I talk a lot about making sure work is worthwhile. And that starts with an understanding of what we would like to accomplish. Then, talking about what value that would provide. And then determining if what it might cost makes it a worthwhile endeavor.
I find it easy to talk about this in the context of business but sometimes challenging to talk about it in other situations. Like when tailoring the content of a book, blog post or speech. A part of the challenge is in the words I use. In the context of a book, blog post or speech, I rarely have an intimate relationship with those that consume my content. It’s hard to think about what we would like to accomplish.
In business, we comes naturally because business, to me, is a partnership. I don’t have that partnership to lean on in a book, so I’ve found rephrasing and taking out the pronouns we and us and using you or they helps oil the mental gears. Here’s a list of the questions I like to ask when I’m abstractly thinking about how I might help someone I’ve never met:
- Where are they now?
- Where do they want to be?
- How will they know when they arrive?
- Why do they want to go there?
- What might it cost?
- Go/no go?
Or, I might use you instead when I’m writing to my reader or talking to my audience directly:
- Where are you now?
- Where do you want to be?
- How will you know when they arrive?
- Why do you want to go there?
- What might it cost?
- Go/no go?
Pronouns can work wonders for framing.