How do you get clearer sense of whether you are articulating your “greater story” to your audience? How do you make it easier to more clearly communicate your vision, your values and define your audience?
There’s no question that finding this clarity in your communications can be difficult. But there is a way to make things easier. Easier for you and easier for your audience to understand what you’re all about.
It starts by focusing on one thing
And if at all possible boiling that “thing” down to one word. When you do this it becomes a lot easier to audit what you’re doing.
To give you a sense of how this all rolls out, the good people over at Backstage Theatre Company offered to put themselves up for review. In a highly populated theatre market like Chicago, differentiation is extremely important. This clarity plays a crucial role.
So let’s take a look how the clarity of one word allows you to audit your communications and instantly know whether you’re on the right track.
Finding clarity through your mission
I asked BackStage’s Artistic Director, Matthew Reeder (@MatthewReeder on Twitter) about the mission of his theatre company, his reply:
“We tell stories that explore the complex dynamic (socio-political, cultural and philosophical) of the idea of family.”
Not bad right? The mission has a clear vision of the topic they explore. So we don’t need to go through the process of breaking down the mission. I’d like to see perhaps to what end the mission serves its audience. But overall it’s a good place to start.
For the sake of this exercise let’s strip the mission to its core:
Stories that explore the idea of family
And of course, we can boil it down to one word:
Family
Why bother boiling it down?
Ideally, you want a situation where people immediately get a sense of what you’re about and what separates you from the others in your space. This is especially important online where you literally have seconds to grab someone’s attention.
You also want to make it easy for people to repeat and share your message with others. This all relies on clarity and simplicity. So at this point it’s a question of which is easier for everyone to wrap their heads around?
A) Stories that explore the complex dynamic (socio-political, cultural and philosophical) of the idea of family
B) Stories that explore the idea of family
Simple choice right?
We’re looking for the entry point
We want it to be simple to repeat. As someone who likes to promote artists doing good work “Stories the explore the idea of family” is just easier. Once you attract people with the “idea of family” then you can get into the specifics later.
So one more time, one thing: Stories that explore the idea of family. One word: Family.
Now you have a gauge by which to audit your communications
Take ownership of the word. Make it very clear to everyone what makes you special. This means all communications for BackStage should somehow relate to “family.” When asked people should be able to repeat it back to you.
Take note of something else too, we’re looking for people to connect with the emotional word “family.” We’re not asking them to connect to “theatre.” It’s not about theatre. But that’s for another post.
For now let’s head over to the BackStage Theatre Company website
The first thing people are going to do is orientate themselves with the site. This usually means confirming they’re in the right place. So they’ll check out the header for the name of the company and the tag line.
Let’s look at the tagline:
Now let’s do the audit: Does the tagline reflect family?
You could make the argument that “step inside” is inviting. But if you had to click away from the website, could you tell me what made BackStage special? I could only tell you they were a theatre company.
A simple fix is to switch the tagline to: Stories that explore the idea of family. This puts the mission in full focus. Now I know what they do. It also differentiates BackStage right off the bat. It also allows the story to continue.
The story continues….
Notice what happens now when you get to the next section of the site. Do you know what ties this season together?
Well, the people who know all the plays may see how they tie together. But what about the rest of us?
If I go from the current tagline, “step inside” to this section there’s no tie-in. And I know this tie-in is important because BackStage wants to put emphasis on the thematically linked, mission driven season, rather than on individual productions. I’m not sure the current tagline helps in this regard.
But with the “Stories that explore the idea of family” tagline things become clear to everyone, don’t they?
You have to remember not everyone knows what you know. So don’t be afraid to make it clear.
One word, multiple possibilties
When you get clear about this one word, you surprisingly open up a whole new set of avenues to take your communications. In this case “family” can lead you to really push this theme creatively. Where you go depends on the personality of your company.
But some examples just to give you ideas of how you could explore your one word:
- Family-style photos of your company about page
- Family-style holiday cards to your subscribers
- The content on your blog/newsletters becomes about family themes
- Look for alliances with family related organizations
- Greet people at the door as if they’re entering your home
- Speak to your audience’s worldview of family
For all I know, BackStage could very well do these things. The list is more for others to see the possibilities.
See how narrowing the focus actually makes it easier?
So if you’re struggling to find clarity, create it by choosing one thing. Then narrow down to one word. Let that word inform your choices. Trust me, it’ll be easier for everyone.
Make sense?
P.S. A big thank you to the folks at BacksStage Theatre Company for volunteering themselves as an example for the benefit of the community. If you’re in the Chicago area be sure to check out, The Play About The Baby running through May 8th, 2010.
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I love this analysis. My only question is whether an arts organization also needs to convey the “feel” of their shows–the aesthetic sensibility (intimate, grand, actor-driven, spectacle-driven)–in their mission.
Dave,
Great stuff here. Boiling things down to one word really helps put the proper light in the proper place.
I’m thinking of ways I can use this idea on my new site.
Very intriguing!
Hi Eric,
Thanks for the comment.
I believe it’s less about the mission conveying the feel and more about what you actually do that conveys the feel. Show don’t tell, so to speak.
For example, take rock band U2. Since the early days when they were 16 the band has always been about connecting with there audience. When they were playing small venues you could literally see the need to connect oozing from Bono. He would gladly bring people onstage. Or go off into the crowd.
