Earn the Right To Be Heard

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors opened for Need To Breathe at Red Rocks in 2015. He was sharing about that experience with Annie F. Downs on her podcast, That Sounds Fun, and said that it was an amazing experience. He didn’t have the pressure of needing to fill the venue as the main act, but he did have the opportunity to capture the attention of the audience.

He got to “earn the right to be heard.” People were not there to hear him. But he had a captive audience who could ideally become his next biggest fans. IF he gave them something to love, something to connect with, something unexpected and good.

Patrick Park opened for Gregory Alan Isakov last night here in Breckenridge, Colorado. I took my son, Isaac to the concert with me, and we were 3 people deep from center stage. It was a magical experience for sure hearing Isakov and his band perform. But Patrick, even as the solo opening act, earned the right to be heard, and now my son is listening to his album all day long!

We all are in roles where we need to “earn the right to be heard.” Just because we are a parent, a boss, business owner, or advisor doesn’t mean anyone should listen to us. For us to lead and have effective impact, we need to earn that right.

We need to care.

We need to give our very best.

We need to have something special to offer.

What would happen if we approached every interaction, every conversation, appointment, meeting, presentation or show with that goal:

I must earn the right to be heard.

I think we’d be more intentional, more fun, and we’d always be seeking to grow so we could have something to give.

Ideas for Businesses

As a business, here are some fun, creative ways to earn that right with your clients or customers:

Surprise someone. – Send them a gift like flowers, chocolate, coffee basket, or bottle of wine and a note that just says you hope they have a great day!

Treat a prospect to a nice dinner and arrange payment beforehand so you can just walk out whenever ready. Invite a prospect to a show or concert if you know one of their favorite artists will be in town.

Give out samples of your product whenever you can. If “you” are the product, share your knowledge and expertise generously so people can truly understand what you do. Offer a free service that sets someone up to purchase in the future.

Throw a party and invite all your favorite people who may not know each other yet. Make intentional introductions so they can quickly know why it would be valuable to connect.

It can be quite fun as a business to continually and creatively think of new ways to earn the right to be heard. Think generous and genuine, and you can’t go wrong.