Audience Compass
The Audience Compass is a two-part framework that helps you move beyond basic demographics to understand the mindset of your audience. First, it helps you Diagnose what your audience is likely thinking and feeling about your topic. Then, it helps you Identify their core mindset and prescribes a specific narrative path best suited to guide them from their current perspective to your proposed outcome.
What is it?
The Audience Compass is designed to solve the most common reason presentations fail: telling a story that doesn't match the audience's mindset. It’s a structured diagnostic exercise that helps you stop guessing and start connecting with the people you're speaking to.
We've all felt what it's like to stand in front of a room and sense that our message isn't landing—the blank stares, the skeptical questions, the disengaged audience. This happens when there is a fundamental disconnect between the argument we've prepared and the reality of the people listening.
The Compass prevents this by walking you through a clear, structured process:
- First, the Compass helps you clearly diagnose your audience. By mapping their current awareness and motivation, you can identify the dominant mindset in the room—whether you’re facing an enthusiastic "Ally" or a doubtful "Skeptic."
- Second, it gives you the specific strategy to persuade them. The tool doesn't just leave you with a label; it prescribes a proven storytelling recipe—a "Narrative Path"—that is designed to be most effective with that exact type of audience.
In short, the Audience Compass helps you structure your presentation not just to deliver information, but to guide your specific audience from their current perspective to the outcome you want.
Why it works
It forces you to build your story around your audience's needs, not just your own, resulting in a tailored message that is far more memorable and actionable than a generic one. Ultimately, the Audience Compass works because it replaces risky, unfounded assumptions with a clear, strategic diagnosis of the people you need to convince.
When to use it
- When you're introducing a new or controversial idea.
- When you're asking for money, people, or resources.
- When you're speaking to leadership or known skeptics.
- When you only have one shot to get it right.
Remember to
When you Diagnose, be brutally honest about your audience's true motivation based on their known priorities, not what you hope they are. When identifying their Archetype, zero in on your most important audience member—often the key decision-maker—and tailor your story primarily to them.
Step-by-step
Step 1: Draw the compass
Step 1: Draw the compass
First, create the tool itself. Draw a large plus sign (+) on your paper to create four empty quadrants. Next, label the two axes that form the foundation of your diagnosis:
- Label the horizontal line "Motivation," with "Low" on the far left and "High" on the far right.
- Label the vertical line "Awareness," with "Low" at the bottom and "High" at the top.
You should now have a blank compass, ready for analysis.
Step 2: Place your audience
Step 2: Place your audience
Now, think about the specific audience for your presentation and place a single "X" on the map to represent their collective mindset. To find the exact spot, be brutally honest in answering these two questions:
- To place them on the vertical "Awareness" axis, ask: How much do they already know about this specific problem or solution? Are they experts with deep historical context (High Awareness)? Or are they new to the topic and unfamiliar with the background details (Low Awareness)?
- To place them on the horizontal "Motivation" axis, ask: What's in it for them? Are they directly and positively impacted if your idea succeeds (High Motivation)? Or are they resistant, indifferent, or even negatively affected by the change you're proposing (Low Motivation)?
You should now have an "X" confidently placed in one of the four quadrants.
Step 3: Identify their archectype
Step 3: Identify their archectype
The quadrant where your "X" landed instantly reveals your audience's dominant archetype. This gives you a powerful shorthand for their underlying mindset and predicts how they'll react to your message.
- If your X is in the Top-Right quadrant... you have The Ally.
- If your X is in the Top-Left quadrant... you have The Skeptic.
- If your X is in the Bottom-Right quadrant... you have The Eager Novice.
- If your X is in the Bottom-Left quadrant... you have The Uninitiated.
You now have a name for the mindset you need to persuade.
Step 4: Find your narrative path
Step 4: Find your narrative path
Finally, use your diagnosis to choose the right strategy. Each archetype is receptive to a different story structure. Instead of guessing, you can now select the specific narrative path that is proven to work for the mindset you've identified.
- For The Ally, you'll use the "Activation Plan" to mobilize them.
- For The Skeptic, you'll use the "Objection-First" argument to disarm them.
- For The Eager Novice, you'll use the "Guided Tour" to educate them.
- For The Uninitiated, you'll use the "Why It Matters Now" story to create urgency.