience is: 

• What they believe in 

• What they fear 

• What they want

• What problem is stopping them from getting what they want

If you nail those things, your audience doesn’t think you’re know your subject: they think you know them. They feel seen. They feel understood. And if you actually nail the exact words they would have used, they might even think you’re reading their minds. 

Before you worry about serving your audience like a butler, or entertaining them like a clown, you have to get this right: 

Look, until you can see them. 

Sometimes–just like my kids– that’s all they really want 🤘

-Francisco 

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Getting clarity through your story to stand out from all the other coaches, speakers and entrepreneurs out there 

2. If you dream of speaking on the Red Dot, take this Scorecard and instantly discover how likely your idea is to be accepted by a TED-style organizing committee

3. If you (or your team) got any storytelling challenges, I’m sure there’s something we can do together ;-)

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