If you asked five people in your team or organisation, would you get different answers?!
Creating an inspiring, shared audience ambition is a vital first step in shaping an impactful strategy that helps you matter more to more people.
Before we all start to create plans and to-do lists, let’s gain clarity on what success might look like – for our audiences and for ourselves.
Use my step-by-step Audience Ambition Playbook to guide you and your colleagues through the process of creating your shared audience ambition.
Includes every discussion and exercise from my popular away day:
Thanks so much for what was an exceptionally enjoyable and appropriately structured day which I hope will stay with us and inform our approaches to how we plan in numerous ways.
Cathy Moore, Artistic Director, Cambridge Literary Festival
Take your first step towards a clear, energising audience ambition – by yourself, or together as a team.
This isn’t a training programme.
It’s a process, tried and tested with dozens of arts and cultural organisations through consultancy work, now available for you to use by yourself or with your team to help you make real progress.
Work through the process to create an energising, shared audience ambition – the crucial first step in creating or refreshing a 360-degree audience strategy that gives your whole organisation clear direction.
Playbook price: £150 + VAT · 12 months’ access · For you, your team, or your whole organisation.
Use the playbook as a structure for your next staff, senior leadership team, or board away day
- A recommended framework and timetable of discussions
- A suite of videos providing a step-by-step process as you work together through the exercises – it’s like having me there in the room to run the day for you, but at a fraction of the cost!
- Every leader / organisation using the Playbook will gain access to a digital whiteboard with my tried and tested templates and frameworks. A place to capture your thoughts and progress your ideas together.
- A guided process with a pdf toolkit will help align your team / organisation.
- By the end of the day, you’ll have created an energising, shared audience ambition.
‘It was very encouraging to get colleagues thinking and talking about audiences, and to have a shared language around which to have discussions.’
Sara Adderson, Deputy Director, Ely Museum – following an online session led by Julie with staff across the Museum exploring some of the ideas within the Playbook.
Use the playbook by yourself or with colleagues as a vital first step in writing or refreshing your audience strategy
If you prefer to work individually, perhaps take yourself off to your favourite cafe and kick-start your audience strategy with an inspiring audience ambition created over five lunch or coffee breaks!
If you’d like to explore this as a team, play the videos and use the pdfs as an agenda item over the next five team meetings to help inspire your ideas.
If you want to break the silo working, use the playbook in senior leadership team sessions to help you move from competing to collaborative audience goals.
Inside the Audience Ambition Playbook
a suite of videos to guide you through the process
a collaborative digital whiteboard
and your step-by-step pdf toolkit
Five modules guide you through the process of creating your shared audience ambition:
Module one: who do we exist for?
Simple questions that start by reflecting on the past year, building on success and highlighting areas for growth.
Two short videos, plus pdf template, and / or digital whiteboard.
Allow approx. 1 hour to include a few minutes for the videos plus lots of discussion guided by the prompts. Discussion time may vary depending on the size of your team.
Module two: why does our work matter to people?
This module explores audience motivations and values. What matters to our current and potential audiences?
This module shares insights from a tool called Culture Segments created by Morris Hargreaves McIntyre (with thanks to MHM for letting me share these insights within the Playbook).
Helping to create a shared language about audiences across your team / organisation.
Twelve short videos, plus a simple pdf template (and / or digital whiteboard) to aid your discussion and capture your ideas.
Allow approx. 30 mins for the videos and 30 mins for the discussion exercise.
[Note – the discussion exercise within this module will work with other psychographic based segmentation tools. If you already have an approach embedded within your organisation obviously feel free to use that instead during your discussions].
Module three: setting our audience priorities
A simple framework to aid discussion about your priorities for audiences in line with your artistic vision and purpose. Explore your aspirations for meaningfully engaging people.
One quick video, plus a pdf template (and / or digital whiteboard) to capture your ideas.
Allow approx. 30 mins for the very short video and lots of discussion following the prompts.
Module four: exploring our shared ambition
A guided discussion and exercise designed to explore what success might look like for you and for your audiences in three – five year times (or whatever timeframe feels most useful to you).
This module pulls together ideas from the earlier discussions and has proven to be a real energiser for teams. What might success look like to you?
Two videos (10 mins in total), plus a pdf template (and / or digital whiteboard) to capture your ideas.
Allow approx. 45 mins for this module to include 10 mins for the videos and two discussion exercises responding to the prompts.
Module five: documenting our shared audience ambition
A one slide framework (and a couple of optional creative approaches) to help you document your shared audience ambition.
Use this at the start of your audience strategy, integrate it within your business plan, or use as a living reminder for you and your team.
Two videos (approx. 10 mins in total), plus a pdf template (and / or digital whiteboard) to document your shared audience ambition.
Allow up to 1 hour to include the videos and discussion exercises.
Plus agree who will take the ideas away and refine them to refer back to as your shared ambition.
The Playbook also includes:
A short intro video and suggested timetable if you choose to work through the modules in one day e.g. as an away day. This has been designed to help you decide how best to use the Playbook for you and team.
A short video about Next Steps to help you consider how best to use your new audience ambition as a compass to guide future actions and priorities.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my whole team / organisation to use this, or can I start by myself?
Either works. You might begin by exploring the Playbook alone, then go through the modules with your team or senior leadership once you’ve got a feel for the process. Or you might dive straight in as a team from day one. There’s no right or wrong way to start.
How long does it take to work through?
Most modules take 30–60 minutes including discussion, so the full process can be completed in a single away day, or spread across five team meetings, coffee breaks, or however suits your diary. Time estimates are included for each module.
Do I need any particular software or technical skills?
No. You’ll need internet access to watch short videos and either print the PDF templates or use the included digital whiteboard – no prior experience with this is required, the Playbook will guide you through it.
What’s the digital whiteboard, and do I have to use it?
It’s a ready-made online space with templates from the Playbook, so you can capture and develop your ideas together if you’re working as a team – particularly useful if your team isn’t all in one room. This will automatically save so that you can come back to it later. If you’d rather work with the PDFs alone or on paper in your favourite notebook, that’s completely fine too.
How long do I have access for?
12 months from purchase, including any updates made to the Playbook during that time.
Is this suitable for organisations of any size?
Yes. The process has been tested with organisations ranging from small touring companies to larger theatres, museums, galleries and festivals. The framework adapts to your context.
Shape a shared, exciting ambition for audience growth that energises and inspires you and your colleagues.
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Register your interest and I’ll let you know when it’s live.
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