Listen to the audience.
You could have a career in music. In fact, your work now is probably more similar to a musical career than you think. You have spent years perfecting a craft - teacher, consultant, salesperson, strategist, parent, friend. You get dressed up and show up to a venue - school, dinner table, an office, your computer desk, the Internet. You share your work - knowledge, skills, expertise, etc. And you hope your audience appreciates your work.
What's often missing, and it's something musicians often forget, is an understanding of your audience. Why are they showing up to see you? Why do they care what you have to say? And, will your work resonate within them?
When I write you, I often touch on this point - your audience is telling themselves a story about themselves. In that story, they are the hero - not you. In that story, they came for an experience that you are helping to create for them.
Your kids show up to the dinner table because it completes a story they're telling themselves about what it means (for them) to be at dinner.
Your customers are showing up to your meeting because they want to learn something that enables them to impress their bosses.
Your students work hard because getting a good grade validates a story they're telling themselves about what school means for them.
If you want to do something worth something for someone else, deeply listen to your audience.