Now that they’re selling out stadiums you can still see the same desire. Take the design of their new 360 stage. It essentially removed the stage so the band could be right in the middle of the crowd and make the large venue feel more intimate.
I’m all for doing whatever you need to do so people can understand your mission without having to read it.
So if you want to be intimate– look for ways to make things intimate. Grand, be grand. Actor-driven, put your actors front and center. Let them tell your story. Etc.
If the words aren’t put into action they’re only words. That’s how I look at it.
Great post, Dave. It takes Jim Collins’ idea of the Hedgehog Concept a step further. Not only does it help your patrons, it helps your artists, staff, and board convey the company’s driving force. I completely agree with your comment above, too. We all need to get better at demonstrating our essence visually through the design and content of our websites. Since we work with words on stage, we tend to default to them as a way to convey who we are. But the visceral impact of good design and carefully chosen photos will be remembered long after the words are forgotten.
Hi Amy,
I have to revisit the HedgeHog Concept. I’ve heard of it but the details are slipping my mind at the moment.
Great points about design and photos. I’m actually a big fan of using photos of your audience too. It allows new people to see if they fit in with the community of your work.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again.
Dave
Love this idea… I’ll have to think about this more before I can implement it best, but it’s right in line with why I recently redesigned my headshot website and my acting website. CLARITY!
Thanks for the comment Nick. Love the new redesign by the way.
D.
Hi Dave,
This is interesting. It triggered an idea about developing a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Identifying the one key word provides the core. Then it is a matter of adding verb (or noun) to expand it in the desired direction.
I wish I had learned of this several months ago. It would have saved me a lot of time.
Thanks for the insight Dave.
Thanks for commenting Warren. I wish I had gotten to you sooner to save you those months. =)
Hey Dave, great post (as usual!)
The comment about images made me laugh out loud! I just had a big, big problem with a client who took audience pics the prior year for an event they do annually. We landed a story with a big newspaper, paper called for pics, I saw what they had on hand, and oh boy. There was an elderly gentleman fast asleep in the middle of the group.
Don’t skimp on the images — have them professionally shot. (Not sure if this is something Nick’s up for, or if he does headshots only, but his work is top). And then make sure to edit out the old guy sleeping in the back.
Thanks Karen. That’s hilarious. And yes, Nick is phenomenal. Why do you think I look so good? 😉
Karen,
While the photo of the guy sleeping in the audience doesn’t fit the news story, it may still be an opportunity to create interest.
Cropping a close shot on the sleeping man and asking the question “What is he missing?”, would be a good lead for an informational or specific performance mailing.
Oooh, Dave, this is such a good exercise! Difficult, challenging, but good.
It forces you to peel away all the extraneous stuff and really focus… and a focused, targeted marketing message is always more memorable.
Thanks Pamela. You are right. It’s extremely difficult. Much easier to “see” for others than it is to do for yourself too. But once you get there, it really opens up so much more. And helps create a message that is, as you say “more memorable.”
Now just say “more memorable marketing message” three times fast … 🙂
Dave,
Excellent advice. I can’t tell you how important this is on every level…boiling your idea down to its simplest version. On our VH1 show Scream Queens, every challenge we pitch to network, every story line we decide to chase when shooting, has to be easily communicated. The acting challenge isn’t about overcoming one’s phobias of insects to believably portray the correct shade of fear…the challenge is about cockroaches. That says it all. We pitch the network cockroaches, and they instantly envision every great horror movie that had a scene with bugs, creatures, or other creepy-crawlies, and then fill in the blanks about the kind of emotions we’ll see from the actresses, both in-character and in the reality surrounding the screen test. Just one real-world example of why you’re dead on.
Hey Biago,
Thanks for stopping by. It really does help with everything.
Simplicity is hard!
Oops, Biago.
I was in my dashboard when I replied and didn’t see your whole reply.
I love the idea of letting your audience fill in the blanks. The things we create in our own minds are so powerful. There’s a whole post in that topic.
Narrowing down a theme to one word opens a plethora of possibilities–for both the writer and reader. Adds that extra punch and clears the head of cobwebs.
Tony Buzan, the inventor of mind maps, is of the view that the use of one word unlocks our creativity and frees us fro artificial constraints.
Great summation Namami. And I agree.
I’m a big fan of mind maps. I use them all the time. Although I’ve never read any of Buzan’s books.
Which one would you recommend?
Apologies for the tardy reply. Somehow missed your comment. Anyway, it’s never too late.
Before you even think of picking up a Buzan book, why don’t you check out youtube stuff on Buzan. Might be a good idea to visit his website—Think Buzan—too.
Incidentally, you can download a free version of the mindmap software from their site. Believe me, the tool is very robust, simple, and effective—absolutely to die for.
The good news from my side is that I will be attending a workshop of his right here in India. Will let you know how it goes.
Namami
Dave, I’m late to the commenting section because I just found this post but what a great post.
I love that you worked through an example and showed where and how the main message of an organization shows (or doesn’t).
The key takeway for me is about how when we are too close to our own product, we often assume so many things but for new people, they’d not have a clue what you were really about. Making that clear is so important.
Great point John, and oh so true!