Look into the eyes of your the audience and pull them into the story.
The fourth wall is the space that separates a performer or performance from an audience. It’s the conceptual barrier between any fictional work and its viewers or readers. While the audience is typically a third party to the events on stage or on screen, the fourth wall can be broken. Kevin Spacey is known for doing this at key moments in House of Cards.
A few days ago, Robert M. sent me a music video that’s shattered my concept of reality a few times over. While I’ve watched it five times at this point, it still boggles my mind every time. Watch it on mobile to get the full effect and try not to let your head explode.
I’ve done my own version of this with LiveChat. People see the chat bubble appear in the corner and expect a sales person or customer service agent to appear and “serve” them.
What they don’t expect is a conversation that feels more like they’re texting a friend than browsing a website. I’ll often break the fourth wall by telling people what I’m doing, like:
The more you humanize yourself, the more people open up to you. These conversations enable you to build genuine relationships and foster profits beyond the first purchase.
You can act your character, but there will come a time when you need to turn into the camera and connect with the audience. Make them more than just a passive observer.
How will you break the fourth wall and suck people in to your story?
P.S. Needing to take a break from my screen earlier, Piper took me for a quick jaunt up the Pacific Coast Highway and we ended up in Malibu as the sun was setting. Knowing when to step back has been one of the single biggest impacts to my overall productivity.
