 I began my career as an actor. Over the course of 20-odd years, I took a lot of acting classes. And one of the lessons that stuck with me was from a teacher that told us: "Even if you play the most heinous villain, if you want to bring their story to life, you need to understand them and develop empathy for them."
Empathy? For the likes of Iago from Othello or Ursula from The Little Mermaid? How? And why? You cannot do a story justice if you don't understand the party you're representing. As an actor, you're representing a character on stage or screen. As a marketer, you're representing your customer. (Although I'm sure your customers are much nicer than any dramatic villain!) Let’s take a closer look at why empathy is so important in storytelling and how to develop it. |