The Hero’s Journey - Stage 02: Call to Adventure

One of my favorite stories is the Lord of the Rings.

What makes it one of my favorites is how understated Frodo’s quest is from the beginning. Bilbo gives Frodo the ring of power, and when it’s realized the danger of the ring, Gandalf tells Frodo he needs to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom.

There’s no mention of Orcs, dragons, elves, dangers, none of that in the beginning - only a call to adventure. Journey to Mount Doom to destroy the ring.

Every audience I’ve ever met is looking for a call to adventure. Not just any adventure, but an adventure that stirs something deep and powerful inside their hearts.

Your audience may not be ready for an extreme adventure that completely throws them out of their comfort zone.

That’s not the point: the point is to help them transition from Stage 1, their Ordinary World, into the Call to Adventure. As I mentioned yesterday, your job in the Ordinary World is to identify what your audience is missing - what do they not realize? What are they unaware of?

And from there, then you can share the vision for the adventure you want to take your audience on.

That’s your quest for today: what’s the adventure your audience needs to embrace when you open their eyes to what they didn’t realize?

Copy and Content for Thought Leaders is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to the Copy and Content for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/CopyContentFlash and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”