Just because you have a demographic doesn’t mean your message can’t be accessible to a wider group. This is true in business marketing, but also ministry planning. The way you structure your ministry presentation will most likely identify with a certain type of individual….thats natural.  But I  don’t think it has to stop there. Its great to know/understand your demo… but that shouldn’t be a one-stop-shop for how you evaluate your presentation.

Your presentation may resonate with one specific audience, but it can be accessible to a broader range of people. What does that mean? One way is to appeal to people’s appreciation of excellence. I had a friend, my age, in the music industry talk about his experience at what most of us would consider a “traditional” church. He said that it was “old school” but they did it so well that he got caught up in the grandeur of the moment. He definitely was not the demographic of the normal person that resonates with the presentation of that church, but it was accessible to him because it was done well.

I think one of the easiest ways to increase your accessibility is look at things you can get rid of that may be “turn-offs”, but don’t change the heart of your message. Lets look at an over-exaggeration to make the point. Let’s say you happen to like the word “groovy” and your demographic likes the word, but its a turn-off to people outside your core audience. If “groovy” isn’t a central part of your message, just let go of it. I would say its not about doing things that people outside your audience love, trying to be all things to all people, but  NOT doing things that turn them away.

There are 3 questions I like to ask in this order:

• 1 – Whats my message and is it clear?
• 2 – Who does my message resonate with? (Godin calls this “tribe”)
• 3 – and who could this message be accessible to/what’s the inhibitors to that happening?