After working with almost a thousand speakers over the past four years, I started seeing more patterns emerge. Different speakers kept sharing this concern: I don’t know how to find a great common ground that everyone in my audience can connect with and understand what that feels like.

First, you won’t connect with everyone in your audience at an event. There’s always going to be the dude who’s there because his boss bought him a ticket or someone else is not fully present because something way more important to them has their attention, like a loved one in the hospital. You don’t have to worry about connecting with everyone.

At the same time, I like asking two questions:

“What’s one fear that a majority of my audience has that I can help defeat?”

“What’s one desire that a majority of my audience has that I can fulfill for them?”

We all have fears and desires - that’s part of our innate humanity. How you address those fears and fulfill those desires as a speaker can mean all the difference in the world to someone in your audience. That’s a life-changing responsibility and I know you have what it takes to deliver on that opportunity because your Message matters.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing 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 Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”