Getting Their Attention by Speaking to Their Heart

In my last tips, Cut Through the Noise, I wanted to give a foundation for creating clear messaging for your vision. Now let’s build upon it.

So, my hubby says that I’m a big walking heart. I am. I can’t help it. I care about people and helping them be their best selves. And Just Clear and Simple was born out of my desire to help those with visions that help others succeed.

And you must be a big walking heart too. It’s the whole reason your vision that helps others exists.

However, the pressure to get it seen is often intense. I understand all too well. The struggle to find the right words and strategies can be so consuming that the heart gets lost in the pursuit of visibility.

Leave the heart out of the message, and your message won’t connect to the hearts of those you’re meant to help. Your messaging will sound like everyone else’s or more like a sales pitch versus an invitation to better.

As a vision that helps others, whether it’s a purpose driven business, ministry, or non-profit, your message is about more than what you provide, it’s about transformation - theirs.

So don’t just speak to their heads, speak to their hearts.

The Power of Speaking to Their Heart

Emotion moves. A heartfelt message is memorable, it resonates.

Speak to the heart, and not just to the head and it can shift everything - the word will spread, you’ll attract more of those you’re meant to help and spend less time trying to convince them that you can.

People don’t want to be sold to or given empty promises, especially in this era of skepticism. They want help.

Now don’t get me wrong - you still have to speak to their heads, e.g. giving service details, a roadmap from their current state to their desired outcome, etc.

But don’t stop there.

People, especially those you’re meant to help, want to be seen and understood. They want results, but they also want honesty, connection, and support.

When you speak to their hearts, you draw them in. You show them that not only do you understand them, but you also care.

Ways to Speak to Their Heart

There are different ways you can begin to speak to the heart of those you want to help. Today I will just give you three.

1. Speak to Their Inner Struggle

Go beyond the external problem they're facing and speak into what is going on inside of them - the internal pain or discomfort the external problem is causing them. People are rarely motivated to take action forward unless it has caused them internal discomfort or pain. 

Ask yourself the following questions:

• “What is the real reason the external problem matters to those my vision serves?”

• “What’s keeping them up at night?”

• “What do they feel, even if they haven’t said it out loud?”

Here are a few examples so you see what I mean:

For a Nonprofit Helping Single Moms Find Housing

Speaking to the External Problem (head-level): “You need stable housing for your family.”

Speaking to the Inner Struggle (heart-level): “You’re tired of feeling like you're one emergency away from losing everything.”

For a Ministry Offering Mentorship for Young Men

Speaking to the External Problem (head-level): “You don’t have a strong male role model.”

Speaking to the Inner Struggle (heart-level): “You silently wonder if you have what it takes to become the man you were created to be.”

For a Purpose-Driven Business Offering Wellness Coaching

Speaking to the External Problem (head-level): “You need help managing stress.”

Speaking to the Inner Struggle (heart-level): “You are about to lose it. You keep showing up for everyone else, but deep down, wonder if anyone will ever show up for you.

2. Speak to what they really want

   
   

Purpose driven businesses, ministries, and non-profits that help others often talk about what they do or the need they see. But go deeper! Speak to what those you help really desire, not just the need they present. That’s where real connection happens. 

For a counseling practice

Head Level Want: “I want to deal with my anxiety.”

Heart Level Want: “I want peace. I want to breathe again without the weight of fear holding me down.”

For a Church

Head Level Want: “I want to get closer to God.”

Heart Level Want: “I want to know I’m not alone—that God sees me, hears me, and hasn’t forgotten me.”

For a non-profit for women in crisis

Head Level Want: “I want to get out of this situation”

Heart Level Want: “I want to feel whole again. I want to believe that healing is possible and that my story isn't over.”

A good place to start is by finishing this sentence for those you help:

What they really want is ______________.

Then speak to it!

3. Share Your Story

   
   

Often visions that help others are born from personal experience - you experienced homelessness, so you started a homeless shelter, you know what it is to go without food, so you start a food pantry. If this is true for you, share your story.

Sharing your story draws people to you. It creates allies because they can hear your story and say “Yeah, me too.” It says that you care without having to say, “I care”.

Sharing your story doesn't mean spilling every detail of your life. But sharing your story—how you got to where you are, even mistakes you’ve made along the way—can go a long way, especially with those who need your help but have put up lots of walls because they have been hurt before. People often need to know you get what they're going through and have been down a similar road before they'll truly listen to your advice on reaching their goals. 

And sharing won’t make you seem less competent. Because before people trust your vision, they trust you. And people don’t connect with “perfect”. They connect with real.

The Ripple Effect

So, as you clear up your messaging, don’t forget to put heart into it. Not only will your message (and your vision) be more remembered, but you never know the kind of ripple effect it will start in the hearts of those you’re meant to help and in the hearts of all who hears it.

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Putting It into Action

Over the next two weeks:

•  Do a Heart Check on Your Messaging

  Pick one message from your website, social media, or email.

  
  

  Ask yourself:

  • Did I only describe the external problem?

  • Did I tap into what my audience might be feeling?

  • Am I showing them I see them?

    
    

• Identify the Real Desire Beneath the Surface

  
  

  Ask: “What do they really want—not just what they say they need?”

  • Look at your audience’s current challenges.

  • Write down the deeper hopes, fears, or emotions that might be behind those needs.

  • Start using that language in your emails, website, and posts.

    
    

• Finish This Sentence

  Write down this sentence and complete it for your audience:

  
  

  “What they really want is ______________.”

  
  

  Repeat this exercise for each group or persona you serve. Let that become a foundation for your next piece of communication.

  
  

• Share a Real Story

  This week, share one piece of your journey:

  • A challenge you’ve faced.

  • A lesson you’ve learned.

  • A moment you realized your vision mattered.

  
  

  Keep it authentic and brief—your story could be the open door someone else needs to walk through.

  
  

• Write as if You’re Talking to One Person

Picture one real person your vision has helped (or could help).

• Write one message, email, or post as if you were talking to them

• Use language that makes them feel seen, heard, and invited into something better

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Comment and Share

Out of the three ways to speak to the heart given above, which one spoke to you the most?

Comment below. And if you found these tips helpful, let me know that too!

Lastly, if you know of someone who has a vision that helps others that could be helped by these tips, share this post using the icons below.