Make this one tweak to get more engagement from your audience.

It really sucks when people who can change the world don't! Doesn't it?

It sucks even more, when the people who are working to create change everyday, struggle to make the change they really want because they're competing with all the other people and organisations out there trying to create change in their own way.

What is so different about the organisations who make standing out from the crowd look so easy, compared to all the others that struggle?

My two pennies worth... those that stand out, talk about what they believe first, and what they do second.

Take Marie Curie as a case in point here. Marie Curie doesn't exist because they want to provide end of life care (though that is what they do and they do an amazing job at it). They exist because they 'believe that everyone should get to live the best life they can, right to the end'.

Whether you or someone you know is living with a terminal condition or not, you can resonate with that belief. You likely believe it too. You want to live the best life you can and you want that for your family and friends. That's why, when Marie Curie starts their conversation with their belief, you listen to what they have to say next.

And that's exactly what any communication should do - make your audience want to hear more!

That's the biggest mistake organisations make when communicating with their audiences - they start with what they do.

How many charity events have you been to where the charity rep takes to the stage at the end of the event and they start straight into a spiel about all the services your money is helping them to provide? I'm guessing loads! How much of what they said do you remember? I'm guessing, not so much! (This is true no matter how much you support what the charity is doing).

So, how can you engage your audience so that they actually listen when you start talking?

1 - Start by telling them what you believe.

2 - Back that belief up by telling them what you do through the use of story.

Why?

Because there are countless organisations out there all vying for support from an almost identical audience to the one you're speaking to. By starting with what you believe, aside from not boring them to sleep with a ream of facts and figures, you're awakening possibility for them. You're helping them to buy into your vision while also building strong rapport with an audience who likely shares the same values as you. You're guiding them to say: 'yes, I want that too, how can I help?'

People don't necessarily want to support a call helpline that advises disabled people on what benefits they're entitled to, but they do believe that everyone should access life from a level playing field and that's why they'll support you.

And because, backing your belief up by telling your audience what you do through story, brings those facts and figures you're dying to share with them to life. It helps your audience to see the real life impact of your work while also using one of humanities oldest and most trusted tools for engagement - story.

So what might that look like?

Lets say you're a charity that provides education programmes to schools through nature, instead of saying, 'we offer workshops to schools to help children learn about nature', you could say:

'Everything we do, we do because we believe that every child should feel good about themselves. That's why we worked with (name of a school) to (what you did with them - the story). When we were done (some examples of how the children had benefited). And that's just one example of how we use our resources here at (name of your organisation). We provide (what you do).

Even though, in this example, I've talked a lot about what you say, as in, when you're speaking in person about your organisation, the same rules apply across all your communications including your website copy, your email marketing, your social media posts and your hard copy leaflets/ brochures etc.

So, in summary, if you want your organisation to stand out from the crowd, start by telling them what you believe!

If you'd like some help communicating the impact of your organisation, please get in touch at [email protected] about the new Mighty Voices services I provide.