As the refrains of data-driven or data-informed decision-making grow louder, and the emphasis on data literacy increases, it’s easy to forget a crucial fact: People make decisions, not data. People are three-dimensional, complex beings.
If your goal is to deliver insights and persuade individuals to take action, you must consider these living, breathing people and find ways to reach those who are not you.
The key to persuasion is to first recognize you aren’t persuading yourself. You’re persuading your audience. But in order to persuade your audience, you have to know who’s in the room (figuratively speaking—it’s 2024, you’re probably reaching your audience in many ways).
Yes, you need to be credible, and your analysis needs to be sound. But to truly influence, you need to connect with your audience on what matters most and is most insightful to them.
With that in mind, let’s talk about what it really means to know your audience.
Your audience comes to the table with three major considerations on their mind that will affect the way in which they interpret any information:
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- They have a set of business accountabilities that they need to deliver against.
- They have experiences and opinions that will influence the way in which they interpret information, and how they assess opportunity or risk.
- They have the ability to influence actions to make things better for the business.
I call these the audience truths. At Storylytics, we teach storytellers to address these audience truths, in order to deliver compelling insights that have the potential to make a difference. Let’s dig into each of them:
Audience Truth #1: Truth to the Business
The first truth is a business truth. This truth centres around the set of accountabilities for which the audience is responsible. In the data world, business truths are often the focus, because they highlight problems discovered through the data. This is the truth we ultimately need to solve for our audience, and it tends to be the easiest to talk about.
But data alone will never change minds. Logic alone will never change a point of view. We also need to connect with our audiences on what is meaningful to them, which leads us to the other two truths.
Audience Truth #2: Truth to the Experience
Truth to the experience—or personal truth—is where we seek to connect with the audience on what matters to them. We need to recognize that we all come to the table with unique experiences and knowledge that will affect the way we interpret information. To respect this experience, we must understand what theories or opinions are at play—what does your audience ”know” that you don’t?
This is where insight lies—are you telling your audience something they either didn’t know or is counter to what they already thought? It’s also where the audience decides if your analysis is complete—did you consider the things that are on their minds? Insights emerge in the answers to these questions. We want to be able to say, “Yes, we heard your concern and looked into it, but here’s what we found instead.”
The other side of experience is the audience’s level of knowledge. Are they comfortable with the data being presented? How deep do you really need to go into the information? Does this group need all the methodology, or do they trust the process and want to focus on the implications? This will inform how you share your data findings, and will help keep your audience engaged.
Personal truths are arguably the most important truth to address for your audience, yet it is often the least considered. The truth is, when we say, “Know your audience,” this is the truth we mean. Ask to learn.
Audience Truth #3: Truth to the Action
The final truth, an influencer truth, speaks to how your audience can affect outcomes and act on the insights shared. What can your audience actually do with the information they have? Knowing what is within their power to influence or act upon is crucial for the storyteller’s ability to craft a compelling, actionable story.
Understanding these truths is essential to delivering insights that matter to your audience. By recognizing and connecting with business, personal and influencer truths, you can ensure that your data storytelling resonates on a deeper level, leading to more effective persuasion and meaningful change.
Audience truths underscore everything you do as a data storyteller. If you or your team want to learn more about identifying and utilizing audience truths, give us a call and get ready to make a bigger impact than ever.
