In this solo podcast episode, Sally Koering Zimney addresses speakers and content creators navigating the early COVID‑19 pandemic. She begins by expressing gratitude for her community’s outreach and shares her renewed sense of purpose to help others. Recognizing that many creators are scrambling to pivot their messages, she argues that content must be attuned to the audience’s current pains and hopes. Sally introduces a practical framework – an audience Venn diagram – to identify the overlap between a speaker’s expertise and the specific needs arising from the crisis. She then outlines three concrete steps for rapid content adjustment: (1) reframe the “why” of the message to reflect the present moment, (2) tweak one or two stories to make them relevant, and (3) circle back to the updated why at the conclusion. She stresses the importance of shipping imperfect work quickly, warning that perfection delays help. Finally, she promotes three community resources – her Crowdcast channel, Instagram @bemovedspeaking, and the free Movers U community on Mighty Networks – as ongoing support for creators seeking to adapt and thrive.
Chapters
Hey movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney with Be Moved. Let's go create some talks that will move this world. We're going to talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources, and we are going to be moved so that our audience can be moved. This moved me. What is moving Hello, movers! I am so grateful. I just want you to know I'm so grateful to all of you who've been reaching out, who have shared with me where you're at, your experiences, how this crisis has been affecting you. And I also have had so many of you reaching out to check on me, which really warms my heart and is so sweet. And I just want you to know, I'm honestly, I'm doing well and well enough. It's not that things are not affecting my business. It is, just like all of us. But I am feeling so driven by purpose right now to help you. And it's kind of crazy, the ideas that are coming to me that I'm feeling really passionate about that weren't there 2 weeks ago. Because I feel such a need and desire to respond and to help. So I was kind of thinking about how, how of course my goal is always to serve my audience, to help you in what you need. But truth be told, when I— and I think about the focus I have now on you and what you're going through and sort of the compassion that I'm bringing to— the compassion required to really sync up with your audience and to serve them well. What I'm realizing is, is I was kind of doing it before, but not really. And it's kind of a shocking realization to go, I thought I was creating content that was serving them. And I'm sure I was, but it's different. And this sort of passion and compassion, that feeling with and feeling for, is driving me right now, and I think it needs to be driving all of us. So I really hope that— I mean, truly, this is what's getting me going in the morning. And has me so focused. I mean, I'm jazzed, which is weird to say because I'm not happy about this, but I can help. And that, when I know so many people struggling, that purpose and passion is powerful. And so what I'm hearing from a lot of you right now is that you're moving really, really quickly and you're thinking of new ways of reaching your audience and you're being asked to think of new ways to reach your audience and you're working really hard to pivot. I've been hearing that word a lot, to pivot your message. So it's in the context of what's happening right now, right? We cannot ignore what's happening. You could not get on video and be like, hey, just like acting as if this was not happening, because I've seen some of that. I just want you to know I have seen some of that, and in some ways it feels insulting because it feels like that person must be on autopilot and is not paying attention, and it's damaging to your brand and it will, hmm, it could really damage your connection to your audience. So what we do now to adjust our content into this new context is actually really essential. So I want to share with you a few things to think about as you are doing this because messages that resonate with your audience are the only messages that work very well. And if you get your audience, if you feel them, if you understand the pain, the struggle, the hopes, then the way forward becomes clearer. Okay, but I want to share with you a few key things that, that will help. So number 1, I want you to decide how your message needs to shift. What does your audience need to hear now? And what can you, in particular, you do or say to help that need? Okay, so I want you to think about this like an audience Venn diagram. And if you're one of my students, I use these all the time and you know exactly what I'm talking about. But if you're new to an audience Venn diagram, it's very simple. It's a Venn diagram. You've got two circles, right, that come together, and where that overlap is is where we want to build and focus our energies. And they've been super helpful with many of my students and speakers who are trying to hone their message for their audience, okay? Because we want to find the magic of you, your particular expertise, and the audience's particular needs, right? So that is a typical audience Venn diagram. On one circle, we've got you, okay? You've got all your expertise and your message. And then in the other circle, you've got the audience and all of their needs, right? And when we bring those two circles together, where is that particular slice, the particular thing that you can offer to meet this particular need? Okay? And, and that's what I want you to be thinking about in terms of the context of now, except we don't want a general Audience need circle, we want it to think about what is— how is this crisis, how is this pandemic affecting your audience, and where is the slice that you can offer to help this particular need? Where do those things overlap? That is what I want you to speak to right now. So for me, the particular thing that I'm hearing from my speakers and my students and my community members is that they're trying to do things virtually that they have been doing live, and they're not really comfortable with that yet, or they're trying, they're scrambling, trying to make it work. And