Image credit: ABC News
Every strong story begins with a decision: Who is this really for?
In March 2026, photos of Queen Mary of Denmark appeared across news sites. It was a great lesson in one key aspect of the art of storytelling: knowing your audience.
Queen Mary was visiting Australia, the country she grew up in, yet something about the images felt slightly off.
On her visit to Uluru in Australia’s Red Centre, Mary wore a crisp linen skirt with an off-centre slit, a mushroom-coloured paisley shirt and an Akubra. It was a carefully composed look: European royal meets the Australian outback.
But the effect created a subtle double take.
How to tell a story your main audience will resonate with
Queen Mary didn’t quite look like an Australian returning home. She looked like a European queen visiting the Red Centre.
Even her husband, King Frederik X, in crumpled chinos and a navy shirt, looked more comfortable.
I looked at the photos several times before it clicked. Mary wasn’t dressing for Australians. She was dressing for her primary audience: a European public who expect their queen to look like a queen – even in the desert.
In that sense, she nailed it.
But to Australian eyes, the performance felt slightly awkward.
When audience ambiguity affects the art of storytelling
In Australia, we remember Queen Mary as the Tasmanian girl who married a prince and we know she is still an Australian at heart, visiting one of the most sacred sites in the country.
That moment of double take reveals something fundamental about the art of storytelling: the importance of knowing your audience.
In Mary’s case, the decision to play to her European audience left Australian audiences looking on askew.
It’s a problem many storytellers face. And if you’re wondering how to tell a story, you need to be clear on who’s listening.
If you don’t know who your audience is, you start performing for two rooms at once. When that happens, audiences sense the mismatch even if they can’t put their finger on it. It’s a feeling that something isn’t quite right.
Good storytellers make a deliberate choice.
They decide who the primary audience is, and shape the story to fit. But – and this is important – they also remain acutely aware of who else is watching and ensure the message doesn’t jar or fall flat.
How do storytellers speak to multiple audiences?
In an era of fragmented channels and platforms, the real craft art of storytelling lies in creating a narrative that lands with your intended audience – while still making sense to everyone else who is watching.
- Identify the audience who matters most
Every story has multiple listeners – customers, critics, media, colleagues – but only one primary audience. The storyteller’s job is to decide who that is before shaping the narrative.
- Consider what signals that audience expects
Audiences read stories through cues: language, tone, symbols, setting, even clothing. Mary’s outfit was full of signals her European audience would recognise as ‘royal’. The art of storytelling works the same way in the arts, business and leadership.
- Remember that secondary audiences are always watching
They may not be the intended recipients of the story, but they will still interpret it. A good storyteller anticipates those interpretations and avoids offence or confusion.
A final note: Sometimes a story needs to go deep and speak to a very specific audience – and that’s fine. But you can never fully predict where it will land, so it pays to remain aware of who else is watching.
Every strong story begins with a decision: Who is my audience?
Once you answer that question, the rest of the story can fall into place.
Wondering how to tell a story for your personal brand, business or thought leadership platform? Discover Good Prose Studios’ flagship service Strategic Storytelling for clear, step-by-step guidance on the art of storytelling.