How to reach deep into the soul of your audience

👉 courage mon brave

I made one of my rare forays onto LinkedIn a couple of days ago and bumped into a post about what senior executives really want to hear about.

It made the point that senior executives care about profits and ROI and growth and just aren’t interested in your personal stories.

It made me wonder whether this person had ever met a CEO.

The senior executives I worked closely with in over a decade of big consulting had just one thing in common:

They were human beings

Of course they cared about profit and ROI.

But in their office after hours or over a drink, what they talked about was their struggles to balance home and business life. Their frustration trying to get their team working together rather than fighting. Their fear that their mentee who they had earmarked for a senior role wasn’t shaping up and they’d have to let them go.

And football. Or food. Or wine. Or one of a million things that humans are passionate about that isn’t ROI.

Last time I said that great emails begin with deep understanding of your audience.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a MENSA level puzzle to crack.

I’m 100% sure you know people who are typical of your target audience. Chat to them about what worries them.

Use your experience working with them in the past and the challenges and frustrations they told you about.

And use your experience as a human being. What are the challenges and frustrations you worry about? They won’t be too far different.

If you want to write in ways that resonate and hit home, your issue isn’t finding out what topics your idea clients care about.

It’s being brave enough to talk about what really worries them rather than churning out another post on growing your LinkedIn following or building a strategic plan.