so I can help with that because I've embraced video and I feel confident on video and I know how to help people message clearly and communicate clearly via video. Okay, so there, that is the overlap that I'm bringing in. I want you to figure out, I want you to figure out what that overlap is. Yes? Okay, so that's number 1. You're gonna decide how your message needs to shift and what your audience needs to hear now. Okay, number 2 is thinking about strategies around changing your current message. What needs to change? And I want you to change it just enough to help. And I say that, I don't want to be misunderstood here, I'm not suggesting that we help just enough. We're gonna help all we can, but we also need to be responsive, move quickly, and if you have to start from scratch, it's gonna put you too far down the road, okay? You want to serve people now, not in 3 months once you've redone everything to pivot and attend to the people and their needs. So My hope is that you do not have to start from scratch. In fact, don't, okay? Try these content shifts in mind. Number 1, you're gonna think about reframing the why of your message. What does your why have to do with right now versus even 3 weeks ago? Okay, so you're just gonna focus on a reframe around it, okay? The core of your content might be different, but you're gonna focus on reframing it in the context of now. That may be all you have to do. Okay? Most of this reframe, it's gotta happen up front, okay? Because you're building trust with people in the beginning and they need to know that you understand right off the bat where they're at and what they're going through. Okay? So you're gonna reframe, the why. The second thing is you might want to think about adjusting a story or two that really puts it in the context of what's happening. Reframing the why at the top and your stories, and then the third piece is coming back and mirroring in the end. So taking your ending and reminding them of the why. The why of right now versus the why of 3 weeks ago. So reframe the why, adjust a story or 2, and circle back to the why at the end. If you can do those 3 things without having to start totally all over, you are going to be able to take the message that you have and make it matter to the group right now, to your audience right now. Okay, and number 3, and this is important, we're gonna keep it simple and you're gonna ship it. Alright, Seth Godin fans, you know what I'm talking about. The focus cannot be on waiting until you've got this done perfectly. It needs to be responsive and you've got to get it out there. Perfect is not just the enemy of good, it's the enemy of done. It's the enemy of helping right now. It's the enemy of what your audience needs. Okay, so don't overthink this. We're gonna go for done, not perfect. People will appreciate your intention to help. And here's the deal, my movers, all of this, all 3 of the things I just talked about is great advice for anytime, not just when we're dealing with a global pandemic. I would give the same advice to anybody, and that is, as we just talked about, your message should be attuned to the pains of your audience right now, not 6 months ago when you first wrote that talk or first had this idea. It's got to be connected and resonant to their current pains. Number 2, your message doesn't have to be recreated from scratch each time. We can find simple ways to make it relevant, powerful, and impactful. Okay, focus on reframing the why of now, adjust a story or two that connects with the now, and circle back to that why at the end. And then lastly, your message does not need to be perfect or exactly like you dreamed about in order for it to have an impact. It doesn't. Just get it out there, my friends. My movers. Okay, I hope that was helpful. I think that's super important, and content reframing— this might be the most important thing that you do, because if you just get on video and you're out of tune and you're out of sync with what your audience needs to hear, it doesn't matter. All right, so reframe your why and now. Figure out what your audience needs to hear and what you can bring, you in particular, you special you. All right, as we wrap up, I'm gonna remind you of 3 things that I'm doing right now to help you be supported, and I want you to take advantage of these 3 things because I think they're great resources, and from what I'm hearing, they're helpful. So that is awesome. I want to help. All right, number 1, go find me on Crowdcast. It's crowdcast.io/SallyZ. Crowdcast.io/SallyZ. And that is my channel. Hit follow and you'll be in the know on what's coming. You can also watch old replays of some of these webinars. It's full of all kinds of good stuff. Okay, that's number 1. Number 2, I want to share you. Find me on Instagram @bemovedspeaking. Reach out to me, send me a photo, tell me about you, and I will share. And then we will all share. Such an easy thing that we can do to support each other. And then lastly, I'm opening up Movers U to the public, and it's free. And my friends, this is such an awesome resource. There's a free community part of Movers U that's open to you right now, especially if it's like, I, I don't want to spend any cashola, but I know this is important. I've got you. You've got some community resources there. And for those of you who are ready to dig in and continue to grow your impact and move your audience There's courses in there. We've got coaching groups. There's all kinds of great stuff in there. This whole network, Movers U, is so powerful and it's amazing. And I'm so jazzed. It is a Mighty Networks network. And I'm not getting paid to say that at all. I just think it's awesome. So definitely go check that out. Okay? You can go to Mighty Networks and search for Movers U. You could just send me an email. I'll send you the link, whatever we need. But I'd love to see you in there. Oh my gosh, you guys. This has been really powerful. I hope this is helpful. Okay, you're gonna brave videos, you're gonna adjust your content, you're gonna remember that your voice is needed so much right now. That hasn't changed. Your audience is still there. We're just gonna meet them in a different way for a little bit, and I'm here to help. All right, we'll see you next week. This moved me. What is moving you?
