The Power of Familiarity: How To Make New Ideas Feel Comfortable 

It’s the combination of these two elements that makes it appealing and encourages people to commit to you.

The comfort of what feels well-known combined with the excitement of the unknown helps to reduce risk.

For many years, a lot of work from YATM was to encourage people to step into the unfamiliar. This restricted buy in.

Three examples to share:

1 – When we started our YATM Lunch Club in Bristol in 2019/2020, it was challenging. People were not familiar with it, and convincing them to embrace a new idea, self-sufficiency, instead of common business practices like marketing, SEO, and social media, was difficult.

2 – In 2022, we introduced a new concept called YATM Creator Day, with a focus on fostering interaction among attendees. However, we may have emphasised this aspect too much and neglected to effectively position it within the framework of a conference. Our first event had 80 attendees, while in 2024, the number of people who attended grew to over 200.

3 – In 2021, we introduced hybrid events. At the time, many people were hesitant to attend in-person events due to ongoing uncertainties or because they had become accustomed to the convenience of virtual attendance. Therefore, hosting a work event in a theatre felt like a novel experience.

When you ask people to step into something that feels completely new there is a huge sense of trepidation. It takes a lot longer for commitment and acceptance. 

Whilst we can have these bold creative ideas that feel new and exciting, you still need an audience to step in with you. It doesn’t feel good when you are the only person who is enthused.

Familiarity provides a strong basis for anything you do. It helps to foster trust and allows people to feel comfortable. 

What may feel at ease to you may feel distant to someone else.

This is crucial for establishing an environment where people can feel at ease and open to new experiences. Once this trust is established, introducing well-placed surprises can capture attention and make a lasting impact. 

This concept is known as “Most Advanced Yet Acceptable” (MAYA). It suggests that to make something new appealing, it should have a touch of familiarity, and vice versa. This connection between the familiar and the surprising creates a memorable experience, as people are drawn to both the known and the unknown. 

Familiarity helps to set the scene. Being connected to others without feeling pressured brings a sense of ease.

When you find a balance between the message you share and who you are as a person, it gives meaning to everything you do, as you’re true to yourself. This is what helps promote that sense of familiarity with others, where it all feels easier. This makes it easier to accept new ideas without feeling too bold.

For our Lunch Club events, attending and being a part of the community, the more I see someone who returns, the more we get to know each other.  

These words from Leo Burnett make it even more resonant, “The secret of all effective advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships.”

We’re trying something new by putting it into the confines of familiar.

Using the well-acquainted format of our Lunch Club events, we’re providing a comfortable, known environment. 

From September, our live events will fit an old-school school year (if you can make it, why don’t you join in, here is Lunch Club). 

The surprise comes from presenting these events as a school-like experience, combining learning and networking with a sense of nostalgia and fun.

We start with the first event of the new learning year on 12th September, culminating in YATM Creator Day on 15th May 2025. We then close the school year with a party in the summer.

This approach fosters a sense of community and belonging, where individuals feel they are part of something special, where everything is connected, rather than isolated events.

When people attend, they know they are going to learn something new and be surrounded by supportive people. The combination of new experiences in a familiar setting makes the whole experience feel fresh and exciting, keeping people engaged and eager to come back.

When it comes to surprising your audience while making them feel comfy, here is what can work for you.

Familiarity Is Where You Start 

Identify the elements that resonate with your audience. What do you do that makes them recognise they are in a safe place with you? It doesn’t mean you spring a surprise on them, but it becomes the foundation for introducing something new. I spent far too long looking for the new, rather than building on the familiar.

Find Where Can Novelty Be Weaved In

After you have built a strong connection with your audience, think about adding surprising or new elements to your content to keep them engaged and excited. It doesn’t have to be revolutionary; it’s just a way to make some progress with something that people are already familiar with. I understand that venturing into something unfamiliar can make you feel uncertain (trust me, I’ve been there many times).

Find Balance With Storytelling (Its Gives Context)

The key is to combine familiarity and surprise within a narrative. For example, we are focusing on the school theme starting from September because school is where we went to learn, but the best part was being with our friends. This emphasises the importance of camaraderie, friendship, and being open, knowing that life is much better when you are with people who understand and accept you for who you are. Incorporating this connection into the overall delivery helps to make the transition engaging.

Interaction Is The Key Element

You need to keep people interested and involved. This means that what may have felt new and like a big step is quickly forgotten. For example, when people book to attend Creator Day, they are encouraged to find ways to participate.

This could mean joining the WhatsApp Group or expressing interest in joining the Creator Day podcast. You have to enable people to explore and interact in a way that feels personal and relevant to what they want.

Make Trust Your Goal

Building trust with your audience takes time. It means when you introduce something new, they are more accepting to surprises and new experiences. For instance, if we had kept going with how we started YATM Lunch Club it would have been interviews with experts around a topic.

Over the years, we have introduced more people to be at the front and a pace to the whole event that keep is lively and upbeat. When someone puts their faith in you, you can’t let them down. It’s your responsibility to push the needle so they keep coming back for me.

The key to creating truly memorable and engaging experiences lies in finding the perfect balance between familiarity and surprise.

By blending the comfort of the known with the introduction of the new, you create an environment where trust and excitement coexist.

This fosters a stronger, more committed community, where the audience is not only more engaged but also more loyal and enthusiastic about what you have to offer. With this approach, your audience not only joins you but becomes an integral part of your journey.

Our live events return in September, we hope they feel familiar to you, but if it’s a step into something new, we’re here to make you feel at home. Read more and book here.