
How To Inspire Your Audience With a Hero's Journey
You’ve probably heard of the Hero’s Journey as it is used in storytelling. If you haven’t, I know you’ve experienced it. Using the hero’s journey in storytelling goes way back to ancient times. Bursting with promise, hope, survival, and triumph, the hero’s journey is an effective storytelling technique.
The hero’s journey is often referred to as an epic and might make you think of a favorite book or movie. Both authors and directors use the hero’s journey to capture and hold their audience’s attention. You can do this too! An email, video, or short chat can contain the hero’s journey and help you inspire your audience.
Here’s how- The hero’s journey splits into three parts:
- The Call to Adventure
- Engagement
- The Return Home
The Call to Adventure
As the story begins to unfold, the hero is usually minding their own business when they are confronted with a chance for adventure. They are faced with a summoning to something higher and their first impulse is to resist. Eventually, they decide to accept the calling and proceed.
Engagement
During the engagement phase of the story, the subject is faced with problems and challenges that make them want to give up. However, in true hero fashion, they face their fears, suffer losses, and conquer them. Most of the time, people or situations teach and help them become more than they thought they could be. The subject transforms from who they were into who they are becoming.