What if I don’t have anything original to say? How do we deal with the fear of just repeating the same things everyone else is saying?
Your individual experiences, interests, and specialties are what give you a unique perspective. If you start with a vague idea and stretch it in multiple directions, you’ll start to find that your perspectives shine through.
Put it into a niche
One way to dive into your own unique perspectives is to narrow down your audience. A lot of issues and conversations span multiple fields and specialties—how does one issue fit into your field of expertise? Who exactly do you want to speak to in your work? Get more specific with your audience, and it will be easier to tailor an idea to them. For example, let’s adapt a vague phrase to a group of entrepreneurs.
“Diversity is important.”
Diversity is important, yes. But how do we turn this into a useful conversation? Focus on why your audience needs information on this topic and how they can use it every day.
“A diverse hiring committee helps protect potential candidates from implicit bias.”
Use a different story to prove an existing point
You googled “business tips,” and you found thousands of articles—from multinational conglomerates. How are entrepreneurs supposed to apply those tips to their small businesses?
When you notice a group is left out of an existing conversation, filter it through a different lens. Help small business owners deal with big business issues. Teach small community leaders how to run engaging social media. Tell the world how your experience with disabilities was different growing up on a rural farm rather than in a big city.
This way, you will make connections between ideas and people that haven’t been done before. You’ll make old ideas new again by applying them to different scenarios.
Put together existing perspectives in a new way
Academic sources can lend more credibility to your work, and as an expert in your field, you have a special ability to decipher academic articles and philosophies and make them easier for the average reader to understand. What is common knowledge in high-level fields could be new—and useful—information for people with less experience.
Complex texts can have many different interpretations, so the way you incorporate them into your own writing will be unique to you. The next time you’re pouring through your resources, consider which pieces can be useful at all levels of your field.
Use authenticity to your advantage
Ultimately, these tips boil down to authenticity. Use your unique, individual experience to outline what ideas and philosophies look like in real life and how you dealt with them. Sure, daily exercise is important, but how did you incorporate it into your routine? What was the most profound learning experience you had when starting your business? What systems did you use to achieve a healthy work-life balance?
When you allow readers to get up close and personal, what you have to say feels more accessible and realistic. They see your ideas reflected in a real person with habits, flaws, and actual successes instead of hypothetical ones.
