Kari Matthews Futurist conch shell

Resonance Theory™

What You Think Is Important to Me

In 2018, after having run a content marketing agency for over fifteen years, I spent some time pondering what makes some marketing great and others dull and flat. Which factor was the single best predictor of the highest-performing content?

With thousands of hours of experience and study under my belt, I concluded that the best content resonated with its target audience on multiple levels (and often repelled everyone else).

It was a revelation of sorts: Messaging resonance is the final frontier. I got to work building a system for creating multi-layered resonance in content marketing. That’s how Resonance Theory™ came into being.

The Battle Cry: Respect the Receiver

When you’re reading, watching, or listening to content, you’re the most important part of that ecosystem. Is content even content if it’s not read by the people it was written for? It’s like the tree that falls in the woods.

Your goals, opinions, prior knowledge, and worldview should matter to content creators. You deserve respect, and that respect should be given in the form of thoughtful content that anticipates why you’re engaging with the content to begin with.

That in a nutshell is the key principle behind Resonance Theory™.

Resonance Theory™ is my own proprietary framework that places you (or the audience you’re talking to, if I’m ghostwriting on your behalf) as the most important part of the content equation.

The Advantage

I hold certifications both in secondary (high school) education and hypnosis, and the principles of educational psychology and hypnotic language are both foundational to how I built the Resonance Theory™ framework.

This framework is the reason I’ve been able to amass millions of dollars for clients in grant funding and private donations (non-profits) and email marketing campaigns (mission-driven for-profits).

I have applied the Resonance Theory™ framework to all manner of communications opportunities from writing speeches for corporate clients to teaching in the middle school classroom.

Suffice it to say, when I write for my clients, their target audience is the first and most important consideration. You only have one chance to give them a reason to hear you out. I don’t take that lightly.

Kari gazing at a moonlit landscape with a notebook

Where Resonance Theory™ Applies

Resonance Theory™ is like the cheat code for any high-stakes communication.

  • Speeches & presentations (including slide decks)
  • Thought leadership content, such as atomic essays and substantive LinkedIn posts
  • Sales scripts, sales persuasion scenarios
  • Donor letters and fundraising activities
  • Annual reports and impact reports
  • Teaching, tutoring, and training (including certification curricula)
  • Books

More About Resonance Theory™

You can read more at Waxing Noetic on Substack ↗

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