'The Beast at Tanagra': Allegories, metaphors, and connecting with your audience

Infernal Communication

We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again (and again…), know your audience! Get specific and think of them early and often. It’s all too easy to try to be all things to all people, and casting too wide a net that can leave you connecting with no one. But sometimes getting very specific and using insider language leaves people out. Metaphors, allegories, and unique shared experiences can make us feel connected while alienating others. How do you toe that line? How can you target a niche audience without being totally inaccessible to newcomers?

Few things are more polarizing than Star Trek, so we dig into a very specific episode to really demonstrate how language can bring us together or pull us apart. Join host Brian Tomlinson in conversation with Star Trek super fan and former legal investigator Ron Yamauchi and writer and professor Sara Rivera. They’ll talk about what’s so special about this episode and what it says about communication at its core. Whether or not you’re a die-hard ‘Trekker,’ this episode will make you dig deep into the question: “Who are you really writing for?”