60 Questions to Help You Create Authentic Content That Resonates with Your Audience

As a brand or brand personality selling products or services, it’s tough to consistently come up with fresh content that feels genuine. You might wonder where to start, what to say, and how to add value. Of course, you can resort to AI to help you develop ideas. Yet, the heart of your juiciest, scroll-stopping content is already within your own story and experiences! (As long as you’re willing to be honest with yourself and get a little vulnerable!)

To create content that resonates and connects with your audience…

• Ask thought-provoking questions that tap into the wisdom of your experiences. 
• Unpack the values and motivations of your primary audience. 

Below is a list of 60 questions that walk through your values, experiences, learnings, and beliefs, as well as your audience’s pain points, struggles, and hopes. 

Go through these questions and notice the common themes, topics, and ideas that come up. Then, use your insight to create authentic, empathetic content your audience can relate to!

Questions about your values, experiences, learnings, and beliefs:

1. Where do you invest most of your time? 
2. What might your time investment say about what you value?
3. What are your proudest accomplishments?
4. What are your most meaningful experiences?
5. What struggle have you had that you don’t want anyone else to experience?
6. What is something you will never change about yourself or your business?
7. What will you always fight for?
8. What is something you will never do?
9. What do you do or say to create advocates?
10. What is something you will always do that might push some people away?
11. What would you do if you had unlimited resources and knew you could not fail?
12. Who are your role models, and why?
13. How do you define success?
14. What are your TOP 5 values?
15. What do your values say about what you believe?
16. What inciting incident or defining moment led to [the existence of your brand/the idea for your business or organization/where you are now]? (This could be a conversation, major or minor life event, book you read, speaker you heard, situation you witnessed, etc.)
17. Describe what happened. How did it make you feel?
18. After or during the incident, where did you stumble? Where did you feel lost?
19. After or during the incident, what did you get right? 
20. What did you decide to do next?
21. What did you learn about what’s possible?
22. What did this defining moment reveal about what you believe? 
23. What are your convictions now as a result of what happened and what you learned?
24. What wisdom did you gain from the experience?
25. What wisdom do you/can you offer to others as a result of your experiences?
26. What story or idea keeps you going when you feel like giving up?
27. What legacy do you want to leave behind?

Questions about your audience’s motivations, values, problems, and needs:

28. What is the internal motivation, aversion, or fear your audience might be experiencing?
29. How does their internal motivation, fear, or aversion make them feel?
30. What does your ideal audience want or need in response to their internal motivation?
31. What is the general overall story/cause behind their fear/motivation/emotion?
32. What does your audience want or need in response to their internal motivation?
33. What does your audience value that they don’t want to lose in the process of working with/buying from you?
34. What conflict/problem/obstacle is getting in the way of what they want? 
35. How does the conflict/problem/obstacle make them feel?
36. How do they wish they felt instead? Or what do they wish they had instead?
37. How do you relate to the problems/obstacles/conflicts they’re experiencing?
38. What injustice or unnecessary pain is your audience’s problem causing?
39. What pain have you experienced regarding what they’re going through?
40. What lessons have you learned as a result?
41. What wisdom can you offer based on what you’ve learned?
42. What’s the primary solution you offer your audience?
43. What does your solution help them do or overcome?
44. What could happen if your audience doesn’t work with/buy from you? What are the risks?
45. What positive experience will your audience have by working with/buying from you?
46. What is your audience’s ideal outcome after using your product/service?
47. How might someone feel after using your product or service?
48. What other solutions or alternatives are available to your audience, and what is lacking in those options?
49. What unique features or qualities set you apart from similar offerings in the market?
50. How would you describe your product or service to someone who is unfamiliar with it?
51. What makes you different from your competitors?
52. What would the world be like if your audience’s problem no longer existed?
53. What do you wish your ideal audiences never had to deal with again?
54. What do you wish your ideal audiences always had access to?

Questions about themes, topics, or ideas:

55. What are the most common themes that come up when you talk about your brand with others?
56. When you connect with people about your work, what makes them lean in?
57. What are the most common questions you get about what you do?
58. What are the most common questions asked of your industry in general? And how do you address those questions differently than your competitors?
59. What do you wish more people understood about what you do?
60. If you were in front of a crowd of 100,000 of your ideal audience, what one topic would you talk about and why? 

After reading through these questions, what do you notice? What themes or common ideas are coming up? I’d be curious to hear what you think! 

By the way, I love walking people through these questions and diving deeper to unpack the heart of an idea, message, or brand. After an interview or series of interviews, I can then help you craft a piece of content (article, speech, video script, etc.) you can then share with your audience. To learn more, fill out my connect form, and let’s chat! You can also email me at rosey@lavinecreative.com.