Building a new message? Answer 3 questions first

When you’re?building a new idea?(or new content, like a pitch or presentation to support it), it can sometimes be hard to figure out where to start.?Often that’s because we’re thinking in terms of what the finished product will be and how likely it is that your ideal audience will accept and act on it.

But thinking?only?about that, especially as you’re just getting started, can lead you to skip over some important steps. Things like:

• Do you have all the pieces you need??Do you have all the parts of the idea your audience will need to understand and agree with it? Remember: ideas are built, not found. They’re built on the stories our brain creates to make sense of the world.
• Are those pieces as individually strong as they can be??Your idea, and your argument, is?only as strong as its weakest element.
• Do all the pieces work together??Just having the right pieces isn’t always enough, especially if?they’re not connected to each other.?That’s because the brain is a connection engine: in order for a new piece of information to “stick,” it has to be?attached to an older piece.

Without those steps, as my high school art teacher would often say to me (in an amaaaaazing New York accent),

“You’ve just sifted your flour, and you’re asking me, ‘How does my cake taste?’”

So, today is all about making sure you’re not skipping the very first step: making sure you’ve got everything you need to make your ideas strong enough to build longer content on, but also to make sure that both the individual ingredients, and the argument as a whole are?built for buy-in.

How? Three simple questions…that aren’t always so easy to answer.

Here we go!

1. What audience question does your idea exist to answer?

I’ve been starting all my client work these days with this “qualifying question.”?Nothing works faster to zero in on why an audience would pay attention to an idea in the first place.?Why? Because it links your idea to something your audience?already?wants, and thus is?already?bought into finding an answer for.

There are some landmines hiding in this question, though, so beware. First,?make sure it’s an?audience?question—something they’re already typing into Google.

Second,?use “exists to answer” as a test.?For example, do you exist to answer, “why should I hire/book/work with/invest in you?” No, no you do not. You and your idea weren’t put on this earth to answer?that?question. But bonus: by articulating the question you?do?exist to answer, you’ll?also?be answering the hire/book/work with/invest in you question. “Exists to answer” also ensures you aren’t pulling a bait and switch on your audience. Your idea should legitimately answer the question, and ideally, it should answer it better than any other.

Third, make sure it’s?just one question.?There shouldn’t be any “ands” hiding in there. If there are, you’re trying to build two messages simultaneously, and that way lies tears, or at least confusion and complication.

Your question should be similar to ones like:

• How can we protect communities from flooding?
• How can I bounce back from burnout?
• How can I connect with what I really care about?

2. How do you answer that question?

Like the first question, the word choice here is deliberate. Notice I don’t ask, “What’s?your answer?”, but “How?” That’s because?we humans better understand what things are in terms of what they?do.?I can describe a bicycle as having two wheels, pedals, handlebars, and a seat, much like you could describe your idea as having five steps or your organization having two offerings.

But you don’t understand what any of that actually means until you understand?how?all of that contributes to answering the question. But the?how?answer is “use the effort of your feet to power the energy behind wheels.”

When I worked at Harvard Medical School, the audience question we existed to answer was, “How can we alleviate human suffering caused by disease.” The “what” answer would be things like, “11 pre-clinical departments, 17 teaching hospitals, state-of-the-art medical training.” But the?“how”?answer would be what those things?do: accelerate our understanding of the root causes of disease.

And don’t forget:?the simplest, strongest answers to this question always have?only two parts.

Now that you have those questions answered, you need what’s going to tie them together. That brings us to…

3. Why do you answer that question that way?

Ideas are built on stories. Stories are built on?principles. That means, to make the story of your idea make sense, you need to know (and say!) the principles that tie?why?you do what you do (question 1) to why you do it?that particular way—your how (question 2). So, for each part of your answer to #2,?dig until you come up with a proverb-like principle that explains?why?that component delivers on your answer to #1.

For example,?why?does “accelerating understanding” help “alleviate human suffering caused by disease?” Because, let’s say,?the faster the pace of discovery, the faster the path to relief.?Why do “root causes” need to be part of it, too? Because?if we know the causes, we can nurture the cures. (Please note:?these are in no way the official principles of HMS nor are they necessarily representative of their current thinking. This is me retroactively applying these questions to the messages I worked on while I was there.)

Putting it together

Each part of your content should “land” one of these elements, ideally in this order:

• Qualifying question?(your answer to #1, above). Make sure you’re articulating this question early in your content. It’s what starts the story in their heads, as it articulates both a?goal?they want to achieve and the outcome they can expect from your idea.
• Core principle 1?(part of your answer to #3, above). This is the principle that explains why their current approach isn’t working and foreshadows why yours will. Ideally, introduce it after you’ve introduced the?two-part problem?that has to be solved before your audience can answer their question. This sets up the “conflict” part of your idea’s story, because this principle explains why the status quo can’t stand.
• Core principle 2?(the other part of your answer to #3, above). This principle creates the “moment of truth” that’s critical for all great stories, because it’s what creates the realization that’s required for change.
• Your idea.?This is the conclusion of the argument for your idea. In other words, if your audience wants X, and agrees that both Core Principles deliver on X, then your idea should be the combination of components that provides a logical answer for getting X (what you articulated in #2, above).

If wanted or needed, you can then add sections on implementing your idea (your?Actions), and on what additional benefits it provides (the?Goal Revisited).

Do you see how these three questions help you find the essential elements of?both?your idea and message? If you want?a handy-dandy way to see the elements altogether,?don’t miss my previous post (and link to a worksheet), “Is Your Idea Built for Buy-In?” If you want to understand?how to string the elements together into a structure your audience will always understand—story—well, that’s what my?Red Thread method?is all about.

I can’t wait to see what you build!