How Our Questions Connect Us
Over the past three weeks I’ve been exploring the importance of finding common ground and methods that are less effective and methods that are more effective.
Why, as storytellers, are we searching for common ground? This is the place where your interests overlap with the interests of your audience. It is the reason someone will look at your video, read your blog post or Instagram post.
While many in the media, new or old, grab our attention through common enemies or common fears this series is focusing on finding common interests, experiences, and concerns.
Last week I wrote about the role of sharing our personal experiences in connecting with your audience. This week I want to look at another popular way of connecting, and that is a shared question.
What do I mean about a shared question? Here are a few of the questions asked by some of the top speakers on TED.com.
Simon Sinek: How do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions?
Julian Treasure: How can we speak powerfully to make change in the world?
Kelly McGonical: Who here has experienced stress?
Celeste Headless: how many of you have unfriended someone on Facebook because they said something offensive about politics or religion, childcare, food? And how many of you know at least one person that you avoid because you just don't want to talk to them?
These are just a few examples.
You may see some commonalities. They speak to topics that people may be curious about because they map to their own personal goals. And they speak to people’s own personal experiences and sense of self.
In the last post I went into depth about the reasons we connect based on personal experiences. Connecting based on the questions we ask that our audience is also asking or has an interest in finding an answer to, that is more straightforward.
There are three other points of connection where we find common ground that I am writing about in my book about the WeStory that I’ll briefly mention here.
These include beliefs and specifically our beliefs about the existence or non-existence of a problem, the belief about the cause or implication of a problem and the belief about the available solutions and possible futures when this problem is resolved. Addressing beliefs as a place of common ground can be more tricky when we are trying to bridge divides because it often is used as a vehicle to further divides. However, it can be connecting when we look at beliefs tied to the goals of humanity such the call for change by WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who reported on the findings that air pollution is one of the biggest threats to human health on the planet. This is a belief based on facts presented by the research.
Another place of finding connection through common ground is a wish. We wish for a more inclusive workplace or for a cleaner urban center. This is about connecting over what is possible versus what is wrong.
And the final place to find connection through common ground is through the use of quotes. We see this in books or articles that start with a quote from a famous thinker that frames our ideas. Finding quotes from people who your audience relate to can quickly bring them into the world of your story as they become interested and curious about how you reflect on the idea expressed by someone they respect.
Finding common ground is one way to break through the barriers of a distracted audience. This is relevant in the area of education and sharing ideas as well as in the area of sharing your brand story and your ability to connect your work with those who need your work.
Stay tuned for two new self-study programs I’ll be launching this fall on Brand Storytelling for Individuals and Brand Storytelling for Ideas.
Previous posts in the Series:
The Power of Experiences
The Challenge Connecting with Facts
The Challenge Connecting with Concepts