The Fastest Way To Lose Your Audience

You’ve spent a lot of time and energy on building up an audience. Whether that’s in the office, through a blog, within a church, or another type of organization your work hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Over the years, you’ve gained traction. You’ve seen new readers come to your blog. You’ve seen your business grow. Or maybe you’ve gained more influence within the office environment.

Then something happened. People stopped listening. They stopped following you.

You lost your audience.

here's how you lose your audience

Image by Evan Rummel

Losing Your Audience Sucks

Yeah, you heard me. Losing your audience sucks. Especially after all of the time and energy you put into your work.

You crafted perfect blog posts. You worked your tail off to get where you are. And you rose through the ranks to new heights.

Then it all came crashing down.

You’re left wondering what happened. How did I lose my influence? Why did my followers leave? Where did everyone go?

This sucks.

It hurts because you thought you were influential and you had the ability to lead. Then out something changed…

The Fastest Way To Lose Your Audience

While attending a conference recently, I was excited to hear Brene Brown speak. The topic was courage and her message sounded great. Especially when she began her talk.

She shared people have to have the courage to be offended not only when people they like are wrongly portrayed but they have to have the courage to be offended when people they don’t like or agree with are similarly portrayed in the wrong way.

This was great to hear. She had me hooked.

But something changed. And Brene Brown quickly lost me.

All of a sudden, she began using coarse language. Dropping a bull s****. The next time she used coarse language she spelled out the words.

I thought maybe she was going to shy away from using profanity after the first example. I was wrong.

This is where Brene Brown lost me. She began dropping one bull s**** after another. Or so it seemed.

For an audience of church leaders, this is offensive. I was turned off. People around me were turned off.

Brene Brown had lost part of the audience she was there to speak to.

Even though her message was great, the way she framed it was wrong for the audience.

This happens often.

You start out on a path. You lay the groundwork for what people can expect. Then you change the way you talk to your audience.

Maybe you begin using profanity. Maybe you switch topics. Or maybe you show your values are different than what you said they were.

When you stop being true to yourself and begin chasing what the world tells you to be, you’re going to lose your audience. Quickly. Worse than losing your audience, you’re going to lose yourself.

Be aware of who you are. Be aware of who you said you are. And be aware of what your actions are saying about you.

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