Mark Hamill: Give the Audience What They Want – On Your Terms. To receive Joe’s exclusive weekly messages in your inbox each Friday, visit our subscription page. One of the highlights of my career to date has definitely been getting the chance to interview legendary performer Mark Hamill at Content Marketing World 2016. (You can check out a five-minute snippet of our conversation on YouTube.) As he explained, “You have to give the audience what they want…” But it’s what he said afterwards that really made an impact on me: Mark talked about the importance of telling a story through your own prism. Or maybe you pick apart just one part of the story, which then gives the story a whole new twist. Content marketing is the one area of marketing that is truly democratic. But where most turn to technology for answers, the real way to break through lies in finding the “why,” rather than in focusing on the “what” or “how.” This means taking stock of all your interests, all your areas of authority and influence, and using them to build a story on your own terms – one that the audience needs to hear, but can also be told through your unique prism. Just ask yourself, “How unique is my story?” You already know the answer, so what you choose to do about it from there is completely up to you. Did you like Mark Hamill’s message?
This post is from Joe Pulizzi’s weekly newsletter published
on November 5, 2016. To receive Joe’s exclusive weekly messages in
your inbox each Friday, visit our
subscription page.
One of the highlights of my career to date has definitely been
getting the chance to interview legendary performer Mark Hamill at
Content Marketing World 2016. (You can check out a five-minute
snippet of our conversation on YouTube.)
There were a million things I wanted him to talk about; but
above all others, there was one question I absolutely had to ask:
“Do you ever get tired of whole ‘Star Wars and Luke Skywalker
thing’?”
His answer was perfect: “Personally, yes; professionally,
no.”
According to him, playing Luke Skywalker has been both a
blessing and a curse – though much more the former than the latter.
As he explained, “You have to give the audience what they want…”
But it’s what he said afterwards that really made an impact on
me:
Mark talked about the importance of telling a story through your
own prism. Of course, there are many similar stories out there, but
you need to tell your stories as you see them through your own
eyes, filtered through your own interests and experiences.
I think the once and future Jedi knight’s words really hit upon
a problem that most of us content marketers have. In our quest
to…
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