Connect Emotionally with Those You Serve

• July 10, 2019

One way to draw a crowd on social?

Inspire them to “feel” something through your content.

When creating relevant and valuable content, it’s essential that the insights you share inspire your clients to think and envision themselves leveraging these ideas in order to improve their own businesses and lives.

But “thinking” is only one piece of the pie when creating rapport with your audience.

There’s a lot of what I refer to as food-for-thought content circulating around the interwebs as we speak, and, to be honest, it’s pretty damn noisy out there.

That’s why you need to add another layer of intrigue in order to give your content a chance to be discovered, appreciated and shared amongst those who follow you.

When people are prompted to feel something – joy, pain, win, loss, overcoming doubts and fears, etc. – that transforms that particular social post or blog article into something more memorable and shareable.

When you inject an emotional component into the conversation, that brings the words on the screen to life and helps to cement a connection and rapport with those you serve.

It makes the words more personal, and thus, more meaningful to those reading it because you’ve offered a level of vulnerability by sharing these feelings through your content.

It leaves a lasting impression.

As a speaker, author or coach, you have a myriad of moments in your lives from which you can draw that will resonate with your audiences on an emotional level.

Those moments can then be used as real-life examples to illustrate your expertise, life as a business owner and life as a human being.

So, What Are These Moments?

Overcoming Hurdles

We’ve all been knocked down in a variety of ways in our lives – personally and professionally. If you’re living and breathing, you have plenty of these stories in which to share.

Failed businesses? Getting burned personally and professionally? Rough childhood? Overcoming a self-imposed or physical handicap? Learning disability? I could go on, but, you get the point.

The key to the value and emotional resonance of these stories is not just that you went from utter failure to the top-of-the-world, it’s the emotional labor that went into this ascent that will
truly resonate with your audience.

They want to see beyond the photos taken at the finish line; they want to know about how you reacted to setbacks that almost took you completely off-course.

Feelings of doubt, overwhelm, anxiety, second-guessing the nature of the task or goal – that’s what people relate to because they’re currently going through the same emotional ringer themselves.

And they want to know how YOU got past all of those self-defeating thoughts so they emulate your model to do it themselves.

By sharing the story arc of your struggle to success, you give those you serve hope because you’re living to tell the tale from the other side.

And no, this is not about humblebrags, showing off or grandstanding to get attention.

This is about feeding those you serve with the inspiration juice to help them keep on their path to growth so that they can experience success, as well…

…and when they realize they need to invest in specialized attention to help them get there, guess who’ll they be contacting for that?

Gratitude

Leading with stories of struggle and challenge isn’t the only way to emotionally connect with your audience.

Expressing gratitude for people, moments, thoughts, kind gestures, and the things we often take for granted is another powerful storytelling option that resonates deeply with your audience.

These types of stories are perspective-shifters and mood adjusters.

It reminds them that regardless of whatever challenge they’re facing at the current moment, there’s a lot in their lives for which to be thankful.

Your post expressing gratitude, whether it’s something small or big, will provide those who read it a much-needed reality check that breaks them out of whatever negative thought loop they are currently experiencing and back into the present moment.

It is through the gratitude that you express that your audience will also get a sense of what matters most to you in life, and it will help fill in the gaps with respect to them getting a better sense of your personality and perspective.

This creates a deeper sense of connection without them ever having a real-life conversation with you. You’ve let them into your world simply by sharing how grateful you are for all of the gifts that exist in your life.

Ain’t nothin’ wrong with putting out some good vibes from time-to-time, 🙂

Who Are You Beyond the Work?

While being a badass superhero who is charged with helping those get past whatever is holding them back is important to share, sharing stories that paint the rest of the picture is also an important piece of the puzzle.

And sharing how the rest of that picture makes you feel – well, that’s even more powerful.

• What practices do you leverage to stay productive and moving forward, and when did you discover them? How was life before these discoveries?
• What do you actually do for fun? Any interesting activities and hobbies? What prompted you to pick up these hobbies in the first place, and what keeps you coming back?
• How about family – how important is it in your daily life? What lights you up about them? How does it feed your motivation to do what you do professionally?

In addition to these quick suggestions, there are many other avenues beyond your work that you can explore and share with people, but make sure you keep one important point in mind:

You need to be comfortable sharing these ideas, and you don’t have to share everything.

For example, I know plenty of parents who keep their children FAR AWAY from their social media feeds. I also know colleagues who have major affiliations with certain social clubs, and they choose not to talk about it.

Figure out the activities outside of your work that both excites and motivates you to share with your audience and stick to that. Regardless of the activity, it’s the fun, fulfillment, and joy that you express in your writing about the hobby, activity or family in which people truly connect.

Rather than simply sharing hard facts and data to illustrate the lessons you want to impart, weave in these real-life stories that evoke emotion and sentiment in order to reinforce the teachable moments.

In the process, you’ll also become more relatable to those reading the posts because you’re sharing human being moments, and human being moments are what ties us all together.

Don’t take any of your life and business experiences for granted – take note of them and leverage them in your writing to create a more well-rounded experience for those who follow your every word.

It’s a magical way to connect with those who need your help the most, 🙂

John DeMato is an NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and storytelling strategist who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.