Inspiration is not limited to real politics. Many movies, TV shows, and books include powerful, inspired speeches written by hugely talented writers. I would personally recommend watching Martin Sheen as the President of the United States in The West Wing. He delivers some exceptional neck-hair-raising monologues. There is no secret recipe for creating community enthusiasm. There is no blueprint. It is as organic and unique as the very community you wish to grow. The most important tip to remember about inspirational messaging is that it must be genuine. Whatever path we follow to build our communities, our leaders must instill a sense of trust and representation. The enemy here is in appearing contrived and disingenuous. Our inspiration must be natural and genuine. If you are real, your community will see that. Unfortunately, it’s easy to risk being seen as a fake. The word “community” has been twisted and contorted to mean many things over the years, some of which don’t exactly fall in line with what many of us would consider a community. The reason for this is that the word “community” almost always conjures up a positive mental image. It alludes to togetherness, compassion, and equality. As such, it has been a target of hype and hot air. If an organization, company, or individual wants to be seen in a positive and engaging light, liberal use of the word “community” makes sense. There will always be a natural tension between the inspiring speaker and the audience. The speaker will always have a goal or agenda of her own, but needs to strike a balance between honesty around her personal ambitions and an assurance that she takes the wider values of the community to heart. If your definition of community does not extend to the common expectation of volunteer environments, you will receive short shrift quickly. Readers seeking to build communities around commercial products should be particularly cognizant of this risk. Always remember that whatever their focus, communities are organic units of interest and collaboration. They live and breathe on an understanding that community efforts benefit the community as a whole. Anyone who tampers with that ethos will face problems. This is a critically important point, and I recommend you read this paragraph again twice. Go on, I will wait.
Becoming the Advocate When we build buzz, we enter into a relationship with the audience. Advocates and salespeople each enter the same approximation of the relationship, but the rules of engagement vary. Both of these different roles encourage adoption of a product, technology, or lifestyle via positive messaging and reinforcement. How they differ is in how the person who is performing the messaging is perceived. I have always considered myself an advocate. I define advocacy as the putting forward of a positive message and investing one’s personal reputation in that message. Advocates recommend only products, technologies, and lifestyles that they personally subscribe to. Those
BUILDING BUZZ
151