“You guys have the fun job.”

I’ve heard this countless times over the years from clients. And they’re right. We come in with colorful drawings, hip music, cool ideas…We get to walk the line that connects creative thinking to business; I like to think we connect the brain to the heart (insert “Wizard of Oz” analogy here). You can have all the best strategy and most effective execution in your business plan, but unless you connect it to your audiences in a way that they can truly embrace it, you’ve got no heart, no passion.

They say you can teach skills, but not passion. I think that’s only partially true. Maybe you can’t teach passion but you can inspire it. Or crush it.  It’s one of the reasons we get together in stadiums, theatres, houses of worship, and, yes, ballrooms. We gather to tap into the common energy, to share a common experience, to inspire and be inspired.

I have a vivid memory of a marketing manager from a global company presenting a series of charts – what could be duller? But as he went through each slide, sharing his insight and building his argument, he got increasingly energized. At one point, he found himself speaking very loudly and waving his arms…and he stopped suddenly and asked the audience, “Why am I shouting?!” Huge laughter; everyone was right there with him, in the moment. This guy was passionate about his work and thrilled to be sharing it with this audience – and they were thrilled right back.

Stevie Wonder performed a concert in Chicago a couple summers ago – he opened by saying how much he valued this moment we were all sharing, together in this one time and space.  Yeah, I know, he says that to all of his audiences, it’s his shtick…but I bought it. Stevie speaks from his heart, his music expresses his passion and he moved a lot of people that night. Pretty high standard, right? We can’t all reach our audiences the way Stevie Wonder can. But the lessons are clear: be in the moment, share your passion and acknowledge the unique opportunity that comes when we gather together.

I’ve been moved to laughter and tears at movies, concerts and business meetings. Think about what makes a particular experience memorable – it’s how it made you feel. We are in the business of winning audiences’ hearts as well as their minds.

Yes, I guess we do have the fun job after all.