When I write or speak, my job is to take my audience on a journey.

My content is often personal and about me - but the person receiving it must see that it's really about them.

Yesterday Chad Fowler (@chadfowler) tweeted that everyone is the center of their universe.

It sounded as if what kicked it off was that someone cut in line in front of him getting onto a flight. The person cutting didn't seem to notice the people they had cut in front of and Chad noted that that person was the center of the universe as was everyone else in the airport and on the flight.

"We're all the protagonists in our own narratives," Bridget Kromhout (@bridgetkromhout) agreed.

Before I had time to bemoan this fact or try to argue with this self-evident truth, she added this gem for conference speakers.

Consider that everyone in your audience is the hero of their own stories and when you take the stage to speak at a conference and you look out on your audience you need to realize that you "have a walk-on part in their[ story]."

Think about how that fact influences the talk you plan to give.

Think about that as you try to move your audience or move them to action.

Your audience sits there immersed in their own story - a story starring them. You aren't the star of their story - they are. You happen to be the character they are encountering in the current scene.

Bridget reminds us that, "Any actions they take, after listening to me, will be what move[s] their story forward."

You must contribute to their story or your a scene that can be cut in post.