The Goal Revisited
A common piece of advice is to focus on the “Think, Feel, Do,” as in, “What do you want people to think, feel, and do as a result of your message?” We ask those questions together because thoughts, feelings, and actions are incredibly intertwined.
In order to close that gap of the Problem and get the audience from where they are to where we want them to be, we need to make sure they have everything they need: they need to think it’s going to work for them, feel that it will work, and then they can do something about it. The Red Thread gives them everything they need, but at the end of the message, you need to remind them of that.
How do you do that? Go back to the Goal so you can show them that they have all the tools and that those tools add up to something bigger than they had in the first place. This is the Goal Revisited: the Goal plus the benefit that going through the Change will have for the audience, the bigger version of the Goal. This shows them that not only have they gotten what they wanted in the first place, but something more is possible with the tools you’ve already given them.
Resources
- EP053: Focus on the GOAL: Why Your Audience Needs an “Irresisitble Outcome”
- The Red Thread Worksheet
Transcription
– There’s a lot of advice out there about making sure that you’re asking yourself how do you want people to feel, as a result of your message? It’s not a question I typically ask, because we, pretty much, always know the answer. It’s, “I want them to feel inspired, or motivated, or empowered.” In other words, those three, at least, are table stakes for any great message, any irresistible idea. If people aren’t motivated, and inspired, and empowered afterwards, what are you there for?
But, there is still that question, how do I make sure that they feel that particularly right at the end of the message? It’s for that reason that I added this sixth bonus episode on the details of the Red Thread. I’m Tamsen Webster of tamsenwebster.com, and that’s this week’s topic on Find the Red Thread.
So, of course, we want to end on a strong note, we want people to think about things differently, we want them to do something differently, and yes, of course, we want them to feel motivated, inspired, and empowered to do it. I’m hoping by now, you realize have all the pieces to that, it’s the pieces of the Red Thread.
We have the Goal, which is that irresistible outcome, sitting over on the other side of a gap that the audience wants. The Problem represents that gap itself, the one side of thinking that they’re on, and the other side of thinking that they need to adopt, in order to close that gap in between. We’ve also introduced the Idea, this incontrovertible truth, this fundamental belief, value, piece of information, discovery, that makes leaving that gap, that problem open, impossible. Of course, we say, well then what is the Change, what’s the thing that’s going to close that gap permanently and the Actions, how specifically do we do that?
So that’s all well and good. We know people have the information to get where they’re going. So, how do we get them to feel about it? Well, to do that, we need to go back to why people ask that question about feeling in the first place. Usually, it’s in the context of asking what do you want people to think, what do you want them to feel, what do you want them do to? The reason why we ask those questions together, is because those three things, thoughts, feelings, and actions, are incredibly intertwined. Any one of those will affect the other two, if you do something different it will affect how you think, and it’ll affect how you feel. If you think something different, it’ll affect how you feel, it’ll affect how you do.
So, it’s a thing that we talked about a lot, back in my Weight Watcher leader days. We would talk about if you felt that you were depressed, or sad about something, and you thought there’s nothing I can do about it, then you are going to do something that’s consistent with that thinking, and that feeling. But if you could change, for instance, how you thought, can say, “well, I’m sad about this, but it’s normal, given the circumstances,” then it might change your feeling, which is, “oh okay, well then I’m in a normal state,” which may change what you do, as a result.
So, back to the message though. How does this help us make sure that people feel strong, and empowered, and motivated, and inspired? Well because remember, in order to close that gap of the Problem, in order for the audience to go from where they are, to where we want them to be, we have to make sure that they’ve got everything they need to go. They need to think that it’s going to work for them. They need to feel that it’s going to work them. They need to have the confidence.
So, by giving them all the pieces of the Red Thread, you’ve done that, you’ve shown them exactly where they are, where they need to go, and why, and how, and so they know that. But, at the end of a message, you want to make sure that you remind them of that. That’s really important, which is why you want to go back to the Goal and say, “Look at what this all adds up to.” We want to show them that they have all of the tools, and that those tools add up to something even bigger than they imagined in the first place. That’s where the inspiration comes in.
Here’s what I mean: remember back when we were talking about the Goal, one of the most common mistakes, of course, is that we want to put our goal in the place of the audience’s goal, because we know all this extra stuff that makes our idea irresistible? We know that, in addition to a good process for doing X, Y, or Z, it can, in fact, lead to greater health and happiness with something. But, if the audience isn’t walking in looking for that, they can’t really use it for a Goal.
But, we can use it here, for this thing that I call the Goal Revisited. Here’s what that means: you, basically, at the end of a Red Thread, you want to think to yourself, “What is the Goal plus the benefit that going through all those steps will have for the audience? What is that bigger version of the Goal?”
So, think of this as the sixth piece of the Red Thread, even though it’s really going back to the first one. But, when you put your message together, by including that Goal Revisited, that larger version of the Goal, you do those two critical things. You show people that they have gotten what they wanted in the first place, and you’ve shown them that something else is possible with the tools that you’ve already given them. That, my friends, is a recipe for inspiration, motivation, and empowerment.
So, that’s the way to finish out your Red Thread, Goal, Problem, Idea, Change, Action, Goal Revisited. Every time, you will turn that Idea into Action. I’m Tamsen Webster of tamsenwebster.com, I hope you’ve enjoyed this mini-series, here within the podcast, and broadcast of this blog. Let me know in comments, on my contact form on my website, tamsenwebster.com/contact. I’d love to hear from you.
Val Brown says
Love this. The art is in the consistent application and asking what do you want your audience to think, feel, do. The last piece of restating the goal brings this home. Thank you – very valuable!