There’s a Mr Bump in all of us.

Very often we confuse our audience’s needs and wants with our own, or with things that aren’t really important and the result is writing that’s as clear as mud. The Mr Men exercise is very helpful here, because this is a collection of individuals who have very distinct personalities.

Whether its Mr Noisy, Mr Bump, or Mrs Scary, we know exactly what floats their respective boats. For this reason they’re surprisingly easy to sell to, and participants often find it a relief to have such a straightforward audience to focus on. The Mr Men exercise begins as a role play to elicit what our audience really cares about.

The exercise also sometimes challenges participants to talk to an audience without patronising them. Mr Short doesn’t like being talked down to, and parking your own preconceptions is part of reaching out to another human being.