Just as we do in storytelling, we need to consider the ways that we can keep people engaged in what we are doing; things that keep people focused on the subject, as well as motivate them to participate willingly. What is going to keep someone engaged and invested in what they are being presented? What is going to help them be motivated to continue what they are doing?
RSA—the royal society for the encouragement of arts, manufacturers and commerce—is an organization that helps promote the act of bringing people together to find new ideas and solutions, as well as create opportunities for others to make the world a better place. They post videos on YouTube of different talks hosted by people from their organization—almost similar to TED Talks. Oftentimes, they create visual representations of their talks in the form of an animation where someone draws on a whiteboard and creates small drawings and graphics to aid the presenter on their topic. In a way, we can use this concept they practice as an example of how to motivate people with information, education, and mastery.
In one of their presentations, “RSA ANIMATE: Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us”, they use the concept of motivation and personal satisfaction to discuss this topic. Dan Pink, the presenter, talks about the reward system and what motivates people to do their job (in the workplace)—aka, salaries, and how monetary rewards might not have the outcome that someone expects. Pink tells us that, while high monetary rewards favor the ones whose job requires manual labor, those who work in an area with a high need of cognitive thinking actually tend to struggle and end up becoming demotivated the higher the monetary reward became. He concludes that the three main things that there are three main things that motivate people to perform better and gain personal satisfaction are as follows: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
Autonomy to decide what we get to do and how we do it gives people that drive to do something without being told by someone how to do it until we ask about it. In interactive design, we can give people the autonomy to decide whether or not they want to interact with something that they see—this can also be said about video games and the autonomy that is being granted to you when you play.
Mastery is the act of doing something until you are near perfect, more commonly a skill that you have to learn or are wanting to learn for the sake of the satisfaction of having that skill. In combination with autonomy, we can develop a drive to continue doing the task until we are able to master it; and after mastering it, we can continue to use those skills for personal things, or to better your performance in the workplace. Through the autonomy we are given within certain parameters, we can home in our skill and learn to be better in how we design something and how we can present these projects to others.
Purpose is the starting point of anything that we do, even if the purpose is as simple as wanting to do something “just because”. If someone has a purpose, and is given the autonomy to create and master the art of creating and storytelling, then they are able to achieve anything they can, and help inspire others to do the same.
By giving yourself that drive, you can spread that sentiment to others, and help motivate them to achieve their own goals.